Hi Guys,

I did a search and couldnt find anyone thats done a manual conversion in an AU2. The only AU conversion I can find is on an AU 1 fairlane.

Does anyone know what the go is with the ECU with AU2's?

Does the ECU need to be replaced or can it be tricked with resistors like earlier models?

The AU1 should have the exact same wiring e.t.c. as the AU2. I have a AU1 and am looking at doing the conversion aswell. I asked a similar question in this thread:
gearbox-suspension-brake-driveline-f4/auto-to-manual-loom-trick-t85457.html

I also PM'd a guy over at FordForums as he has done the conversion on a AU1 V8 Ghia and I got the following response.

"if u have a cappa flasher u get it cheanged in the ecu from auto to manual and nah dont think u can do the resister trick.
but in saying that i drove mine for like 4-5 months without it and it just has the fans on all the time.
did u get the pedal box with the kit?
if not yeah a mal wood pin would be good id recommend removing the pedal box and getting it strengthened tho.
but the pedal box is easy on these i did it in under and hour.
dont have to remove dash like e-series."

I'll have to follow him up about how he drove it around for a few weeks if the ECU thought it was in Park all the time.

I realise your looking at doing it on a I6 but thought this might be of some help anyway. Can you also post up the thread you refer to about the conversion being done in the S1 Fairlane? Cheers.

Nope wrong.... different.... Ask Ashcook he will tell ya he has down alot of related stuff trying to get AU2 elecs into AU1 and it was a loosing battle... the engine wiring is different as the sensors and alike were updated from the EL like ones.

as far as i know the car doesn't know what gear its in, so it doesn't think its in park.
when i put a fairmont cluster in my manual AU3 the cluster just doesnt display anything in the "PRND"area

also i wouldn't recommend using part series1 part series 2 wiring... a few major changes between the to from smartlock to smartshield, different cluster wiring and heatercontrols/heaterbox...

Cheers Cam

Let me state this clearly. Under no circumstances should anyone attempt to mix AU S1 and AU S2 electronics. It has and will end in grief. I tried to put a 5 speed from an au1 xr6 in my au2 SR. The wiring loom for the bay is monumentally different. Totally uncompatable. Not only that, the ECUs are totally different, S1 running at 2hertz, s2 running at 3hertz--- so every parameter in the ecu is off. I had mine, after some expensive (very expensive) and utterly fruitless work running (barely) off the s1 ecu. In the end you have no option but to get the auto ecu FLASHED into manual spec. Besides this all au ecus have to be codematched to your key and BEM.

the conversion is easy, very easy. The hardest bit is getting at the bellhousing bolts under the firewall. Method also plays a big part. Use axle stands, dont use ramps like I did. You need to unbolt the tailshaft at the diff before you take the box out to get clearence. I couldnt do this because I needed drive to get up the ramp which made getting the auto off the torque converter a bleeding nightmare, since I wasnt aware of the access port on the back of the engine block casting, thats obscured from imediate view by the sway bar, that gives you acess to the TC bolts. I struggled on using f**k spanners in the 1 inch gap I could make between block and transmision. Until I got it off and saw the access ports and nearly opened a vein in desolation.

Getting the auto off is half the struggle. I learnt that you should undo the bolts at the back of the gearbox by abt 70% to make it lean down and give better access to the top bellhousing bolts. you will need to undo the top of the radiator mounts as it will cause the engine to rock back. The cooler lines running to the radiator ant majorly hard to remove. you can align the clutchplate easily enough by hand by squaring the edges up inside the pressure plate with the bolts semi tight, just enough to stop the plate from slipping but not so tight that you cant move it till its uniform with the edges of the pressure plate. You pop the bellhousing back on, slide the input shaft in, and do up the box to bellhousiong bolts. the pedal box is not too hard to change over, just be advised that there are 5 bolts retaining an S2 pedalbox, 4 visible in the 4 corner points and one obscured by the steering column. I undid the 4 then swore for and hour when I couldnt remove the box, its hard to see unless you look for it (for right handers anyway. I removed the front seat for this excercise so I could lie on my back with my legs up on the back seat. Its made easier if you undo the pin and bolt and collapse the steering column. Be advised also that the S1 pedal box is only a 2 bolt diagonal offset, and is not compatible also. I had to measure and drill out my own holes to match the S2 bolt pattern.

At this point, with the gearbox changed over and the pedal box in you will need a tow to a tuner with SCT software to reflash your ecu. A guy in geelong did mine with ticky police maps, a 5700rpm limit and removed speed limiter for 200 bucks. Not that the ticky police maps do any good without the ticky head cam and fuel reg, but Ill take it anyway lol.

hmm that's alot of help. Thank you..

Let me double check a few things with you; I bought the box off a forum member here. He had it in his ED Fairmont V8(had modified the floorpan, its a S3 XR8 box). He gave me a brand new clutch cable & flywheel to suit the E Series. Will this fit the AU or are they no good to me?

Also to confirm, I don't have a choice but to source a S1 Pedalbox for my car?


About the SCT tune, the guy from fordforums got back to me when I asked him how the hell the car started without a Flash tune or resistor trick and I got this - "doesnt need it mate i couldnt believe it either it fired straight up. it didn't run perfect but was enough to run around for a few weeks until i culd get a tune
cheers josh."


can anyone explain how this is possible?

Please tell me you didn't buy the box off Scorpion68 or ericeb??

as far as I know, which isnt far when it comes to V8s the v8 bellhousing is different, and the input shaft on the V8 t5 is longer than the 6 and ergo will not fit the spigot housing in the crank case.

I would like some confirmation on that though from someone who is 100% on that.

unless his au was a smartlock series 1? thats the only thing i could think of because smartshield (some series1 all 2 and 3) cannot swap ecus without having either the security erased from them with SCT, or having the codes matched with scantool.

Your correct , the bellhousing and input shaft are different between 6cyl and 8cyl. Also a E Series floorpan can be modified to suit a AU box but an AU cannot be modified to suit a E series box(gear stick will be underneath ashtray.



Anyone got any ideas about the above?

E series will fit AU but you will need to do the reverse of what i did with the AU box in the E series, a short shifter works well in this situation, it can be reversed so it still sits in the original position.

Clutch cable will work, i have both an AU and an EL one here, and they are both the same length. Flywheel will also fit (same engine duh)

V8 bellhousing is very different to the 6, and the input shaft is also longer, and what some may not know is the 5.0 mustang T5's are shorter than the Falcon 5.0 input shafts, if you have an aussie bellhousing with a Mustang T5, you may be in for a surprise, depending on the year of the mustang t5, the 1993's have short ones and the 95/96 had the longer one, then the 4.6 had short ones. All E/AU series V8 t5's feature the longer one, as i experienced when buying T5 parts to build my box back up again.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I bought a manual conversion today.

I got under the still auto ute and unplugged all the auto trans plugs. It wouldnt start.

I bridged the neutral switch and it started and ran fine but the fans turn on.

The resistor trick will fix the fans.

Why is everyone saying I need a manual ECU so I can convert it? It seems like it will work fine. At worst the fans will run full time.

Also the AU manual box appears to be about 5cms longer than the auto. Can I still use the standard tailshaft? The yoke looks like it would be close to bottoming out.

I just finished this conversion.



If you bypass the neutral switch by joining 2 wires on the trans' 4 pin plug the car starts and runs fine but the fans are on full time. It doesnt need to be towed anywhere.

I drove mine last night and it was good. I just need to do the resistor thing to stop the fans turning on.

FYI the auto tailshaft didnt fit. I used one from a manual V8 ute which was fine.

whoops, thread mining, excuse me.

hi guys, after a bit of info if possible.
doing the same to my car and want to know what issues i may face in my AU2 futura.
the seller has told me its apparently from another AU2, early 2002 futura.. (not sure if '02 weren't s3?)
from what i've gathered reading threads on here is that i will need to source a manual tailshaft.
he said included will be pedal box, clutch cable, clutch + flywheel, the box, the gear boot & knob, manual ecu, nuts bolts etc.
what else will i need, and what potential issues will i encounter;
reprogramming ecu?
will the loom matchup? (do i need the other loom?)
the car is on brc injected gas and follows a few signals of normal ecu, will these still be the same?
new bolts?

cheers, hoping to give him an answer asap so any input appreciated!

I believe there are three options:

1) Tricking auto ecu as dan did,
2) J3 chip with manual tune,
3) Using a manual ecu, although I believe with smartshield ECU's you face problems with different ECU's interacting with the BCM due to security. I can't confirm this as have an AU1 so it went straight in.