Im a newbie and I need help. I have a sidekick 4dr and the auto tranny is making sounds and is shifting hard for the 1to2 gear. I anticipate the tranny letting go. Im wondering if a manual sidekick or samurai trans/transfercase would be a straight bolt on? Im also wondering if these jeeps have cable or hydraulic clutch systems? thanks for your replies.
oh, btw, this jeep is weak, im killing this thing trying to pass 45. is this normal?

1st off careful dropping the J word like that. :flipoff2:

haha but yes a track/kick manual will bolt up the track/kick motor if it has the auto and obviously vice versa

you shouldent have a prob doing 45, if the motor ticks real bad do your valves that should helpa bit

ohh yea cable actuated clutch

Nothing irks a Samurai owner more than having his truck called a "Jeep". :flipoff2:


Secondly, the Samurai transmission is not a direct bolt on. You would require an adpater kit for the transmission. Additionally, the Samurai uses a divorced transfer case where the Sidekick uses a married transfer case. I'd not recommend it for this application.

Your best bet would be to source another auto tranny and swap it in. You could switch to a manual, however you must change your EMC (Electronic Control Module) to a manual one, wire up the transmission to the computer, run cooling lines, etc. Basically not an ideal swap for a daily driver. Make sure the tranny you choose is from the same year/version. Different years can make big differences.

Good luck!

thanks for your replies. I would have thought that it would be easy but I guess not. so the manual tranny is wired to the manual computer? I didnt know manuals needed to be. also, what cooling lines do I need to add?

I made a mistake in my original post. In my mind I had it backwards. You already have the cooling lines install with your auto transmission. The manual will not require it. Brain Fart!!!

SIDEKICKLLM where you located at, I gotta auto tranny out of a 96 1.6 geo tracker I wanna get rid of. I'll sell it to ya for $150 but I don't want to deal with shipping.

spart, I live on Guam. I dont think I could use it becuse I have a 1994jlx auto. someone correct me if im wrong. btw, just wondering wht you think the tranny weighs?

I knew chances of you living pretty close to me would be slim, but just thought I'd ask anyways.
Don't know if there is any truth to it but my friend says running synthetic may help it. Seems to work in his XJ.

I have this noise at a bout 2krpm but I recently tried to rev the motor in park and neutrl and it stil makes the noise which im now thining its some heatsheild. I dont know how autos work but will anything on the tranny spin in neutral or park(besides the torque converter)?