Hey all, I'm at a sort of crossroads.

I've got my new tib (01/auto) up in my garage right now while I give it a solid workover before I start driving it. Yesterday I dropped the A/T drainpan to get to the filter and I found something I didn't want to find. I've got what looks like pieces of a needle bearing and what's probably the race for it sitting in the bottom of the pan. Looks like this auto-tragic is already on it's way down. So now I've gotta make a decision.

1. Slap it all back together and drive it as long as it'll go. (yeah, not a fan of this one, I just put it up there because it's an option)

2. Pull the tranny, get in there, fix it, put it all back together, drive it. (Possible, the tranny break down videos on the sticky should give me enough info to do the job)

3. Pull the tranny and replace it. (Not bad, there's one out of an 02 elantra with 77k for $300 locally)

4. Pull the trany and perform an auto-to-manual swap. (Would be a lot of fun, but the nearest manual is like $475 for the tranny alone, plus then I'd have to do a lot of strange things to the car)

I've already got most of the engine bay taken apart right now anyways, so pulling the entire transaxle shouldn't be hard. I'd love to swap it over to manual, but it's not looking that cost effective right now and the threads I pulled up talked about getting dtcs and such, maybe I just didn't find the right threads.

So, anyone care to chime in?

 

Save yourself the trouble, it won't work without massive amounts of mods and in the end it you could have spent half the time and completed the manual swap. Sadly I picked up a beta 2 auto trans from an '02 Elantra as well and found this out the hard way. owned.gif

Even then I had the original trans serviced.... 3 TIMES before it worked right. If that is the same bearing that blew in mine (3 times), and from what I've heard from other tib owners it not uncommon. IMHO it's far better to spend the weekend under the car installing the manual and hardware.

 

You're best bet is to swap to a 5spd. With the automatics when you go to get another one you have to get one from your style (i.e. RD2 has to have an RD2 tranny). However, with the 5spd any tranny will do. So if you get to thinking about it chances are slim that you'll find the auto you need for cheap around you, however, a 5spd is much cheaper and easier to find.

The only problem with the auto to manual swap is the initial cost of installation. But if you find a wrecked/junked tib/elantra it gets real easy and possibly cheap. In the long run you'll reap from the benefits. Not only will the 5spd last long... it is just a whole lot funner to drive.

 

Can you give me a quick rundown of the models that ran the 5spd? If they're as widespread as the autos, then I might be able to get my hands on one for cheaper than $475. I'm having trouble searching up some good info. Given the differences in the transmissions, I take it that a Beta II would be the ideal transmission to swap in?

For a manual swap, it looks like I'd need:

Transmission
Flywheel & Spacer
Clutch
Clutch Pedal and Lines
Manual Brake Pedal Assy.
Clutch Slave Cylinder
Shifter Assembly (Are there linkages to this that I'd need?)
New Transmission Mounts and a new Driver side motor mount

I haven't come up with much more than that, everyone feel free to add to the list. I'll start pricing out things soon.

Thanks for the help guys, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

 

Basically any Hyundai with a beta motor in it. Any Tiburon and I'm pretty sure any Elantra. Look on car-parts.com for a tranny. I have found some with like 30k on them for less than $300. However, if you really want to consider doing a swap you should get your hands on a parts car. That way you have everything that you will need for the swap right in front of you. Also, when you are done you can part out the car to recoup some of the money.

 

I would say swap to 5spd as well. I was going to do the same but I'm lazy so I just bought another tib that came 5spd lol.

I just want to say this member is awesome. He checked the stickies and did some research before jus tposting his problem. props to you!

 

Check http://car-part.com/

I just glanced a moment ago and there's a slew of Elantra beta2 manuals for $200 and under. Some even include warranty. In my opinion those are the best bet, even if the warranties void by mod at the very least you have comfort that it's tested part.
Now someone may correct me, but in my research any beta1 or beta 2 manual will mount as long as its Tib or Elantra. And at the price a beta 2 manual would be a better buy.

 

^^^

I've been using car-part.com for a long time now actually, and I don't know what I did without it. Normally it's great about recognizing part interchange, but apparently it doesn't see the connection between the elantra and the tiburon in terms of transmissions. Looks like a search has pulled up a few good hits though. Is there a specific year break anywhere that I need to know about in terms of one transmission being better? In other words, should I be looking for, say, an 04+ or does it matter at all?

A parts car would be ideal, but I'm in the middle of northwest arkansas, there's not a lot available within 3 hours of here. I found a wrecked 99 over in tulsa for about $850, good motor and tranny (it's a stick), what do you guys think?

 

^^^ That has potential to be a good deal. How bad is the damage? Will it cost a lot to get to where you live? If the total cost would put you at about a grand then you got a deal since that's about what it would cost if you were to buy pieces separately. Plus you get the ease of mind having everything. And I think there's no cutoff on the year of the transmissions. As long as the car has a beta motor under the hood, then that tranny should do you good.

 

^^^

Awesome, I was just making sure that some years weren't "better" than others. The damage looks pretty killer on the front end. The front bumper, headlights, radiator & condenser, hood, are all pretty much trash, from what they say the motor and tranny are fine and I might be inclined to believe them. To get it to my place wouldn't be that bad if I hauled it myself, I'd probably clear under a grand after haggling and such.

Another question, are the components such as the shifter and cables, pedals, etc the same across the rd1 and rd2 models? What about the elantra, same pedals etc? If it's possible I might be able to get a cheaper donor from a different model or year.

ETA: Just called, car's still there, runs and drives, so the damage can't be that bad. Color matches and all. Price is kinda steep but that's negotiable.