Identifying Aisin 5- and 6-Speed Transmissions - Transmission Digest

Main Navigation

Advertisement
Social Connect
Resources
Our Brand Family
Transmission Digest - Babcox Media
Helping transmission shops achieve successful and profitable operation.
Manual Transmission

Identifying Aisin 5- and 6-Speed Transmissions

In speaking about manual transmissions in present-model domestic vehicles, we notice a marked decline in manual transmissions. Aisin World Corp., the mother company of the Aisin group of OEM suppliers, is one of the world’s largest producers of automatic and manual transmissions. Looking around we can see the decline in models available for purchase with a manual transmission among Chrysler, Ford and GM. There are no options on late-model Ford or GM full-size pickups and SUVs for a manual transmission. ZF, which had a long relationship with Ford and still provides us with work to repair past-model five- and six-speed units, is no longer producing units for the blue oval. Muscle cars from Dodge, GM and Ford are optioned with five- and six-speed manual transmissions from Tremec. Besides Tremec, Aisin is now the only player with a skin in the game.

Avatar
By Mike Weinberg
Mike Weinberg is the president of Rockland Standard Gear Inc.
Published:
Identifying Aisin 5- and 6-Speed Transmissions Up to Standards Subject: Identification and application of five- and six-speed Aisin manual transmissions Units: AR5, AY6 Vehicle Applications: BMC, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Isuzu, Toyota Essential Reading: Rebuilder Author: Mike Weinberg, Rockland Standard Gear, Contributing Editor

Up to Standards

  • Subject: Identification and application of five- and six-speed Aisin manual transmissions
  • Units: AR5, AY6
  • Vehicle Applications: BMC, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Isuzu, Toyota
  • Essential Reading: Rebuilder
  • Author: Mike Weinberg, Rockland Standard Gear, Contributing Editor

In speaking about manual transmissions in present-model domestic vehicles, we notice a marked decline in manual transmissions. Aisin World Corp., the mother company of the Aisin group of OEM suppliers, is one of the world’s largest producers of automatic and manual transmissions.

Related Articles

Looking around we can see the decline in models available for purchase with a manual transmission among Chrysler, Ford and GM. There are no options on late-model Ford or GM full-size pickups and SUVs for a manual transmission. ZF, which had a long relationship with Ford and still provides us with work to repair past-model five- and six-speed units, is no longer producing units for the blue oval. Muscle cars from Dodge, GM and Ford are optioned with five- and six-speed manual transmissions from Tremec. Besides Tremec, Aisin is now the only player with a skin in the game.

Part of this trend is because of EPA issues with manual transmissions, which shift at closed throttle, as opposed to an automatic, which shifts at open throttle. The manual box puts throttle position totally at the driver’s control, which complicates controlling emissions.

A second reason is the decline of driving skills throughout the younger generations who are buying cars. Members of the “social-media” generation are much more concerned with texting (while they drive), Bluetooth, music downloads and making the vehicle much more like a living room than a transportation mode.

Back in the day, four-barrel carbs, tri-power GTOs, big-blocks, small-blocks and getting off the line were much more important than the creature comforts found in the passenger cabin. We now have cars that can parallel-park themselves to further eliminate any skill and judgment behind the wheel. I know that I am a relic of the past, but I am glad I lived when performance was king and the right car performance-wise attracted pretty girls, like moths to a flame.

The accompanying illustrations provide a pretty thorough breakdown of the Aisin line of late-model five-and six-speeds and the models in which they are used. The first step to successful diagnosis and repair is to know what you are working on. The AR5 series of five-speeds and the AY6 group of six-speeds are evolutions of the very successful AX-5 and AX-15 series of transmissions that are still on the road today.

As you can see from charts these newer units are found in a broad cross section of late-model offerings from many manufacturers. When did we ever think that we would see “foreign cars” domestically produced? Although I enjoy the benefits of the new computer technology and cell phones, I am glad I won’t be around when the bureaucrats finally legislate cars that drive themselves to alleviate traffic and save us from ourselves.

You May Also Like

manual sources 2023
Manual Transmission

Learn New Things

You are not supposed to get to the finish line in pristine condition. You are supposed to cross the line a burnt out, beat up hulk, and through the smoke and leakage, yell, “WHAT A RIDE!”

Avatar
By Mike Weinberg
Mike Weinberg is the president of Rockland Standard Gear Inc.
Published:

Up To Standards

Author: Mike WeinbergSubject Matter: What a ride!Issue: Technician shortage

You are not supposed to get to the finish line in pristine condition. You are supposed to cross the line a burnt out, beat up hulk, and through the smoke and leakage, yell, “WHAT A RIDE!”

Read Full Article

More Manual Transmission Posts
MP3023 T-Case: Simple Mechanics, Complex Electronics

The MP3023 is an active automatic transfer case that is found in a wide variety of vehicles. This unit will be found in GM trucks 2007-13, Jeep Grand Cherokees 2011-19, and in Dodge Durangos 2010-up. We will be discussing the Jeep version here, which has very sophisticated control electronics. The transfer cases are basically all the same across the product line, but there are considerable variations in the electronics, which will make diagnostics outside of the transfer case a learning experience.

By Mike Weinberg
Simple Routines Can Leat To Solutions

For whatever reason, the tech lines get an inordinate number of calls regarding a few specific is-sues. That such a high volume of calls is generated by just a few problems leads to the belief that we need to revisit and speak about the lack of understanding by the tech-nician that leads to all this wasted time and phone traffic, as well as failure to get the job right the first time. Let’s start out the year by get-ting to the nitty-gritty of why cer-tain issues seem to confuse so many people.

By Mike Weinberg
Lubricants: Understanding the Mysteries

Lubricating oils or lubricants have been around since the invention of the wheel, and every class or type of machinery uses and needs them. But, how much do we really understand about these products and about the amazing amount of engineering that is found in a can?

By Mike Weinberg
Tires Vastly Improved, but Check the Specs

The advancement of technology in the automotive field is rapid and unrelenting. Forces that shape the marketplace, state and federal regulations, the need to attract new customers, and the need to be different and at the same time profitable are driving the car makers to develop technology at a pace never seen before.

By Mike Weinberg

Other Posts

Are We Speaking the Same Language?

If you are repairing transmissions for a living, you will invariably spend some time on the phone ordering parts and speaking with technical hotlines to assist in your diagnosis of problems. Having been on both ends of a tech line for over half a century and an equal amount of time buying parts, I have learned a whole new language. To be successful communicating with those entities, one must understand the language and be speaking about the same correct topic with whoever is on the other end of the conversation.

By Mike Weinberg
Electronics In Dual Clutch Units

This article is the final segment of our exploration of the dual-clutch transmission, or direct shift gear box (VW and Audi) or DualTronic in BorgWarner’s brand. We have included several schematics from a VW Touran model, as VW has the largest amount of these transmissions in use. VW using its VAS 5051 diagnostic system provides for, as they say, “guided fault finding,” which means that a test schedule is available for the unit and provides testing for sensors, actuators and the mechatronic (computerized) valve body.

By Mike Weinberg
Hydraulic & Fluid Controls in Dual-Clutch Units

To recap, we have looked at how the dual-clutch transmission functions, essentially two gear boxes in one with the input shafts driven by hydraulically applied clutch packs that drive three concentric shafts that are one inside the other. The innermost shaft drives a gerotor-type of fluid pump that provides pressurized fluid to actuate the dual clutches, lubricate and cool the components, and shift the transmission into the selected gear. The next two shafts are driven by the two clutch packs with one shaft shifting the even-number gears and one shifting the odd-numbered gears.

By Mike Weinberg
Controls Make Shifts Happen in Milliseconds

If you have been following the previous chapters of this series of articles, you are starting to understand the function of dual-clutch transmissions. We have used illustrations from the VW Direct Shift Gear Box (DSG) as VW has about 2 million of these units on the road at present.

By Mike Weinberg