SUBBIEEDUDE!
01-10-2010, 01:36 PM
Hey guys I'm doing a write up on how to disable your neutral safety switch.
For those wondering why one would want to disable this sort of thing, is because my 97 legacy gt has been diagnosed with crank walk(when your crankshaft shifts back in forth).
But why?
when you start your car in the morning or whenever, you press your clutch pedal down. By doing so your exerting a force on your crankshaft. luckily we have things called thrust bearings which prohibit the crank from shifting back and forth. but when starting your motor cold there is a lack of oil on these bearings which force them to wear. your engine only sees this force for about a second, or how ever long it takes your car to start. not to big of an issue for Subaru. But DSMs see this problem a lot. But when you are already diagnosed with crank walk, disabling this switch is a big help but will not get rid of the problem. i will be rebuilding this motor shortly.
This "MOD" only takes 5 minutes. some could even modify this idea, maybe creating a security safety, so the clutch needs to be released in order to start. most car thieves would not suspect that.
Anyways what you'll need:
a piece of 18Gauge wire (2 inches in length)
male blade connector X2
wire diagram of your starting system.
step one: knowing how it all works
your neutral safety switch is nothing but a switch that opens/closes a circuit. most safety switches are nothing but two wires. while your clutch pedal is up the circuit is open. once your press down on it, the circuit is closed, this goes back to a relay to tell your starter that the clutch pedal is pressed in and the circuit is closed. the vehicle is ready to start.
Step two: creating a jumper
A jumper is simply a device that is made to bypass certain situations. so by simply unplugging the neutral safety switch and installing a wire that goes from one wire to the other(a Jumper) bypasses the safety switch and keeps the circuit closed at all times. you can create this jumper with ease. crimp two male blade connectors onto a 2 inch piece of 18 gauge wire. looks something like this:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/01/100_2132-1.jpg
step three: locating your neutral safety switch
when looking underneath your dash you'll notice you might have 2 switches on your clutch pedal. this is because some models are equipped with cruise control. this other switch turns off your cruise when the clutch is pressed down. this is where you'll need your wire diagram. there will be a wire going to a relay and then there will be a ground. for me the wire is green/yellow
step four: installing the jumper
what you wanna do now is connect one blade connector into the ground terminal of the harness and the other into the other color wire. this will connect the two wires together. essentially what your doing is cutting the wires and splicing them together. but the way I'm doing it is so you could always plug it back in if you didn't like it. this is what it looks like:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/01/100_2139-1.jpg
step 5: starting the vehicle
double check your wiring and make sure its all correct. now pop that shifter into neutral and start it up.
now that you have done this you must be careful not to leave your car in gear when starting. if your car doesn't start you have made an error somewhere. go back and check your diagrams.
Have fun with this and be careful. hopefully my motor will make it to spring weather.
Thanks
For those wondering why one would want to disable this sort of thing, is because my 97 legacy gt has been diagnosed with crank walk(when your crankshaft shifts back in forth).
But why?
when you start your car in the morning or whenever, you press your clutch pedal down. By doing so your exerting a force on your crankshaft. luckily we have things called thrust bearings which prohibit the crank from shifting back and forth. but when starting your motor cold there is a lack of oil on these bearings which force them to wear. your engine only sees this force for about a second, or how ever long it takes your car to start. not to big of an issue for Subaru. But DSMs see this problem a lot. But when you are already diagnosed with crank walk, disabling this switch is a big help but will not get rid of the problem. i will be rebuilding this motor shortly.
This "MOD" only takes 5 minutes. some could even modify this idea, maybe creating a security safety, so the clutch needs to be released in order to start. most car thieves would not suspect that.
Anyways what you'll need:
a piece of 18Gauge wire (2 inches in length)
male blade connector X2
wire diagram of your starting system.
step one: knowing how it all works
your neutral safety switch is nothing but a switch that opens/closes a circuit. most safety switches are nothing but two wires. while your clutch pedal is up the circuit is open. once your press down on it, the circuit is closed, this goes back to a relay to tell your starter that the clutch pedal is pressed in and the circuit is closed. the vehicle is ready to start.
Step two: creating a jumper
A jumper is simply a device that is made to bypass certain situations. so by simply unplugging the neutral safety switch and installing a wire that goes from one wire to the other(a Jumper) bypasses the safety switch and keeps the circuit closed at all times. you can create this jumper with ease. crimp two male blade connectors onto a 2 inch piece of 18 gauge wire. looks something like this:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/01/100_2132-1.jpg
step three: locating your neutral safety switch
when looking underneath your dash you'll notice you might have 2 switches on your clutch pedal. this is because some models are equipped with cruise control. this other switch turns off your cruise when the clutch is pressed down. this is where you'll need your wire diagram. there will be a wire going to a relay and then there will be a ground. for me the wire is green/yellow
step four: installing the jumper
what you wanna do now is connect one blade connector into the ground terminal of the harness and the other into the other color wire. this will connect the two wires together. essentially what your doing is cutting the wires and splicing them together. but the way I'm doing it is so you could always plug it back in if you didn't like it. this is what it looks like:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/01/100_2139-1.jpg
step 5: starting the vehicle
double check your wiring and make sure its all correct. now pop that shifter into neutral and start it up.
now that you have done this you must be careful not to leave your car in gear when starting. if your car doesn't start you have made an error somewhere. go back and check your diagrams.
Have fun with this and be careful. hopefully my motor will make it to spring weather.
Thanks