DIY: 4EAT phase 1 power mode wiring

[still_alive]

I feel like it helped my 1-2 shift, its not rough like it was any more

[peter]

Would this mod do anything for my HARD 1-2 shift at low speed on my '98 BK LGT Wagon? Taking it slow and easy through a parking lot is anything but when the 4EAT jerks my head back during this shift. Normal acceleration on the street is not as bad.

Im wondering the same, low speed 1-2 is bad on mine as well, not as bad now after I changed the fluid and ran Lubegard but still something I would like to improve

[camroncamera]

Would this mod do anything for my HARD 1-2 shift at low speed on my '98 BK LGT Wagon? Taking it slow and easy through a parking lot is anything but when the 4EAT jerks my head back during this shift. Normal acceleration on the street is not as bad.

Im wondering the same, low speed 1-2 is bad on mine as well, not as bad now after I changed the fluid and ran Lubegard but still something I would like to improve

I probably made it sound worse than it is, but I'm hoping this combo will benefit my 4EAT. BTW, the '99 and up 4EAT are supposed to have smoother-shifting transmissions, has anyone here been able to tell the difference?

[harrymaneuvers]

Well I still have the driveline slack in mine so I would be able to say... I THINK my driveline slack is from a deteriorated 4eat tranny mount.


I am assuming there is a good inch or two room for my tranny to lift and drop which is causing the on/off switch feeling while cruising at highway speeds.

[65pontiac]

worked great, best 2 minute mod ever ( already had the wire soldered and cut for something else)

phase 2 tcu

[LGT Kirby]

EDIT: Car must be in gear for POWER light to come on. And yes it works same
connector.





Here is my TCM. This is a turbo model, and these have a POWER light on the dash. The POWER mode apparently only kicks in when you're really beating on the car.

I followed the instructions, and the open terminal spot (4th one from the left, on the left connecter) wasn't giving me a read when I plugged my power probe into it.

I figured, if the TCM was given a ground/negative read from the power probe, it would turn on my POWER light that I have. I tried this in PARK, and no light response.

Does the vehicle have to be in gear?
Is it the wrong terminal?
Am I a newb at this DIY wiring stuff? (I can answer this one, YES)

Any info is appreciated. I have the wires and all, just don't want to do trial and error on my baby..

Right after posting this I am searching for my TCM wiring diagram to see if I can answer this myself.

[Shane01BH]

I just did this on my 2001 H6 and it certainly feels better. Once I get a few more miles on I'll report back for confirmation.

[LGT Kirby]

Just finished doing this is the SS. I hooked it up to a switch and all. Looks really clean.

Thoughts: wow it made a big difference! It climbs to 3150rpm before shifts(when cruising) and feels much much smoother. With foot down to the floor, it's a whole new car.

[shoguy]

unfortunately radioshack doesn't carry those terminals, but I found a BH being stripped, cut a connector off that and found the terminals are different between BG and BH. the BH terminals will fit 3/4 of the way in but not lock. on the good side it does make contact and work, it was a big difference from a quick mod!

[Sub-Goon]

LGT Kirby, nice choice on the hidden switch install! When you say the it has to be in gear before the light will come on, do you mean the led on your switch or a dashboard light?

I suspect there might be a spot for the dash light, just without a bulb mounted. There seem to be alot of unused spots for idiot lights, when it does the bulb test! Has anyone looked at the idiot light area for this? If its there and just needs a bulb, I wonder what other idiot lights could be made use of!?! It would be awesome if that was true!

I have the pigtail, spare wire, terminals and extra foglight switch. Now I just need time to get it all installed!

[Sub-Goon]

I have the pigtail, spare wire, terminals and extra foglight switch. Now I just need time to get it all installed!

Well, I opened up the wiring diagram and metered the extra factory foglight switch that I have. The switch is a momentary switch, so it can only be used with a factory style relay. With out the relay it is only on while the switch is actively being depressed!

[Sub-Goon]

I just ran some 0-60mph tests.
With 4EAT Power Mode NOT activated:
39.5 seconds

With Power Mode Activated:
10.9 seconds

Just for a note, the only mods I have that effect power is:
-Power Mode Switch
-DIY OEM CAI
-Torque Box delete
-Snorkus Delete
-K&N Filter
-10g Ground Kit
-Group N Pitch Stop

[Navi271]

^I call typo! lol

I'm trying this mod tomorrow morning on the way to work. We'll see if the wire is connecting or not...

[Navi271]

It's definitely working. First impressions are I definitely wasn't used to it, and so I didn't really like it. With just a normal pre-power mode pedal press the shift point seemed to move up to around 3k instead of the normal 2.5k. The transmission easily allows an increase in the shift point to 4k and beyond with just a minimal increase in pressure on the pedal.

I started on back roads (45-55mph). Getting up to higher speeds like that are easy and fun with this mod. However it seemed to take a little bit of pedal work for it to really want to shift into 4th, and more so overdrive. There was one point I was thinking, why the hell hasn't it gone into overdrive yet. It was windy, and I was pressing the pedal a little more than usual to get up to speed. Once up to speed it just hovered at around 3.5k to 4k for 5-ish seconds, like it was waiting or just making sure I didn't want to go a little bit faster, then shifted into 4th. Like normal, a decrease in pedal pressure lets the transmission know it should shift. Speaking of shifting, it's quite nice. I do like how quick it is, and downshifting to pass someone was lightning quick.

Next was in city driving (25-35mph). It always wants to shift at 3k unless you're hardly pressing the pedal. If you do actually go slow and barely use the pedal, it will realize you want to go slow, it will put you in low rev's, it just takes longer than normal. I usually drive slow, quite slow, so hearing my engine slowly rev up to 3k's all the time and then hanging there for a second begging me to keep reving was kind of annoying. Not bad really, just annoying. I also noticed my engine running hotter than usual and fans kicking in more often. And I should clarify, this is not something you could see on the stock temp gauge. I was using a ScangaugeII that displays the coolant temp in degrees F.

This mod also just made me want to push the pedal down further. It made it so easy! It doesn't want to shift, it just wants you to keep going. I wonder how this will effect my gas mileage.

I think the big issue was I'm just not used to it at all. I've been driving my car daily for close to 9 years now, and I know exactly where and how the pedal needs to be for the transmission to shift. This mod just changed all of that. If I keep this mod, I'll probably have to get a button for it.

[L.Michael]

I did this, and just as most people notice, is the shifts are better, and rev higher between. I personally don't see the need to change it, as is you're not giving it demand, its going to shift close to normal anyways. As is, I just shoved the wire in there and grounded it to its own fastener. I should get an actual connection from the wreckers just so it won't wiggle out over time.

I have been getting way better gas mileage, but I don't know what I owe just to the warmer weather.. Will know for certain by winter if this changes anything!

[Shane01BH]

Just to keeps this alive, I noticed my H-6 shifting a lot slower and hunting for gears a lot, I wiggled under the dash and saw my ground came out of the screw I used. I replaced it with a proper fork connector and things are snappy again.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

[Matty2Hotty]

I remember reading a thread on the power mod, not on this site, it has long term negative effects to the tranny and shouldn't be used daily if I recall. Still on debate to try the mod or not.

Found review
http://legacygt.com/forums/showthrea...ght=Power+mode

[shoguy]

This mod was also done on my 04 H-6. What a difference. It was upshifting to overdrive at 35, sitting at 1000 rpm driving around any any request for more throttle would cause it to hunt for the gear it was originally supposed to be in. It would shift to second almost immediately when starting, and by shifting too soon it was jerky from constantly shifting. Now it starts and holds first, stays in logical gears for the speeds, downshifts eagerly and generally is using the big engine much better!

[NickDaBassGuy]

I tried this, and my trans still goes from 2nd to 4th, then 3rd. Was hoping this would fix that.

[WPEC]

love this mode, just done with it today.
thanks for bringing a goodness.

[TyrWagon]

Power Mode is the best option for non turbo cars haha, i have this option in my car... Soon i can sell a lhd gear selector like mine, with the switch and the same console... Just check my thread in classified section :-)
Any of you found a way to turn the indicator on the cluster ? It should not be difficult

[dave5358]

This mod was also done on my 04 H-6. What a difference. It was upshifting to overdrive at 35, sitting at 1000 rpm driving around any any request for more throttle would cause it to hunt for the gear it was originally supposed to be in. It would shift to second almost immediately when starting, and by shifting too soon it was jerky from constantly shifting. Now it starts and holds first, stays in logical gears for the speeds, downshifts eagerly and generally is using the big engine much better!

Rick:

I trying to do this on a 2006 Forester - a newer 4EAT, different wiring, etc. For 2004-2008 vintage Subaru vehicles, has this been successfully implemented? I have read all the material on Alcyone's site in UK, mostly pertaining to the late 1990's SVX, but have found nothing for 2004-2008 vintage vehicles.

FWIW, my TCU and the two TCU connections looks like this







My shifter looks like this:



Pin 4 on my TCU may still be the magic pin to activate Power Mode, but I note that that pin is currently in use on both connectors (that is, a wire in the Pin 4 hole). Could there be an add-on harness that attaches somewhere and would lead down to a console switch on one end, and back to Pin 4 on the other?

Another thread on this site mentioned grounding Pin 20 on the white connector (probably pin 20 on connector B54 aka pin A20). Is that the solution?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[shoguy]

Dave-sorry it has been a while since being on this forum. I am pretty sure it was pin 20 as you are saying. It is the phase 2 Generation 1 TCU, same as yours in the 2004 outback that I had. I grounded the pin and noticed for a few days it reacted better, held revs better and was a lot more fun. After a few days it returned to Grandpa mode and became sluggish again The phase 2 transmission does not want to be lively! The phase 2, generation 2 has the sport mode with the manumatic mode, they had them in the 2005+ legacy, the Tribeca and not sure when the forester got them. We have picked up the Tribeca now, what a difference in power and responsiveness, it has the EZ30R and P2G2 trans, much better!

[PIDDYPLACE]

Doing this tomorrow with my H6 w a bad trans mount...let's see if I can break it the rest of the way!😄😄😄

[PIDDYPLACE]

Power mode successfully done!feel it more in the downshifts then the upshifts not think that's a fluid issue.