kastle

Another thanks goes out to Bimmer for this mod, he's been contributing a lot lately


Starting without disengaging clutch

I don't see any reason why I should have to disengage the clutch to start my car. My old BMW car and my modern Honda motorcycle don't require this, and it irks me about my new Subaru. Here's how to disable the feature...

CAUTION, if you have cruise control, this will effectively disable
that, too. But I don't have cruise control...

Also, if you break your car or electrocute yourself or start your car
in gear or invalidate your warranty doing this, too bad, not my fault.

You need to get under the dash on the driver's side. You can remove the lower dash panel, but it's not really necessary if you're willing to do a headstand in the driver's foot well for a couple minutes.

FYI, in the FSM this is vol. 7, page WI-125. I did this on my MY'02
2.5 TS. MY'02 RS's should be the same, but I don't know about MY'02. Cars with cruise control (WRX's) have different clutch switches and different colored wires.

Look at the clutch pedal. At the top of it you'll see a black and a
yellow-green wire coming to the clutch switch. Get a vampire connector or similar device and connect these two wires. The starter interlock relay (SIR) then always thinks that the clutch is engaged (so you won't be able to use your cruise control), so you don't have to actually disengage the clutch to start the car.

I was told before doing this that this would cause CEL's because the ECU would think the clutch is ALWAYS disengaged and would sense something wrong. From the wiring diagram, this isn't true — there's only a single wire running from the SIR to the ECU, and the SIR is also connected to the factory alarm... and running my car this way for a couple days has caused no CEL's or ill effects.

 

Ian02WRX

Modification for '02 WRX

I read the "starting car without disengaging clutch post" and it is useful information, but it is not specific to the '02 WRX. Since I've just completed this mod, I thought I'd post my observations.

A manual tranny '02 WRX cannot be started without having the clutch disengaged (pedal fully depressed). This is no doubt due to lawyers who have read the Audi unintended acceleration case histories. My problem with this is that it is putting an axial load on the crankshaft during startup, when presumably the crankshaft bearings are in their least lubricated state. I know on DSMs, Supras, and other crank walkers (failing crank bearings) that one of the first preventative measure is to bypass these clutch switches (interlocks).

The WRX has two switches connected to the clutch pedal. The bottom or first switch to engage is the cruise control interlock--when it is "open" (clutch slightly depressed) the cruise control shuts-off. This switch has a blue plug with a yellow and black wire going to it. This is not the switch for the starter interlock; we're interested in the other switch.

The next switch is high up on the pedal and only opens when the clutch is all the way to the floor. This is the switch for the starter interlock; it has a white plug with a green/yellow stripe wire and a black wire. When the switch is open (clutch pedal all the way in), the circuit is closed (circuit complete) and the car starts. So, unplugging it gets us nowhere since it would be like having the clutch pedal up all the time--won't start.

What I did was took a short piece (1 inch) of 18 gauge wire (looks like that's what is used for the plug) and put a spade connector on each end (I have a pic I can post). I plugged the spades into the terminals on the plug; completing the curcuit so that it is as if the clutch pedal is always depressed.

With this mod the car starts without the pedal depressed at all, somewhat alleviating my fears of getting crankwalk on this car--I had 3 DSMs and never got it either, but I heard horror stories.
This mod does not affect the functionality of the cruise control--I've tested it, still works.

One side note: This is an inconspicuous starter kill if you ever have to leave your car somewhere unsafe. Just unplug this plug enough to pull the plug off the terminals, but not enough to come out of the harness. The car won't start and I imagine it would take some dilligence for a car thief to figure-out you did this and don't have a hidden starter kill somewhere else.

-Ian02WRX
www.gotboost.org