Transmission Shift Resistor
 

Today I disconnected the transmission resistor behind the battery on my 1996. I DEFINITLY like the way it shifts now, very crisp instead of deliberate.

Has anyone found a downside to doing this? I'm sure the Subaru engineers had a reason for putting the resistor there, but it is much "sportier" without.

Search, search search away.:) This is a topic with a lot of threads. Some very recent :) by Lee (FL), that has come with a great mod.

Only downside I saw is a hunting for gears on deceleration if you select 3rd or 2nd. This was solved by smallcars shift kit - best of both worlds. No problem if you leave it in drive all the time.

sounds interesting
 

can u guys provide more details about that modification?

what does that resistor do and what is gonna be without it

and where bouts is it? ;)

THX :D

It is mounted next to the battery. Unplugging it provides full line pressure to the transmission so you dont get the slippage during shifts. It is a great mod but will cause the power light to blink on startup and a hunting for gears on deceleration if you have the shift selector in 3 or 2. It is fine if you drive all the time in D. A couple people have pictures of the resistor in their locker if you have trouble finding it.

I unplugged the resistor in my car and I did not like the results. Sure, there's less slipping, but the jolting has got to be harder on the drivetrain.

I do want to try the 'shift kit' from Small Car, because that seems to be the best solution - smooth shifts at low throttle and firmer shifts when you get your foot in it.

Did the same thing on my 96. I did like the way it shifted but. after a few days the AT Temp light started it's 16 blink syndome.

The 96 doesn't have a power light to blink. That was annoying and I didn't know if bad things were happening so I reconnected the resistor.

John

96 SVX Polo Green

97 Outback Sport

Oh yeh and my other car

The transistor died on my '92 this past winter so I unplugged it. I drove around with it unplugged for about a month during winter. The forward- reverse shift was jolting when the car was cold. Once the car warmed up the shifts were very crisp. However I did not like the way it shifted in stop and go driving which is every night coming home from work. So I finally bought a new resistor and put it in. The tranny now works fine again.

Larry

So it really wasn't the tranny that was bad, just the resistor? :)