JDM, no..>European!!! parts aquisition (SVX, around the world in 60 days)

[svxcess]

In the UK-spec center light panels I have seen, the words SUBARU SVX are in black. The main difference between the US-spec and UK-spec is the addition of rear fog lights in the panel.




The JDM panel, with ALCYONE SVX, comes with the bright reflective silver or black lettering. The layout is the same as the US cars.
.

[SilverSpear]

Not only UK specs my friend, but also some of the Gulfian SVX comes with those taillights

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by b3lha

The econ switch connects pin a4 of the TCU to ground. This signals the TCU to use the economy shift map. I believe it lowers the shift points. There has been some discussion about whether the Euro cars have 3 shift maps: Econ, Normal and Power because the power light does come on when you kick down hard - which seems to suggest that the car is not already in power mode when the switch is out.

JDM cars switch to power mode when you ground pin a4 of the TCU. From looking at the pictures and wiring diagrams I believe that all the TCUs are the same hardware but different software.

Nobody knows what happens when you ground pin a4 on a USA SVX. Try it and find out if your shift points change.

The electric antenna button is necessary because the Euro model has an inferior stereo without a connection for the antenna motor. There are no tweeters and no twin-antenna diversity system, even though both antennas are fitted, only one is wired.

I am not in total agreement with Phil's thoughts on this matter, but we only diverge slightly. Primarily about the 3 shift maps.

Having had a lot of different problems with JDM and latterly English gearboxes, I have read up on everything I could get my hands on, owner's manuals, workshop manuals, End Wrench articles, ATSG, you name it. I have come to the conclusion there are only two shift maps in the 4EAT, Normal and Power.

Different markets get different ways of tapping in to these different maps.

All markets have the "kickdown" mode to shift the box from Normal to Power, i.e. rapid throttle movement which activates the Power mode depending on speed, gear, and other conditions. Most will agree it drops out of Power mode rather too quickly after the overtake or acceleration manouvre.{In late model OBD 11 cars, demand for speed does activate the Power map, but the dash Power light does not come on}

The JDM cars also have this "on demand" mode of changing shift maps, but in addition there is the switch Phil mentions that puts Power mode on all the time. This is roughly the equivalent of the BMW system where their auto cars have what they call a "Sport" mode. Same effect. Kickdown happens quicker, hard acceleration will cause the box to hold lower gears much longer to higher revs before changing up. Better fun all round really

The "Euro" cars, which all have the glass headlights, English, German, Swiss etc., these cars have an "Economy" switch instead of the JDM "Power" switch. They were lumbered with these Economy switches because it was reasoned that European owners are more conscious of fuel use than US owners, maybe something to do with the fact that our fuel costs were approx three times what gasoline costs were in the States at that time.

The Econ switch does not activate a third "economy" map in the software. Instead it merely cuts access to the Power mode. While Econ is in the on position, no amount of acceleration will induce Power mode, it is by-passed by the Econ switch. It does not lower the change-up points any lower than what they usually are in Normal mode, but while Econ is on, you are stuck with the standard very quick low-rev change-up that turns the SVX into a snail without the Power shift map. Note: this does not mean the car will not respond to normal kick-down, which would be dangerous, only that it kicks down in its usual leisurely way in Normal mode.

I hope that throws some light on gearbox mode discussions we have had over the years.

Joe

[b3lha]

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

The Econ switch does not activate a third "economy" map in the software. Instead it merely cuts access to the Power mode. While Econ is in the on position, no amount of acceleration will induce Power mode, it is by-passed by the Econ switch. It does not lower the change-up points any lower than what they usually are in Normal mode, but while Econ is on, you are stuck with the standard very quick low-rev change-up that turns the SVX into a snail without the Power shift map. Note: this does not mean the car will not respond to normal kick-down, which would be dangerous, only that it kicks down in its usual leisurely way in Normal mode.

Thanks for clearing that up Joe. Nice to have a definitive answer at last.

[curly2k3]

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

I am not in total agreement with Phil's thoughts on this matter, but we only diverge slightly. Primarily about the 3 shift maps.

Having had a lot of different problems with JDM and latterly English gearboxes, I have read up on everything I could get my hands on, owner's manuals, workshop manuals, End Wrench articles, ATSG, you name it. I have come to the conclusion there are only two shift maps in the 4EAT, Normal and Power.

Different markets get different ways of tapping in to these different maps.

All markets have the "kickdown" mode to shift the box from Normal to Power, i.e. rapid throttle movement which activates the Power mode depending on speed, gear, and other conditions. Most will agree it drops out of Power mode rather too quickly after the overtake or acceleration manouvre.{In late model OBD 11 cars, demand for speed does activate the Power map, but the dash Power light does not come on}

The JDM cars also have this "on demand" mode of changing shift maps, but in addition there is the switch Phil mentions that puts Power mode on all the time. This is roughly the equivalent of the BMW system where their auto cars have what they call a "Sport" mode. Same effect. Kickdown happens quicker, hard acceleration will cause the box to hold lower gears much longer to higher revs before changing up. Better fun all round really

The "Euro" cars, which all have the glass headlights, English, German, Swiss etc., these cars have an "Economy" switch instead of the JDM "Power" switch. They were lumbered with these Economy switches because it was reasoned that European owners are more conscious of fuel use than US owners, maybe something to do with the fact that our fuel costs were approx three times what gasoline costs were in the States at that time.

The Econ switch does not activate a third "economy" map in the software. Instead it merely cuts access to the Power mode. While Econ is in the on position, no amount of acceleration will induce Power mode, it is by-passed by the Econ switch. It does not lower the change-up points any lower than what they usually are in Normal mode, but while Econ is on, you are stuck with the standard very quick low-rev change-up that turns the SVX into a snail without the Power shift map. Note: this does not mean the car will not respond to normal kick-down, which would be dangerous, only that it kicks down in its usual leisurely way in Normal mode.

I hope that throws some light on gearbox mode discussions we have had over the years.

Joe

thanks, that cleared things up for me a little too, however I am going to disagree on the fuel ussage... I am always thinking about it, but then I realize how fun the car is to drive and MPG goes right out of my head

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by curly2k3

thanks, that cleared things up for me a little too, however I am going to disagree on the fuel ussage... I am always thinking about it, but then I realize how fun the car is to drive and MPG goes right out of my head

You are quite right on that point also Chris.

When I had the JDM car, I always measured my mpg from full tank to full tank. I still do this, I guess I'm anal about it.

Anyway, from week in/week out mileage checks, I found that the car only used about 1 mpg more with the Power switch on full time, at most 2 mpg.

I think it would be well worthwhile some of you US owners putting in a switch that would ground pin 4 as Phil suggests above. If it permanently switches in Power mode, you will find a major improvement in driveability in the SVX, just because you now have ACCESS to the power the car makes, rather than let the gearbox decide how quick you want to travel.

I'm certainly going to rewire Black Betty to do this when I get my new gearbox fitted.

Joe

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by b3lha

Thanks for clearing that up Joe. Nice to have a definitive answer at last.

You are welcome Phil.

You probably remember the early discussions where many suggested that the Power mode gave the car another 40 or 80 horsepower?

Well in the Maclane FAQ this was ridiculed, and probably correctly so, as the car still made 232 hp as per standard tune.

However.....

If you look at any standard dyno chart, you will see that the hp [and torque] curve rises in line with revs to yield more and more horsepower. Well when the gearbox is perpetually changing to a higher gear at maybe 1500 revs, then you are not getting any more hp to the wheels than what is shown on that chart at 1500 revs. I can't say I have seen a dyno chart for the SVX, but I suspect that the engine probably produces no more than 50 or 70 hp at these revs, maybe less.

The point I am making is that with Power mode permanently on, the gearchanges happen at way higher revs even for normal driving. So you are accessing more power from the engine, and the car feels and performs much more brisk.

So it is not strictly incorrect to say the Power mode gives another 40 hp. It doesn't make any more hp than stock, it does however give access to more of the hp that the engine makes.

[curly2k3]

so being the noob I am, would pinning it out still work with an ECUtune stage 1 or 2 also?

[dynomatt]

I thought the rear panel on my Australian car had foglights too, but it turns out it's just brake lights in the centre.

Is that the same as the US? Brake lights in the centre panel?

Other Subaru's I've had have a rear fog light...

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by curly2k3

so being the noob I am, would pinning it out still work with an ECUtune stage 1 or 2 also?

It should not make any difference Chris. ECU tune is modification to the ECU, the engine computer.

Phil is talking about grounding one of the pins to the TCU, the gearbox computer. Provided the ECU is getting its own separate signal from the TPS, there should be no problem with putting in the switch. I'm presuming this is how the JDM Power switch is wired.

Joe

[curly2k3]

OK, thats what I thought... so could you run a switch if you really wanted then, so you could have an "econ" mode if need be? I don't see why not

[b3lha]

Originally Posted by curly2k3

OK, thats what I thought... so could you run a switch if you really wanted then, so you could have an "econ" mode if need be? I don't see why not

The point is that the same pin does "power mode" on the JDM TCU and "economy mode" on the Euro TCU. It's not connected on the USA TCU, nobody has ever tried it to see what, if anything, it does.

Regarding the rear light panel. The cars with rear fog lights do not have the high level brake light. This is because there are only four wires running into the lid. On UK cars the wires are: Ground, Lights, Fogs, Reverse. On JDM cars they are: Ground, Lights, Brakes, Reverse.

On my JDM cars I needed to wire the inner two brake lights as fog lights to meet UK regulations. It was necessary to replace the 4 core cable with a 5 core cable: Ground, Lights, Brakes, Fogs, Reverse. I suppose that if you don't need rear fog lights then you can use them as brake lights without needing to replace the cable.

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by curly2k3

OK, thats what I thought... so could you run a switch if you really wanted then, so you could have an "econ" mode if need be? I don't see why not

Yes Chris, you could have an Econ mode if you wanted to.

I have just done some study on the US wiring diagram vs the Australian one, and I now have almost sorted out how you US guys can wire up permanent Power mode.

The TCU makes its calculations on when to employ Power mode based on input from the TPS. This is a white wire that connects to B67 Pin 8, the smallest connector into the TCU, the 12 pin one.

What we have to do to trick the TCU into switching on the Power mode is to feed this white wire a 4.8 to 5.0 volt signal. The TCU will assume the throttle is wide open, all the time, and will leave Power permanently on.

Next, how do we feed a 5v signal to this line? Well, this is my idea. There are three wires going from the MPFI unit to the TPS, Red, White and Black. The white wire is the variable voltage signal that the TPS returns to the ECU and the TCU. The black wire is the earth. I'm willing to bet that the red wire is a 5V feed from the MPFI unit that the TPS modulates through a resistor.

Now if this red wire is a 5V feed, then what we do is connect a switch between the red wire and the white wire. When the switch is ON, the red 5v wire is fed to the TCU, voila!, full-time Power mode. When the switch is OFF, the white wire is fed to the TCU, and we are back to normal, Power will come on when the demand is beyond the set levels.

I'm willing to bet this will work, and tomorrow I will check the TPS red wire voltage to see if my calculations are correct.

However, we are taking Zavikan's thread way off topic, so when I check the voltage tomorrow, I will put up this how-to in the Technical forum so you guys can do a guinea pig with the wiring, wire in a switch and try the system out.

It will be fun if it works!!

PS I'm also fairly sure that grounding pin 4 will cause the TCU to go to Economy mode, no Power shift map.

Joe

[oab_au]

Joe first I think there Are 3 maps, may be 4, in the TCU. Normal. Power and the one used be the Cruise Control. As our Aussie model does not use the Economy switch, this may be the same map as the cruise map. If it is not, then there are 4 maps.

The other is if you switch the white wire to 5V to hold the Power map, it will also hold the ECU at full throttle signal all the time. You would have to isolate the 5V signal from the ECU, and only allow it to the TCU.

Harvey.

[-JJ-]

This is the rear light bar of an Australian Delivered SVX



This is the rear light bar of the American Delivered SVX



I purchased the american rear light bar for my SVX recently as the "fog" and reverse lights are in the opposite places!

Whats been called the "fog" light on aussie modles is just a blank space (no globe) and on the american models, when pluged stragight into the Aussie loom, the 'fog' light is actually just a rear light and break light!

My car now:

The other difference i found is that at Aussie light bar has SVX in black, and the US one is in silver!

Not sure how i helped but it seemed useful when i started to write!

Edit: now i just re-read svxcess post, i basically just restated what he had to say, haha, oh well!

Cheers,
Jake