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How to : Switch for ABS

20K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  Nick D 
#1 ·
How to : Switch for ABS

First off I'm not responsible....... You know how it goes.

The reason I did this on my last vehicle and this one is because I find subaru's abs to be to sensitive in snow and even loose gravel, and I also like having some fun with the brakes in certain situations, so I setup a switch to deactivate the abs without having to pull the fuse all the time.

In my last vehicle (2001 RS) I was able to turn it on and off without issues. In my forester (2004 XT 5spd) it turns off with the switch, but you need to turn off the vehicle and start it again to reactivate it.


Parts needed:

1. 2 fuses. - One mini fuse to replace the one on the fuse panel (Any size becuase it's going to be popped anyways)
- One 30amp (green)so you still have a safe fused link

2. Inline fuse holder. You can get one for the mini fuses or the regualar ATO size. The 30 amp fuse you buy will have to be the rigth size (Pic 1 & 2)

3. On/off switch. I pulled one out of a old computer power supply. (Pic 3 & 4)

4. 22 gauge wire.

5. Electric tape

6. Soldering supplies to conect eveything together.



How to:

First well connect everything togdether then we'll move on to the vehicle to install it.

1. Get your mini fuse and with a small drill bit drill where it's circled in red to break the connection and make the fuse popped. (Pic 5)

2. Take out some wire and solder it up like my diagram (Mad MS paint skills) in Pic 9.

3. You can do this first or save it for last, but the hardest part to solder will be the little connections on the popped fuse. The ones I had, had the pins sticking out the top (Barely). I melted away a bit of plastic and soldered my wires on. (Pic 6)

4. Once everything is connected take out the electric tape and cover all the metal connections including the top of the fuse that's going to be instaled in the vehicle.


Moving on to the vehicle.

1. With the vehicle off pull out the coin tray and pull the fuse marked ABS. Sorry for the bad pic but it's 1 in the morning and there a ice storm outside. (Pic 7)

2. Start vehicle and verify you have the 2 light circled lit up to say you don't have ABS. (Pic 8)

3. If you pulled the right fuse stop the vehicle and put your broken fuse in place of the one you just pulled out.

4. Make sure the switch is on and start vehicle again. If you did it right you should have ABS (No lights lit). With the vehicle still running turn the switch off, and the 2 lights for ABS should turn on. If so you did it right.


All thats left is to pull a empty switch cover (Next to the cruise switch) and make your hole for your switch and pass the wires behind the dash. you should be able to do this without accually removing the lower dash panel.

Enjoy.

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#5 ·
The ABS computer can only be reset by turning the vehicle on and off. So in answer to your question my way turns it off, but you need to turn your car on and off if you want the ABS back.

The lead I tapped is right behind the fuse block. It's quick and easey. I"ll post pix tonight.
 
#8 ·
Take a look at these for a ABS on/off switch that do not need a complete reboot.

When you flip the switch 'on' the ABS controller thinks it is the ignition thats been switched on.

This works on mine -99.
 

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#14 · (Edited)
WARNING! The idea is neat, and it does turn the ABS on and off on demand. HOWEVER, that wire also supplies power to the main fan relay, so I wouldn't suggest sitting idle on a hot day with ABS disabled this way. The ECU should light up a CEL though (my 98 did).

The separation point of the wires to the relay and ABS is somewhere in the bulkhead harness (I'd guess in the fender where it splits between front bumper harness and a connection to the main fusebox). In other words, to make this work properly, you'd either have to pull the harness, or route an additional wire (either switched line directly to the ABS, or an uninterrupted power to the relay; the latter is easier). If you can find an unused wire in the main harness that also goes to the main fusebox (or ABS - but I do not think there are any there), it would make the job much easier - at least you'd not have to route new wires through the firewall.
 
#10 · (Edited)
oki, these pics are from a post I did at offroadsubarus.com a while back.
So here are some more pictures. ( I did not have them at hand for the previous post)

I found the other end of the power supply cable (pin 1 on ABS-unit) going in a plug on the back of the fuse box.
Take off the plug on the ABS-unit (behind right front light) and see what color it have on the wire to pin 1.
I used a wire put into the ABS-unit-plug pin 1 and checked all wires (those with the same color) under the dash with a multimeter.
..on my car its green with a black stripe.

Hope this is a bit more helpful :)
 

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#11 ·
That is more helpful! Thanks man!

One other thing... Is there a way to change the sensitivity of the ABS? what about an auto dimmer switch working with the 4 wires (sensors)?

I havn't had my wheels off lately and didn't think of this when I was down there, but can you pull the sensors (the hub) away a little to make it harder to sense slip?

>>>MAX
 
#17 ·
Instead the fuse method, you can access the fused power wire on the back of the fuse panel. For my 06 XT it is the fatter red/yellow wire on this harness:



Just cut it to insert a switch. The fuse panel can be pulled out by removing the nut at the top and undoing one clip on each side. For 06 this circuit is for the ABS control module only, nothing else, at lease according to the shop manual.
 
#19 ·
Green one or red one?

So which is it? The green wire or the red wire. Going to add a switch in before the snow becuase I find that in snow and snow my abs is dangerous and its like my brakes gone out. Too many close calls.

Green one?


Red one?
 
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