Hey all need help ASAP! have to get my 88 DL smogged today and the CEL is on checked the codes and came up with this: 45 Kick-Down (Detent) Relay or Circuit HELP i need to figure out what this refers too.

The detent or kickdown refers to the mechanism that downshifts the transmission into passing gear or a lower gear to accelerate in an automatic car. If yours is not an auto, it's confused. I thought the tranny was controlled buy a vacuum modulator that uses a vacuum signal from the engine to control when it shifts. Look on the sides of the tranny for a round metal unit, maybe gold in color with a rubber vacuum line going up to the engine. There MAY be an electric solonoid that the vacuum line connects to. The computor or another sensor controls when the solonoid opens alowing the modulator to get a signal. The connection may be dirty or the solonoids bad. Also try resting/clearing the computor. You may be able to disconnect and bypass the solonoid all together, but that may trip a fault code too.

 

This may help.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/USRM2/mick-usrm/electrical/ecucodes.html

Oops sorry. The car has the EA82 SPFI motor in it and the 3sp auto tranny. Where is this darn thing located ?

Thanks again

the kickdown solenoid will be on the passenger side of the transmission, with two fairly heavy wires going to it.

 

Under the steering column, there should also be a switch that is pressed when you press the gas to the floor.

 

To test the kickdown solenoid, you can unplug its wire harness from the transmission, then put 12v across the two wires. Polarity doesn't matter. You should hear a 'click' come from the solenoid. If no click, then it's bad and will need to be replaced, and/or worked around for the time being.

 

If it is bad, you can try hooking up a ~60ish ohm, 10W resistor into the computer side of the plug. That should make the computer think the solenoid works, and turn the CEL off until you have time to replace the solenoid.

If it is bad, you can try hooking up a ~60ish ohm, 10W resistor into the computer side of the plug. That should make the computer think the solenoid works, and turn the CEL off until you have time to replace the solenoid.

 

My kinda fix!

Well the great news is that she passes smog tonight :banana: :banana: now to sneak into work and pop off to dmv tomorrow and its all good

oh and to hijack my own thread ..... i was the timing being off that caused it to die origionally ..... THANKS MILES FOX for the write up on the belt replacement ! :banana: :banana: :banana: First tank of gas thru her after the old was burned out.....29.8 MPG !!!!!