1989 GL-10 AWD 5-speed.

Has anyone removed the 4WD fuse under the hood for a long enough time to see if it helps fuel consumption? Will the tranny be damaged if it were removed for a long period of time? If not I thought of wiring up a switch on the dash to turn it on and off. Any thoughts?

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. No mileage gain or loss.

 

The FWD fuse is for diagnosis only. Not for trying to get better gas mileage. The AWD transmission is not meant for driving in FWD mode.

I'm pretty sure that on gen.1 legacys it doesn't harm the transmission.

You guys are missing the crucial fact that there is no 4wd fuse on the 5 speed

You guys are missing the crucial fact that there is no 4wd fuse on the 5 speed

 

+1

 

There is a fuse located on the firewall, can't remember which side, but I do believe it doesn't have anything to do with the tranny......

There IS a fuse on the passenger side strut tower and after removing it, I swear I lost rear traction. I'll confirm just to ease my curiousity.

I won't mess with it anymore after that.

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, the 5 speed has no fuse that can be removed, because its all mechanical. The center diff provides the traction, and there's no way to seperate the rear wheels from the transmission on a manual.

The fuse is for AWD A/T's. You put the fuse IN to disable the AWD if I recall.

I can't remember if an 89 GL-10 has S/R 5-speed or a full time 4wd 5-speed; anyway if it is a S/R 5-speed you could pull both rear axles. The drop in rotating mass should help the MPG but I'm not sure if the difference is worth it.

even removing the driveshaft, completely disconnecting the rear drivetrain doesn't help with mileage. i'm sure it does some minor amount that doesn't really show up in the daily variations of driving.

I have no idea what that fuse is for. AC maybe. I'll figure it out later.

You are right on Turbone, you put the fuse IN to disable the AWD.

This is what happens when you have 4 vehicles in your yard that your trying to get fixed at once

Hah! Welcome to the club. I have 2 XT6's that need work. Just finished HG on the T-Wagon, doing one of the XT6's right now. With that goes seals and other gaskets. I'm trying to install a winch on my Hatch, its not cooperating:rolleyes:

My other XT6 is waiting for a engine/tranny swap. My Brat needs lots of work.

Oh yeah, and my RX is getting a transplant very soon, before WCSS8.