legacycentral bbs

I was under the inpression that the park and neutral switches only effected the inhibiter switch (which does not let the car start). In my swap I did not use the inhibiter switch, my starter is wired right to the ignition switch. With that in mind, should either the park or neutral swtich effect weather the car runs or not? I'm hoping they do as my car will not start as is. If they do have an effect, is the switch(s) grounded, or + signal? Thanks for the help.

~Josh

The ECU does use them, but their absence won't prevent the engine from starting.

On manual transmission cars the neutral switch has nothing to do with the starting circuit; the start inhibit dealie uses a switch on the clutch pedal.

You need some form of relay wired in with clutch switch.

The neutral switch is tied to the ECU and does affect idle if you don't have it wired up properly

My motor came out of an automatic transmition car; does this affect what the neutral ecu pinout does? Also, the car my motor is in does not have a clutch switch (it is a '73). Am I correct in assuming that the inhibitor switch only affects the starter relay? When I tried to start the car today the ecu switched the main ignition relay, but did not turn on the fuel pump, I'm just trying to come up with possible reasons for this and figured the park, or neutral switch might have something to do with it. I tried re-wiring the pump pump relay into the ignition relay (so the fuel pump came on with the igntion switch) and the car still would not start. I guess tomarow I'll start with the basic and see if I'm getting fuel and spark and such. I just figured since the ecu was not turing on the fuel pump the issue was ecu related. Any suggesting would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

~Josh

What are you putting the engine into?

Did you get the ECU & wiring from the automatic car?

the motor is in my 1973 Super Beetle, and yes the ecu and wiring are from the same automatic car the motor came from. If the clutch switch is realy all that important I could always make something, but since the motor is out of an automatic, I'm assuming it isn't.

~Josh

The automatic and manual EJ22T stuff is the same. You should wire this as if it were going in a manual Legacy.

Leave the transmission ID pin of the ECU disconnected. Connect the neutral switch wire to a switch set up so that when you're in gear it's grounded and when you're not in gear it's floating.

No inhibitor switch is relevant.

But that's not what's keeping the car from starting. The ECU should be turning the fuel pump on. Did you wire the fuel pump coil correctly (one side connected to ignition-switched +12v, other side connected to ECU's fuel pump pin)?

Does all the neutral switch do is change the idle speed when in gear, or are there other changes. I'm using a VW transmission and am having trouble thinking of a way to hook up a switch as described (other than a toggle switch on the dash).

I'm a little confused on the fuel pump wiring. Is the ECU's fuel pump pin not a switch for the fuel pump relay? That is how it is wired now, with the power to the relay coming straight from the batery. When the relay switch is hooked to an ignition switched acesery fuse, the pump seems to operate correctly. I realy apreciate all the help.

~Josh

The fuel pump relay has four pins. Two high-current contacts and two ends of the coil.

One high-current contact goes to a heavy-gauge +12v wire.

One high-current contact goes to the fuel pump, again with heavy-gauge wire.

One side of the coil goes to ignition-switched +12v. Light gauge wire is fine here.

The other side of the coil goes to the ECU's fuel pump pin. Again, light gauge wire is fine here.

It sounds to me like you hooked the relay up as if it were switched on the hot side. It's switched on the ground side. The ECU completes the ground when it wants to turn on the fuel pump.

vrg3 wrote:
It sounds to me like you hooked the relay up as if it were switched on the hot side.

That is exactly what I did (using a generic 4 pin relay, not the suby one). Does the radiator fan relay work the same way? figured I would ask now before I realize that it doesn't work later. Thanks for the help.

~Josh

Yes. All the following devices are connected to ignition-switched +12v directly and have their grounds switched by the ECU:

Fuel pump relay
Radiator fan relay
IAC valve (both coils)
Wastegate control solenoid
Pressure exchange solenoid
Canister purge solenoid
Injectors
A/C cut relay
Check Engine light
Ignition coil pack (both coils)

Re the neutral switch. If the vw tranny doesn't have any sort of neutral switch setup, you could try and wire the neutral switch up to the clutch switch (assuming you have something like that) That way every time you push in the clutch the ECU will think the car is in neutral. It's not 100% accurate, but better then just leaving it not hooked up.