As I understand it, the AWD system is totally automatic allowing no imput from the driver, unless he intentionally spins the front wheels which would engage the rears for the duration of the spin. Could one fool the system in some fashion so the AWD could be manually engaged at will?
Rod H
41 - 60 of 83 Posts
Joined
·
1,924 Posts
there is a guy on here that added it to his 6spd manual tranny SC and said all he did was something like taking a plate off the side of the tranny and adding all the factory parts to the truck to get it to be AWD. it has been within the past month that i saw it. i wouldnt imagine it being too hard to take it out if it was that easy to add it. maybe we could take all your parts and put them on mine one of these weekends 
Hmm.. I will have to dig through the Helm manual and see what all of that looks like...there is a guy on here that added it to his 6spd manual tranny SC and said all he did was something like taking a plate off the side of the tranny and adding all the factory parts to the truck to get it to be AWD. it has been within the past month that i saw it. i wouldnt imagine it being too hard to take it out if it was that easy to add it. maybe we could take all your parts and put them on mine one of these weekends
Does it negatively affect any other aspect of the vehicle? (is it safe to do with no harmful side effects?)
That may kill the 4WD, but does it get rid of parasitic drag? It seems that if you just pulled the shaft, the clutch that engages the 4WD would engage every time you drove anywhere. Of course it would now be matching the speed of the U-joint you just disconnected to the speed of the rear wheels (as opposed to normally trying to match the speed of the wheels with the speed of the shaft). All you would save is the energy used to turn the shaft. This must be small compared to the energy used to engage that clutch pack (well, until the clutch burns out!).
To get what you want, you would probably have to remove the shaft and all of the drive components in the rear end. It would probably involve a bit of work, and possibly you would have to buy some parts from a junk-yard 2WD.
I don't think this is a good solution. From my understanding 4WD costs you very little in gas mileage. If you did the math, you'll probably find that it costs you less than $100 extra per year for gas.
As far as "negatively affecting your vehicle" goes. Disconnecting the RT4WD would certainly affect the cars resale value!
Joined
·
498 Posts
It should cause any viscous coupling damage as there will not be any torque applied to it. However the rear diff would POSSIBLY be damaged after a long time. It would basically be riding on the non drive side of the gears.
I think it would be safe to do, but if you really want to lose the parasitic drag, you should ditch all the AWD parts and make some money in the process
I think it would be safe to do, but if you really want to lose the parasitic drag, you should ditch all the AWD parts and make some money in the process
I have heard of owners with CRV's and Elements pulling the prop shaft after the u-joints went south. I haven't seen them report back to any possible damage. I agree that the only proper way to go about this would be to pull all the related components from the rear end. Honda sells stub axles that bolt place of the CV ce to help keep the rear wheel bearings from suffering any added strain.
So, are you saying that the u-joint will be stationary while the vehicle drives down the road? Or, that it will spin at its normal speed, being driven by the rear wheels.
The way that I've always understood it; if there is a difference between the speed of the drive shaft and the wheels, the clutch will engage. If you remove the drive shaft, and the u-joint doesn't spin with the wheels, then any time the wheels are turning there will be a difference in the speed of the joint vs. the wheels and the clutch should engage.
If the u-joint spins along with the wheels, due to internal friction in the pumping system, then it's true that the clutch won't engage. But that scenario pretty much rules out any fuel savings, since you're still moving all the same parts that you would be moving if the drive shaft was still installed.
The way that I've always understood it; if there is a difference between the speed of the drive shaft and the wheels, the clutch will engage. If you remove the drive shaft, and the u-joint doesn't spin with the wheels, then any time the wheels are turning there will be a difference in the speed of the joint vs. the wheels and the clutch should engage.
If the u-joint spins along with the wheels, due to internal friction in the pumping system, then it's true that the clutch won't engage. But that scenario pretty much rules out any fuel savings, since you're still moving all the same parts that you would be moving if the drive shaft was still installed.
Joined
·
15,323 Posts
There is no viscous coupling, just fluid pumps.
Manual switch for the 4WD system?
This is just in the idea phase for me right now (no job = no $$ but lots of thinkin' time!) but thought it might have been addressed by some of the tinkerers out there.
Has anyone done a mod to override the automatic switching mechanism on their 4WD E? I love this car, but coming from an Outback I find the automatic 4WD system frustratingly, and sometimes dangerously, slow to respond. I would way rather just flip a switch on the dash to engage 4WD when I know I'll be in sketchy conditions. The sensors let quite a bit of slip occur before the 4WD kicks in, kinda letting the traction situation get pretty bad before the 4WD helps you out. My feeling is that either the system should be virtually instantaneous (Subaru AWD) or under your control, like a manual 4WD system in a truck.
It seems like there might be a way to circumvent the slip sensors or whatever with a switch wired to the dash.
Anyone tried this or looked into it?
This is just in the idea phase for me right now (no job = no $$ but lots of thinkin' time!) but thought it might have been addressed by some of the tinkerers out there.
Has anyone done a mod to override the automatic switching mechanism on their 4WD E? I love this car, but coming from an Outback I find the automatic 4WD system frustratingly, and sometimes dangerously, slow to respond. I would way rather just flip a switch on the dash to engage 4WD when I know I'll be in sketchy conditions. The sensors let quite a bit of slip occur before the 4WD kicks in, kinda letting the traction situation get pretty bad before the 4WD helps you out. My feeling is that either the system should be virtually instantaneous (Subaru AWD) or under your control, like a manual 4WD system in a truck.
It seems like there might be a way to circumvent the slip sensors or whatever with a switch wired to the dash.
Anyone tried this or looked into it?
Joined
·
2,724 Posts
Yep, that dog has been dragged through town many a times....
NO, nobody has done it, 'cause there is nowhere to connect yer switch to.
It is a fully mechanical, encapsulated, reactionary system. No wire in, No wire out!
Good Luck!
Joined
·
19,998 Posts
Essentially it's a fully mechanical slip clutch. The only way to make a "switch" would be to disassemble the entire rear differential and put in some sort of solenoid that would dog it either way. No electronics for it to hook to at all and not something I'd highly recommend.
Joined
·
2,724 Posts
You are right. One needs to get into the inards and with some bypass valve cause an artificial pressure differential for the clutch-pack to engage... I am not sure that the result would be satisfactory....
Agreed.
I have come to the conclusion that RT4WD was designed to be a traction aid and nothing more than that.
Looked into it years ago with my 2004. Can't be done. Not with the current transmission drivetrain set up anyway.
Joined
·
1,446 Posts
DING!
the problem users have is that most people that have owned cars and go to a realtime system, let off the pedal when they feel "slippage" & the realtime doesn't engage.
My father has been using my old element for 4+ years and to this day, when he goes around a turn in the snow the awd ex just drifts lol
If i'm in the passenger seat i usually go into some long winded rant that he should just get rid of the truck if he's not going to use it right
Joined
·
6,342 Posts
If the car keeps moving, what's wrong with letting up on the gas so the front tires don't spin? Spinning tires don't give you good steering control.If i'm in the passenger seat i usually go into some long winded rant that he should just get rid of the truck if he's not going to use it right
I don't purposefully spin the fronts to send power to rear, unless I am playing in an open parking lot, and don't care where I end up.
Joined
·
1,446 Posts
after going into the turn , mid turn you should be accelerating to propel the car forward.
If you do not depress the pedal, the weight of the car coupled with the angle of a turn will shift the car sideways vs forward.
Depending on how much you press the gas (as you know) will catch and "go" with the realtime
this is how i've been with it
Maybe this is too simple...but why couldn't you just put some sort of valve on one of the hydraulic lines? When partially closed creates a pressure differential and when open operates normally? Unless there are no hydraulic lines because everything is contained within the transmission.
41 - 60 of 83 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
