Hey guys,

Like a few guys on here, I have converted my eb auto to t5 a while back. I'm currently tricking the auto el ecu to thinking that i still have the auto. I was reading on truebluefords that there was a guy on there who did something a bit different. He attached some kind of switch to the clutch pedal which when the pedal was not pressed the car would think it was in park and when the pedal was depressed the ecu would think that it was in Drive.

I'm just wondering what if any benefit would there be from making the ecu think its in drive rather than just park/neutral? the only thing i can think of is that tricked auto ecus loose some ultra lean mode on the highway (i think snap mentioned it once). Also I've noticed that even with a tricked ecu sometimes my car will nearly stall when putting a sudden load (such as braking hard after pushing the clutch in going down hill) Apparently this can be the cause of the ecu not telling the ISC to compensate for extra load coz it thinks the car is just in park (i read on here that some other ppl have had similar problems after converting to t5).

What do you guys reckon? Would I benefit from running a switch that I could flip once the car was started so the ecu thought it was in drive?

by the way this is the link for the site that i saw the park/drive switch idea
http://www.trueblueford.com/CraigsEDghia.html

I wouldn't think park would be relevant - neutral/drive would be.
I have tried a similar setup using the T5 neutral switch, but it was a PITA, the revs would stay up when braking in gear, and sitting in gear with clutch in made the revs sit at around 1200.
The clutch switch setup would be a better implementation.
If you're running cruise control, your clutch switch should be set up to control a relay coil running 2 sets of contacts - for cruise, and ECU neutral/drive, so both systems remain independent of each other.
You'll gain lean cruise mode, but I've never tested it whether the fuel economy is noticeable, and if you're running thermofans off the EL ECU, they'll now test normally during the EEC test.
I doubt you'll fix the stalling issue - and yes it only happens during certain conditions, slowing down, downhill - the revs drop to stall, then the ISC corrects it.

A possible fix for that is to go against the factory idle adjustment procedure. Disconnect the ISC, set idle, install a custom made ISC gasket with small holes, perhaps start around 2 -3 mm for the two holes to limit ISC operation, and see whether that improves the issue.
I know a few people have disconnected the ISC, but I'd think letting the ISC run with limited control would be the best setup, for steering rack load, aircon, etc. You'll probably need to experiment.

the easist way is to bridge the inhibitor switch wiring as normal, and just plug in the other plug into the park/neutral switch and put it in the drive position. This way the PCM is expecting extra load etc and it does all seem to work better in my experiance

thanks for the informative reply snap!
Your idea with the isc sounds like a good one. I might even try just raising the base idle slightly as it might only need a little bit more to stop it from stalling.

If only manual el ecus were as common and cheap as the auto ones!

NP Dude.
The only other thing I'd say that might be annoying with the clutch switch setup is slowing down in gear around the 30-20kmh level - you may find the revs sitting around 1200rpm to fight braking a little.
I think you will find the ECU tricked into neutral the best compromise - this has been the 'usual' setup discussed in the threads - you'll find tricking into drive will be annoying as the idle will always be held to around 1000-1200rpm(that's what I've found anyway).
Setting up the auto ECU to run as manual will always be a compromise - a clutch/flywheel has different characteristics to a torque converter/auto.

Having said that though, I've found my setups to work well - you will get an odd occasional rev hold, but, overall, it's never been annoying.