Removing the Torque limiter can result in broken driveshafts or gearboxes, so be warned.
There are 2 ways for removing the limiter.
The first one is by cutting wire from the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) from the sensor on top of the gearbox. This results in a not working speedo in Puma's with an electronic dash, because it's driven by the VSS. The speedo works just fine on Puma's with an analog dash, because those are cable driven.
The second way is by cutting the wire after the dash, which is done by locating the blue-white wire on pin 58 on the ECU.
In this topic I'm only focussing on the second option.
*note: My car is left hand drive, because I'm dutch, but the location of the ECU and all the cables, as well as the way the limiter works, is exactly the same for right hand drive cars.
Also my Puma is a late '99 with a TAPE ecu and digital dash
First you have to remove the ECU. It's located on the left side of the car, for both right and left hand drive Puma's.
Peel the carpet away, and you will see the ECU.
Next you have to drill out the rivets holding the black cover over the ecu.
Drill out the rivets shown in green.
Now you can take off the black cover over the ECU.
You can remove the connector on the ECU for easier acces, of you can leave it.
Now we have to cut the blue-white wire on pin 58, shown in red here:
Now you've cut that wire, the limiter is bypassed. Take it for a test drive and notice the increased power in first (and some say) second gear.
Some people, including me, want to put a switch on the limiter so you can turn it off when doing a 0-100 sprint for instance, and leave it on when driving normally.
To do that, there are a few ways.
You can install an easy switch right between the just cut cable, but you can also make it a bit more complicated, but better looking.
I chose to get a heated front screen switch from a local scrapyard, and using the orange light it produces when it's turned on as an indicator for when the limiter is turned off.
I also wanted the green light to work when you turn on the headlights, so I used the power wire from the fog light switch to power the green light
For the orange light, you need a constant power source when the engine is turned on, because using the same power as for the green light, would make the orange one only work when you have turned on your lights. So for this one, I used the power wire from the stereo. This way the orange light will tell you when the limiter is turned on or off when you switch on the ignition.
Working on the windscreen switch
The actual switch for the torque limiter itself will be located in the cover to the left of the steering wheel, covering the in-car fusebox. For right hand drive cars, this will be a little more difficult because you have to run the wires from the left side of the car to the right side, but it is still doable. You can't use the heated front screen switch itself, because it doesn't work as a switch to connect or disconnect wires, but rather gives a short signal to the ecu when pressed.
The switch itself has yet to be bought (did this on the weekend, so no shops open) and installed, but I will update this guide as soon as it is.
Any questions or remarks? Please post them!
Here is my video showing what a difference that limiter can make in a 0-100 test.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t29g26MrOjc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There are 2 ways for removing the limiter.
The first one is by cutting wire from the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) from the sensor on top of the gearbox. This results in a not working speedo in Puma's with an electronic dash, because it's driven by the VSS. The speedo works just fine on Puma's with an analog dash, because those are cable driven.
The second way is by cutting the wire after the dash, which is done by locating the blue-white wire on pin 58 on the ECU.
In this topic I'm only focussing on the second option.
*note: My car is left hand drive, because I'm dutch, but the location of the ECU and all the cables, as well as the way the limiter works, is exactly the same for right hand drive cars.
Also my Puma is a late '99 with a TAPE ecu and digital dash
First you have to remove the ECU. It's located on the left side of the car, for both right and left hand drive Puma's.
Peel the carpet away, and you will see the ECU.
Next you have to drill out the rivets holding the black cover over the ecu.
Drill out the rivets shown in green.
Now you can take off the black cover over the ECU.
You can remove the connector on the ECU for easier acces, of you can leave it.
Now we have to cut the blue-white wire on pin 58, shown in red here:
Now you've cut that wire, the limiter is bypassed. Take it for a test drive and notice the increased power in first (and some say) second gear.
Some people, including me, want to put a switch on the limiter so you can turn it off when doing a 0-100 sprint for instance, and leave it on when driving normally.
To do that, there are a few ways.
You can install an easy switch right between the just cut cable, but you can also make it a bit more complicated, but better looking.
I chose to get a heated front screen switch from a local scrapyard, and using the orange light it produces when it's turned on as an indicator for when the limiter is turned off.
I also wanted the green light to work when you turn on the headlights, so I used the power wire from the fog light switch to power the green light
For the orange light, you need a constant power source when the engine is turned on, because using the same power as for the green light, would make the orange one only work when you have turned on your lights. So for this one, I used the power wire from the stereo. This way the orange light will tell you when the limiter is turned on or off when you switch on the ignition.
Working on the windscreen switch
The actual switch for the torque limiter itself will be located in the cover to the left of the steering wheel, covering the in-car fusebox. For right hand drive cars, this will be a little more difficult because you have to run the wires from the left side of the car to the right side, but it is still doable. You can't use the heated front screen switch itself, because it doesn't work as a switch to connect or disconnect wires, but rather gives a short signal to the ecu when pressed.
The switch itself has yet to be bought (did this on the weekend, so no shops open) and installed, but I will update this guide as soon as it is.
Any questions or remarks? Please post them!
Here is my video showing what a difference that limiter can make in a 0-100 test.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t29g26MrOjc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;