Torque limiter removal, ECU way

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Destynx

New member
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Messages
17
Location
Holland
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;
 
My way:



I've found out that car doesnt run smooth (especially on idle or without accelerating) when VSS is cut.
I made switch that cuts the signal only on first gear and ON\OFF button that always gives VSS signal to ECU.
On\off button is not shown on photos.
 
Great guide so far, it will be nice to see it finished, as for the location of the switch couldn't you have used the blanked one next to the clock (front fog lights on a Fiesta?)
 
I bought a rear wiper switch and have cut the speedo wire. It was the fastest and easiest way for me. I use the un-limiter on track only, so there is no need for the speedometer to work. I don't have time to look onto it.
 
My car does actually run really smooth with the limiter removed (better then before) but it does stall sometimes when pressing the clutch from second gear. Quite dangerous as I had it stall on me just as I was about to take a corner and the power steering stopped working :?

I was actually thinking of putting the switch there, but I kinda liked it being out of sight, and for me the cables from the ECU can be much shorter, cause they don't have to run to the middle of the car. Instead, they run about 20cm up and that's it.

I read a lot about just cutting the VSS before the speedo, but it seemed quite annoying having the speedo not working in first gear, and because I couldn't find anyone trying the ECU way successfully, I was quite tempted to try it this way and find out if it really works or not.

I will make some 0-60 (0-100 kmp/h) soon with the limiter on and off to show you just how much faster a Puma can be :cool:
 
If you cut the blue
And white 58 ecu pin will the engine stall when coming
To a stop like the other way of
Fitting the torque limiter switch by cutting the vss brown wire?
 
I tried doing this by cutting the wire for the ECU.
I experienced random/occasional stalling and didn't notice any difference in the torque/pickup at low speeds/pulling away, so I joined the wire back up. More so to stop the stalling.

This may not be the case for everyone, but was a bit of a coincidence that the stalling started after I cut the wire and stopped after I joined it back up.
 
So cutting the ecu wire and running a in line swith as opposed to cutting vss in engine bay, still stalls either way , meh !
 
adampuma said:
So cutting the ecu wire and running a in line swith as opposed to cutting vss in engine bay, still stalls either way , meh !
I can't comment for everyone, but it did for me.

I've got an FRP ECU so don't need to worry about the limiter!
 
The FRP ecu has a torque limiter. This is one of the greatest myth in Puma mods.

All the Racing Puma map does is increases rev limiter to about 7250rpm and runs a richer map and more peak power over standard(about 8-10 bhp more)

Cheers

Ally
 
So these companies that claim they have loaded the frp map onto a tape ecu and now the torque limiters have been removed in 1st/2nd-they just think it has?
 
ally frp said:
The FRP ecu has a torque limiter. This is one of the greatest myth in Puma mods.

All the Racing Puma map does is increases rev limiter to about 7250rpm and runs a richer map and more peak power over standard(about 8-10 bhp more)

Cheers

Ally
Well, you learn something new every day!
 
adampuma said:
So these companies that claim they have loaded the frp map onto a tape ecu and now the torque limiters have been removed in 1st/2nd-they just think it has?

Exactamondo..........

I have got a torque removed ecu now and its a complete animal now off the line. It completely changes the car and makes it a proper racer now. I have the racing box as well which is strengthened 1st and 2nd gears so i'm a bit happier I'll have longevity.

It's the Pumaspeed map Ive got. my brother inlaws Puma(silverbullit99) car was so restricted in 1st gear that we thought there was something wrong with it. We tried the Genuine Ford modified TPS loom which help sharpen it up but was still not right. When he got the PS map the car is just awesome now. So sharp and aggressive.

Cheers

Ally
 
Hi @Destynx

A question for you: How you can set speed in trip display?

Regards,
Elia
 
Sorry for the delayed answer, but it's really easy.
All you need to do is hold down the button which resets the trip meter while you start the car, and continue to hold it until it shows "test" in the display and the needles completely up and down. Now you can switch between modes with the same button.
Here is a simple guide: http://www.ebay.com/gds/UNLOCK-FORD...TAL-ELECTRONIC-DASH-/10000000002377524/g.html
 
Hi Destynx. Just a few questions for you if that's ok?? Or anyone else for that matter!

I'm just a little confused as to how you wired up the front screen switch...like yourself, I want to be able to have a separate switch that lights up orange to tell me when the limiter is off.

I'm assuming this switch (front windscreen switch in your case) is run in parallel with the other switch just to the left of your steering wheel so that regardless of whether this switch is on or off, and as long as the front windscreen switch is off (which creates the connection in this case - bypassing the secondary switch), the limiter is always on.

Bear in mind when i say off for the windscreen switch i mean the orange light is off - in simple terms...orange light off = connection, orange light on = no connection (please correct me if I'm wrong!).

What I'm confused with is how exactly you wired up these switches to give the above stated desired effect?? Photos would be most grateful!!!

Another thing is if i were to get a ford traction control button (not sure exactly which one I need yet - still looking into that - just thought it would look cooler haha) instead of a button such as the front windscreen switch (but still the same shape so it'll fit in the empty slot alongside the others), would the wiring be much different? Would it just be a case of working out what pins do what and wiring them up accordingly (assuming they're similar to that of the windscreen switch and it'll work with the desired setup)?

One more thing about the switch...how exactly does it work? I understand that it sends a signal to the ecu for it's normal operating purpose but what i don't understand is how it will break the circuit and still have the orange light on? :L I'm guessing we'll be utilising the signal it sends to the ECU to temporarily disable that switch's parallel connection whilst turning the orange light on - it sounds as if this one switch has 2 functions...sending the signal to the ECU and a physical switch to turn on the orange light - does that sound right???

Really sorry for the long winded post but I want to make sure i get things right before i go cutting wires left, right and centre! :lol: Please help! Thanks!

Also, if it helps at all, I'm hoping to fit my secondary switch as an automatic one just as Alister Crowley has done!
 
Really sorry for the delayed answer again, not really active here lately.
You are describing the same problem I was facing, because I didn't know how to wire up the switch to get the result I was aiming for. Luckily I found a guy who provided me a switch that did three thing. In position 1 it joined the first the wires which where from the ecu up, so the limiter was active, and it also disconnected the wires next to it, which I used to power the orange light in the dash. I still have one opening free, which also connects in position 1, and I plan on using that one to disable the traction control as well, because it also limits the power when pulling away.
I hope you understand a bit how it works. I personally haven't had to do much else beside wiring it up the way I explained, because the switch made everything work for me :)
 
i am looking into this also im using a blue light switch so when torque limiter switch off switch lights up blue and when switched on no light as i like to have lights telling me when something is being used

Jason

:p :eek:k:
 
Is it just me I can't see the pictures in the guide I am new here and really interested in this guide? :roll:
 

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