95 impreza l coupe help

**Falenn** · 07-09-2012

I just recently bought this bad boy, needs a lot of work obviously. But aside from that I'm new to the older subaru scene and I've been hearing that there is a fuse that I can remove to put the car into 2wd, and place back in to put it back into awd. I've looked in the fuse box overlooked the diagram a thousand times but can't necessarily locate anything related to the drivetrain. Could someone make me look stupid and tell me which fuse it is?

Thanks.

**DownforceTom** · 07-09-2012

That existed on certain first gen legacies & svxs, I'm not sure if yours has it.

**JAC Wagon** · 07-09-2012

Paging Mr. *Furman*... Mr. PeeWee *Furman*

**John** · 07-10-2012

Mr. Furman is here!

Not all Subarus were AWD. Since your car is a 1995, its a strong possibility that its only a front wheel drive car. AWD didn't become standard across the board on Subarus until the 1996 model year (with a handfull of rare exceptions).

If your car is AWD, there is a fuse that you can install to put it in front wheel drive only mode. Remove the fuse and it will revert back to AWD. The car is not meant to be driven around in FWD mode, it can damage the center diff. That fuse option is basically for diagnostic purposes only. It works by cycling the DutyC solenoid in the center diff. You really only need to use it if you're having torque bind problems with the 4EAT (automatic transmission)]

On the second generation Legacys, its a small fuse holder against the firewall behind the passanger side strut. IIRC, on the Impreza its inside the main fuse box under the hood (by the battery). All of the 95-99 Subarus had it, they were just located in different places from car to car.

Forgot to mention as well...this only applies to AUTOMATIC transmissions. This fuse simply does not exists on the 5 speeds...If you're wanting to put your 5 speed in front wheel drive....you're SOL.

Why do you want to put your car in front wheel drive mode? Like I said, this is meant for diagnostic purposes only. If you're wanting to do it to save gas mileage, then thing again. You won't gain any MPG because what kills the gas mileage with the AWD system is all the extra weight of the rear driveline (rear diff, axles, driveshaft, subframe, etc). Just turning off the rear drive won't solve the problem of the added weight still being there. It will just make your car handle terrible, get you stuck in the snow, destroy your center diff, etc.

Oh yeah, you use it when you put the spare tire on the rear too. Very temporary use only.

**Falenn** · 07-10-2012

Originally Posted by John

Mr. Furman is here!

Not all Subarus were AWD. Since your car is a 1995, its a strong possibility that its only a front wheel drive car. AWD didn't become standard across the board on Subarus until the 1996 model year (with a handfull of rare exceptions).

If your car is AWD, there is a fuse that you can install to put it in front wheel drive only mode. Remove the fuse and it will revert back to AWD. The car is not meant to be driven around in FWD mode, it can damage the center diff. That fuse option is basically for diagnostic purposes only. It works by cycling the DutyC solenoid in the center diff. You really only need to use it if you're having torque bind problems with the 4EAT (automatic transmission)]

On the second generation Legacys, its a small fuse holder against the firewall behind the passanger side strut. IIRC, on the Impreza its inside the main fuse box under the hood (by the battery). All of the 95-99 Subarus had it, they were just located in different places from car to car.

Forgot to mention as well...this only applies to AUTOMATIC transmissions. This fuse simply does not exists on the 5 speeds...If you're wanting to put your 5 speed in front wheel drive....you're SOL.

Why do you want to put your car in front wheel drive mode? Like I said, this is meant for diagnostic purposes only. If you're wanting to do it to save gas mileage, then thing again. You won't gain any MPG because what kills the gas mileage with the AWD system is all the extra weight of the rear driveline (rear diff, axles, driveshaft, subframe, etc). Just turning off the rear drive won't solve the problem of the added weight still being there. It will just make your car handle terrible, get you stuck in the snow, destroy your center diff, etc.

Oh yeah, you use it when you put the spare tire on the rear too. Very temporary use only.

I bought this car used so I was just curious wherever the fuse was located just incase it was in fwd. But the car is AWD, I know that for a fact. It has the box in the rear drivetrain on the back and plus it says L [AWD] on the back. Thanks for the advice though man. I was staring at the fuse box diagram for some time like an idiot hahaha.