Phil DePocket - I like that.

Speaking of that dual use for the orange up-arrow, there's a rather obscure harness wiring alteration between manual and automatic, involving a violet wire at a connector behind the glove box. Because the lamp is run by the output of the OD relay in automatics, and by an output from the ECU in standard shift cars like yours, the ECU connection must be opened up (violet wire removed and taped back) in the automatic application.

The information is of little use, because the damage isn't fatal to the ECU, just alarming if opened up, and only a very few of us have converted from manual to auto, and I believe those who have could care less about OD lockout, just as those who convert their auto trannies to manual don't care if they have the upshift nanny working.

I've run into two cars, an 89 and 90, both with automatics, having that wire mistakenly in place, and causing a minor amount of overheating inside the ECU. Here's a photo of the damage it causes. The resistor is in series with the open collector switch that tells you when to upshift - very much at odds with the voltage provided by the solenoid relay in the AW-70 application.


--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.