Turn your Subaru AWD Off - 2 Wheel Drive Fuse

PLEASE READ - Consult your owners manual before attempting on your vehicle. There are limitations to when where and how long these cars can operate in 2 wheel drive
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We hope you enjoyed this video and will keep in mind that all information included is intended to be purely academic and in fact is only the opinion of D&E. We are not professionals, nor are we qualified to knight you a professional. D&E want to ensure that anyone modify or fixing their own vehicle does so in a safe manner which leaves the vehicle in a legal, roadworthy state. In short, DON'T BE A MONKEY WITH A TOOL BOX! If you don't know what you are doing, leave it the professionals!

[@outdoorsmansgarage]

Never really thought about tire tread making that big of a difference but I guess it kind of makes sense. I wonder if my wife's Hyundai Santa Fe all-wheel drive is that picky. In the Santa Fe you can turn on and off the all-wheel drive with a button

[@DEInTheGarage]

It is a big issue with Subarus because of how their symmetrical all-wheel drive - It is more of a locker than AWD

[@pitfighter871]

bro thank you for talking from the heart. please go into the rants. im way uninitiated on the cars i went with and all your insight and rants are valuable

[@sccarguy8242]

I think they did that so they can be towed with a wheel lift as well, with AWD you can’t wheel lift the car but plug the fuse in (or out) and bingo now you can. On the newer car, look up how to tow the vehicle. If it says flatbed only you know you can’t disco the rest.

[@sjhotz]

Thank you Doug, love your helpful info!

[@johngifford7725]

I'm glad you took a moment to talk about that fuse. We bought our first Subaru this year. A 2010 Forester with the EJ253 and the 4EAT. We liked it so much we just bought another one. Exact same year and power train. I have a donut in each and I didn't know about the 2wd thing. I'm going to go read up on it now.

[@Mitsu3kGT]

Bros going to get real familiar with head gaskets 😂

[@preppinglife624]

Definitely a cool tip brother thank you!

[@tadavis12]

Interesting. I’ll have to check out the fuse box on the 16 Impreza. I honestly never really thought about putting the spare on my car and how it might affect the driveline

[@johnstefanick2167]

That exact fuse is now in my 2012 Forester in the passenger compartment under a dash cover right in front of my left knee when seated. I put a fuse in that socket and turned my car into a 2wd car for a test of the 4wd system.

[@SheeranFarms]

OMG you just fixed the AWD on the $400 Legacy I bought my son the prior owner said had never worked the 8 years they owned it. Can't believe it was just a fuse for a flat tire

[@DEInTheGarage]

What a great story! Thanks for sharing! Super glad no one sent it to the crusher over it. Haha. Hope your son enjoys the car

[@danhambrick6331]

Another episode without Eric? You're going to have to change the name to D in The Garage.😁👍👍

[@NoWr2Run]

For while there I thought the channel was DEAD ? But thankfully he started posting again, no Eric though ?

[@rlraiden8391]

Just wanted to say that I appreciate any kind of content that you guys put out. I originally got here because of the avalanche but stayed for the dudes working on the machines and learning about Jeeps and automotive history. I recently bought my first WJ with 240,000 miles on the 4.0. Keep up the great work!!!!

[@zachgoertz6444]

The fuse for front wheel drive I think is in the cabin fuse box now

[@j3phillips]

D&E, is the FWD fuse under the steering column? I just saw a video of a newer Subie that had it there…strange, however, that it wouldn’t be in the manual. - Owner, ‘03 Yeetaru Legacy/Outback.

[@TomKirkman1]

I thought the AWD system on Subaru's were mechanical systems. While rotating the tires on my 2023 Crosstek today, I noted that while I could turn either of the front wheels, the two back wheels spun freely. My 2006 Outback Sport doesn't do that. So I am wondering if my 2023 Crosstek AWD system has failed or works differently.

[@82_KID]

2nd gen Outback here. 4EAT trans. 317k plus miles. I run FWD mode sometimes. I can get wheel spin that way.

[@NoWr2Run]

A 5 speed IMHO is the only way to have fun in the ROO'S. For snow a ft. or less I take the Outback, deeper snow the Jeep Grand comes in with Selec-Trac. It's hard the Roo or my Zj, BOTH.

[@purgetonix1415]

Okay so what size is the fuse it needs....

[@christopherbrubaker2070]

FYI JUST PULL THE 4x4 fuse on a 2002 Durango. This truck usually gets. 11MPG I’m expecting much better now. Test drove just now, and it’s rear wheel only now and drives like a car. It was dragging so bad, and dragging off the line. It still sucks, but this 5.9l now might have a chance at better gas mileage, and it just feels free rolling which is nice.

[@car24dude]

Under the dash, fuse number 15 will disable the AWD on a 2010 Impreza.

[@stevewhite7649]

Can you leave in to delete 4x4 for better gas mileage

[@cesarvasquez3077]

Hola soy de chile Perjudica esta practica si conduzco siempre asi con el filusible conectado?? Saludos

[@williamperri3437]

Is it okay to drive it like that permanently if my rear diff is going? Okay on the transmission?

[@schumacher47]

Its in the cabin fuse box.

[@lukeellsworth1377]

Jeep with no front drive shaft what's new mine was like that I but until I rebuilt my tcase

[@crazyDIYguy]

My 08 outback has it. And I completely agree with you about Subaru kind of going to s*** in the newer years. My 96 2.2 5 speed was the most incredible car. It got 35 mi to the gallon easily.

[@WX4GPS]

I believe Subaru sells FWD vehicles in some countries (Japan) so I feel that was for those reasons, I know my 2024 Crosstrek has a full size spare and the tread wear is not such a big difference for that system vs putting a 2" smaller tire spare. Im unclear is back in 1998, 1999 when you had your forester is it was a smaller spare. Be curious is those manual stated something relating to that..

[@robertknight4672]

Is it the wilderness trim? The Wilderness trims do come with a full size spare. I have a base 2023 Forester which has the temporary compact spare tire which is still better than no spare at all. Although I haven't really looked at it to see how close it is to the other tires in diameter.

[@dirkmcghee1604]

Also, in terms of your question of when they stopped doing that with the fuse, I am guessing that took place when they went to splitting power in more ways than just 50-50. The manuals still come with viscous couplings, rocking a 50-50 power split, but since like... IDK, 2013 or earlier, auto Subis rock a 60-40 split until the system senses slip. For MPG's sake. My guess is that once they did that, the system was already designed to take a bit of differential speeds, so they need not mention it so much or put a fuse. Something like that, IDK lol. That plus the new-age idea that, "We'll just let the customer break their car and come back and buy another one when that happens!" 😂

[@dirkmcghee1604]

I think the main danger is installing wheels/tires that are literally different sizes, front-to-rear.

[@jayxtreme6]

You shouldn't drive without a front driveshaft on quadra drive for too long, it will damage the transfer case overtime. Select trac is fine because you can just actually shift it to 2WD.

[@alfisamut3587]

Soo.. Is it safe ?

[@melissamartin975]

“Selling my 1998 Forester”… manual.. so mean… is my biggest car regret too!! They’re worth more than my current Legacy 😢

[@DIGGER19860]

i tried to deactivate my traction control on my suby so i could rally behind my house but removing the fuse just put it into lip mode

[@Mickeystyles1]

So if the front tires are a lil worn and the rear tires are good, would that cause binding on turns? I'm new to Subaru and i bought a used 07 Legacy.I recently learned about disabling the awd with the fuse but im trying to learn all the causes of it before i decide what to do to fix the problem. My car feels funny on turns and it went away when i put the fuse. My front tires are worn on the edges.

[@robertknight4672]

I'm not entirely sure if the tires would but old differential fluid could definitely cause that.

[@jordanlynch_yt_8229]

Check the fuse box in the car not under the hood

[@slimsladyyo]

I just found this Fwd fuse in MY03 impreza rs, after 9yrs of owning it😂

[@thesetruths1404]

Does a 1995 Impreza 5-speed have this feature? How about a 2004 Impreza 5-speed? My teen kids have both. We're new to Subaru! 😅

[@theMatrixEndsHere]

Only the automatics had the feature. AWD cannot be disabled on Subarus with manual transmissions, they are a different, purely mechanical, AWD system.

[@christophermangan9682]

Would this also allow you to tow the car with 4 or 2 tires on the ground?

[@mlucasGrindstone]

Per Subaru you can Tow with four on the ground only if it's manual

[@dianasweetpea2561]

I currently have three Subarus, 2012 legacy with 125k miles and currently needs a cvt valve body that will cost $2600, a 2015 forester with 109k miles, and a 2017 legacy with 150k miles that I had to replace the cvt valve body myself with used parts. Two out of three with transmission issues.. don't own a Subaru that's out of warranty, or better yet, don't buy one..

[@dirkmcghee1604]

Meh, I'd say you can just get two of the same brand tires, same size, put them on the same axle, you'll be fine. I have owned two Subis, owned two Quattro Audis (which is the same type of system that Subi uses). Mom has had two Audis. We have put two tires on our cars plenty of times, no problems. Even the Audi dealer installed two tires a few years ago for my mom and they never mentioned anything about that. And you know they would if they had any reason to! 🤑

[@stevecampbell1147]

I have a 2016 Forester. It is In FWD . Really stinks for winter. Can't figure out how to get it in AWD.

[@mlucasGrindstone]

Under the dash, either place or remove that fuse

[@yesimraging]

Can I do the opposite? Instead of a fwd fuse a rwd fuse

[@theMatrixEndsHere]

No, FWD only.

[@ethanlafountaine4543]

My fuse was inside the car.

[@macsloan58]

Isn’t the larger tire spinning slower? Physics thinks that is true. So do I. What say you?

[@j3phillips]

The road speed is the same on all 4 tires, but because the circumference is shorter on the worn/smaller tire, the RPM (rotations per minute) have to be faster on the smaller tire. And, if it was a locked deferential, there would be no place on the drive train to compensate for the difference in rotation speed.

[@matthewtwright84]

Subaru had to make things like that automated because people don't do the research on their vehicles anymore. Some jack leg will be doing the work for whoever actually owns the car and they won't know to do the fuse thing. Sad but true

[@DrAdHominem]

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