RomRaider

Just finished a 6MT swap into a 2006 (32bit) Forester XT which had an auto tranny.

I am wondering if the ECU can be flashed with a ROM from a manual tranny Forester of the same year?

Has anyone ever tried this?

I don't know the answer, but I know of a guy with a recently MT'ed Legacy who would like to know if it's possible. If you find out, please share.

Look at ecu's pinout.
It is possible that you have a pin switching your ecu into MT mode.

Ok, I have been doing some research and it appears that in fact there is a pin which is left blank in auto tranny ecu's.

For a 2006 Forester XT (AT) (supposedly) Pin C15 needs to tie into pin A5 on the ecu to change from AT to MT.
I am about to look at my ECU to confirm that C15 is currently an open pin on the harness.
Pin A5 should be a BL colored wire, and by connecting those 2 the ECU will now think it is serving a manual tranny car.

At that point, I am told, flashing a manual trans rom would work.

Bricking the ecu is not something I look forward to.....

If you could get a close look at the circuit boards for each, it might be possible to determine that they're identical (or not). If the pinouts are the same, other than the one pin you mentioned, then I think the odds are in your favor.

And if it's a 32-bit ECU, you can probably get Colby (Mr. Tactrix) to unbrick it if necessary. I'd contact him first though, it might speed up the process if you give him some advance notice that you might need his services.