5MT Stuck in Reverse - But won't go

Weird problem,

 

'05 Legacy GT Ltd Manual Tranny 75k

 

My wife parked the vehicle in reverse this morning, when she left work this evening the car would not go. In addition, she was unable to change the transmission into any other gear, it was just stuck in the reverse position.

 

Letting the clutch out would cause the vehicle to stall, but it would not move an inch.

 

I managed to go down and get the tranny unstuck by playing with the RPM's with minimal amount of force, but there was no question that it was stuck.

 

I have no clue what caused this. I checked the tranny fluid, which was supposed to have been checked only 3 weeks ago at the garage, and it was very low. Haven't noticed any leaks so my suspicions are that they didn't check it.

 

Any clue what might have happened? Could the low fluid have caused the stickiness? But why would letting the clutch out not move the car, but still stall like the car was in gear which it obviously wasn't (since it didn't move)

 

After getting it unstuck, it seemed to drive fine, but I am worried letting my wife drive it to work in case it happened again, or locks up at speed. Not understanding what caused it is my issue.

 

Any help appreciated.

 

DoDo

Sounds like the selector fork might be talking a walk on you which is not unheard of.

 

Unfortunately, unless you can replicate the problem it can't be diagnosed until you take the transmission apart.

If I replicate it, what can I then do to diagnose?

 

Thanks

The point is that if it keeps sticking than you know it is likely the selector fork(s). If it is all gears then it might be the clutch fork (which is different).

 

A small number of people had this problem so a search might help. Here is a start http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16364&highlight=shift+fork

This has not happened in 11 months but it happened again today. It seems that it looks closer to 4th gear that it gets stuck in. Both times in the middle of a cold snap (only -2) but high humidity where we live so freezing water could be the problem?

 

Same issue, axles do not move but transmission appears to be in gear, and stalls out when clutch is disengaged. The car does not even feel like it is attempting to move.

 

Its sometimes a little difficult to find first gear and the shifting seems a little harder than I would expect from a performance car, but its been like that since I bought it. That said, it was used but from a Subaru Dealer.

 

Only 8000 km left on warranty so if this is a problem I would like to get it fixed.

Document the issue now with your dealer. Even if they can't troubleshoot or replicate they will be put on notice in case it happens again after warranty expiration so you can show the issue existed prior expiration.

 

Next time it happens just get to towed to the dealer.

 

You could also call SOA and ask their advice on documenting the condition as pre-warranty-expiration.

If it's stalling and not going, it's stuck in two gears at once.

Really? I didn't know that was possible. Anything in particular I can tell Subaru to help troubleshoot and fix?

Tell them to troubleshoot and fix it.

 

The only thing they can do is reproduce the problem to justify to Subaru that the transmission needs to come out of the car and be opened up for further inspection.

 

Only then will they start working on a solution.

Bumping this thread to see if the op or someone else had figured out the cause/ solution of his problem

Hi,

 

Haven't had it happen again. Since I can fix it, it doesn't seem worth the money to try to troubleshoot and fix.

 

Just slowly apply varying levels of throttle and medium pressure on the gear shifter to pop it out.

 

Curious where this happened and what the weather conditions were?

 

I think this has to do with freezing moisture inside the tranny.

I live on the coast so it never gets too hot or cold or too rainy or dry here. It was clear outside, roughly 35-40 degrees when it happened in the morning, and later that day was probably around 65-70 degrees out when it happened again.

Mine just got stuck in 4th after driving home with a lot of wood. Wonder if all the weight in the back was working the transaxle hard or something. Just had the transmission oil changed too but i guess it could be checked again.

Any updates ?

 

Did you try giving it so rpm while pushing the shifter towards neutral while letting the clutch out ? Like he did above ?