2003 Impreza shift lockout

[mike]

The Subaru has a safety device that prevents the car from being put into
gear from Park, unless the brake pedal is depressed. Is it possible
for a mechanic to inadvertently bump something or loosen something that
would break the solenoid that controls that feature?

My 2003 Subaru went into the dealer for an oil change, and came out with
that safety feature not working (can put the car in gear without break
pedal being depressed) and a loud click coming from the dashboard area
when I move the shifter slightly to the right.

Thanks in advance

 

[strchild]

Have you checked your break pedal switch? The break pedal switch can fail
in the on position, and I would imagine the solenoid could also fail in the
unlocked position as well. My solenoid seems to like to stick in the locked
position for a few seconds a few times a month, so I have to tap the break
pedal a few times before it decides to unlock the shifter and I can move it
out of park. Probably just it's way of letting me know it wants to be
replaced now, but like any good shade-tree mechanic I am waiting until I
can't shift out of park at all to bump it to the top of the list of things I
need to get at.

~Brian

 

[mike]

If the brake pedal switch had failed in the ON position, would my brake
lights be on? I am not sure how to check it otherwise. The brake lights
do come on when the pedal is depressed, and go off when the foot is
lifted from the pedal.

Is the wiring for the solenoid visible below the dashboard? There are
two dangling connectors, a small green one and a larger one, like you'd
find on a computer power-supply. They are not connected to anything.
Thanks

 

[strchild]

I'm not quite certain where your solenoid wiring would be, or mine either,
so I would start by locating the solenoid itself near the shift lever and do
the electrical testing there. You're talking about an '03, but in my '93
there are both dangling green and a dangling black harnesses under the dash
that you only connect when retrieving and clearing trouble codes by means of
the check engine light.

I seriously doubt the green harness connector relates to your solenoid, but
If you can not ascertain whether or not the green wire pertains to your
solenoid, you could use a voltmeter to test the wire when you depress the
brake pedal. Attach the black / common lead from the voltmeter to a ground
in the car (most unpainted metal surfaces under the dash where screws attach
and are not obviously isolated from the car body frame) and probe one
contact at a time in the green harness connector as you depress the brake
pedal. The brake pedal should simply pass 12 volts through when on.

The larger connector you mention sounds like the OBD-II connector. No need
to probe that without an OBD-II code reader.

It sounds like your brake pedal switch is fine since you say the lights go
on and off in accordance with the brake pedal. If it fails on you won't be
able to turn the brake lights off, usually even when the car is not running,
resulting in a dead battery, unless of course you unplug the harness
connector from the back of the switch or have LED brake lights which use
much less juice. If the switch fails in the off position, no break lights,
and possibly a cruise control that won't shut off quite when you tell it to.
The switch doesn't have to fail all at once. It can be flaky before it
fails, and may operate fine while you are testing but fail completely within
hours / days / weeks after.

If you can find the solenoid, I would simply test for ground and power, when
depressing the brake pedal. With your brake pedal off, the solenoid should
be grounded, or have 0 volts applied to it. When you depress the brake
pedal for shifting, you should be able to read 12 volts on one of your
solenoid leads. If this is the case and the solenoid refuses to "click",
you might try rapping on it lightly with a screwdriver to see if it is just
stuck. Otherwise, it's probably time to replace it. If you're not
receiving 12 volts when you depress the brake pedal, I think it's time to
track your wire from the solenoid to it's source under the dash somewhere.
Good luck with that, as I haven't the foggiest where they connect it at. I
can give you a hint though - Fellow newsgroup poster Steve has graciously
shared some Impreza / WRX manuals with us, through which I'm sure you can
find the proper wiring diagram for your shift lock solenoid. I would start
looking in the Wiring.pdf.

http://chester.uccs.edu:80/WRX_Manual/

Luck,
~Brian

 

[mike]

Thanks, Brian, for the helpful information and the link to the manuals.


strchild wrote: