Shifter Won't Go into 1st or 2nd....

[Dano58]

Patient is my son's '99 Impreza 2.5RS coupe, with 5-speed manual
trans. Won't shift into first (at all) or second (all the way), either
with engine running or engine off. Shifts into all other gears,
including reverse, with no issues. We did have major snow here over
the week-end, but I drove the car to gas it up yesterday with no
issues, and my younger son took it to school and didn't have issues
until he went to drive home this afternoon.

I jacked it up and took a peak underneath and didn't see any obvious
chunks of snow or ice but it's hard to see where the linkage is
without lying on my back and crawling under (which I wasn't going to
do with just a floor jack, and my jackstands are currently in
use...).

Does the car use rods or cables? Any thoughts on cause? If rods, I
assume something could be bent...?

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

 

[weelliott]

Patient is my son's '99 Impreza 2.5RS coupe, with 5-speed manual
trans. Won't shift into first (at all) or second (all the way), either
with engine running or engine off. Shifts into all other gears,
including reverse, with no issues. We did have major snow here over
the week-end, but I drove the car to gas it up yesterday with no
issues, and my younger son took it to school and didn't have issues
until he went to drive home this afternoon.

I jacked it up and took a peak underneath and didn't see any obvious
chunks of snow or ice but it's hard to see where the linkage is
without lying on my back and crawling under (which I wasn't going to
do with just a floor jack, and my jackstands are currently in
use...).

Does the car use rods or cables? Any thoughts on cause? If rods, I
assume something could be bent...?

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

It uses rods. It is a direct linkage into the back of the tranny. Is
there excessive play? (Like two inches side to side while in gear.) If
there is, you might have toasted a bushing. Since that is a noticeable
thing, and you haven't mentioned it, I doubt that is it. The first
thing that comes to mind outside of the linkage is a bent fork. I've
heard of bent forks in these transmissions from shifting too hard.
That just happens to be something teenage boys tend to do sometimes.
For your sake I hope it isn't though.

 

[S]

Hi Dan!

Patient is my son's '99 Impreza 2.5RS coupe, with 5-speed manual
trans. Won't shift into first (at all) or second (all the way),

As Bill has pointed out, there isn't much in the way of external
linkage on the Subaru transmission.

What you will see from underneath, is the bottom of the shifter
connecting to a rod thru a bushing/yoke arrangement, with the other
end of the rod connecting to the transmission shift rod thru a similar
yoke. There is a small return spring at the tranny end. You might have
to remove an exhaust shield to get a good look.

The tranny shift rod is moved in and out for 1-2, 2-4, and 5-R, and
rotated maybe 15-20 degrees to move the shift forks thru the gate
between 2-3, and 4-5. Or something like that.

If everything's intact, and there isn't anything physically blocking
this action (have someone work the shifter for you), alas :-(

I don't know about the '99 gear box, but the one in my '02 WRX was
really unhappy about the 2-1 downshift. It didn't grind or anything,
it just wouldn't budge unless you were down to walking speed-ish. I
autocrossed mine, and this was a frustrating glitch, to be sure.

I definitely recall reports of transmission damage on the early WRXes
due to excessive force being applied here, so . . .

The usual fix is a junkyard gear box; around $500 in this part of the
world. I usually spread the chore over a weekend, but I'd imagine
someone doing it for a living could probably do one in about 4 hours
as long as nothing else got in the way. Still, it's hard to resist the
opportunity to do the clutch and rear seal while the tranny is out,
and that all takes time.

Here's hoping a rock or chunk of ice found it's way up there. Best of
luck.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

I don't know about the '99 gear box, but the one in my '02 WRX was really
unhappy about the 2-1 downshift. It didn't grind or anything, it just
wouldn't budge unless you were down to walking speed-ish. I autocrossed
mine, and this was a frustrating glitch, to be sure.

Most Japanese cars don't seem to like this.

 

[clare]

Most Japanese cars don't seem to like this.

You learn real quick how to double clutch if you want to downshift
into low. The blocking rings on the syncro are slipping.

 

[Dano58]

Well, the resolution was painful - the trans casing was cracked and
the shifting-around messed up the rods = $2,900! I was able to source
a good used transmission with about 70k miles (current one had 175k
miles) and with a resurfaced flywheel and new clutch, the car is back
on the road for "only" $1,900!!! Ouch.

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5 RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

Well, the resolution was painful - the trans casing was cracked and
the shifting-around messed up the rods = $2,900! I was able to source
a good used transmission with about 70k miles (current one had 175k
miles) and with a resurfaced flywheel and new clutch, the car is back
on the road for "only" $1,900!!! Ouch.

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5 RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

Sooooo....any idea who/what caused the crack?

 

[Dano58]

Sooooo....any idea who/what caused the crack?

The trans shop had no idea, they had never seen this before. Only
thing I can think of is that perhaps the PO, who had swapped
in a 2001 engine after he blew the timing belt on the original,
installed the shifter incorrectly or perhaps used incorrect torque
values
when buttoning everything up. I know the shifter now is a lot less
sloppy than it was.

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5 RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

 

[weelliott]

Sooooo....any idea who/what caused the crack?

So was it $2900 or $1900?

 

[Dano58]

So was it $2900 or $1900?

The latter, using the used transmission I found.

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5 RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

 

[weelliott]

The latter, using the used transmission I found.

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5 RS (son's)
Central NJ USA- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You did better than I did. My 95 legacy had slow synchros on third and
fifth, and would pop out of fourth if you weren't on the gas. So I had
a shop put in a used transmission with 130k miles. I had them use the
same clutch that I had put in myself just 40k miles before, and it
still cost me 2200 bucks. But then again, this was the same shop that
tried to convince me my cat was bad just because I had a check engine
light on that they claimed indicated a bad cat. I assume it was a 420,
they didn't volunteer that, and at the time I didn't know the various
numbers. I asked them if it was possible that the sensor was bad and
they said that that was not likely and wanted to change the cat to the
tune of 1200 bucks. I told them no thanks and two weeks later it
passed emissions with flying colors. They also wrote up about 2800
bucks worth of possible repairs that they wanted to do to the car
while it was in for the tranny that ranged from coolant hose
replacement to full pads and rotors on all four corners. The rear
brakes only had 15k miles on them at the time. Horrible shop. I can't
even remember the name, but they were in Rockville, MD near Parklawn
road.

 

[Dano58]

You did better than I did. My 95 legacy had slow synchros on third and
fifth, and would pop out of fourth if you weren't on the gas. So I had
a shop put in a used transmission with 130k miles. I had them use the
same clutch that I had put in myself just 40k miles before, and it
still cost me 2200 bucks. But then again, this was the same shop that
tried to convince me my cat was bad just because I had a check engine
light on that they claimed indicated a bad cat. I assume it was a 420,
they didn't volunteer that, and at the time I didn't know the various
numbers. I asked them if it was possible that the sensor was bad and
they said that that was not likely and wanted to change the cat to the
tune of 1200 bucks. I told them no thanks and two weeks later it
passed emissions with flying colors. They also wrote up about 2800
bucks worth of possible repairs that they wanted to do to the car
while it was in for the tranny that ranged from coolant hose
replacement to full pads and rotors on all four corners. The rear
brakes only had 15k miles on them at the time. Horrible shop. I can't
even remember the name, but they were in Rockville, MD near Parklawn
road.

Well, I have a local shop that I have been a (too frequent and good)
customer of for over 12 years. I trust them implicitly, and they have
never screwed me.

On the car front, of course, last Saturday my son was rear-ended by a
friend while they were on their way to a concert! $1,400 worth of
damage which the friend is covering. It just never seems to end!

Dan D
'99 Impreza 2.5 RS (son's)
Central NJ USA

 

[Dominic Richens]

On the car front, of course, last Saturday my son was rear-ended by a
friend while they were on their way to a concert! $1,400 worth of
damage which the friend is covering. It just never seems to end!

oh boy, can't wait until my kids start driving....