Stuck in Snow and Wheels Won't Spin!

[iluvdrt]

I confirmed today it is the reverse gear in the CVT. It wouldnt even back over a curb. I went to Subaru and took some sales people for a ride and showed them. They confirmed it was a problem. Of course the service center said it wasnt.

Now what? My car wont back out of a hole or a rut.

[Novablue]

I'm confused. What your saying is not normal behavior.

The car won't reverse over a curb? The service dept tried dong that and said what exactly? I'd very politely take the service tech for a ride and replicate the problem for them. Seeing is believing.

It might be possible something was wrong from the factory but it's also possible something broke out in the woods. If they can prove you damaged it... ouch. I suppose it could just be low on fluid too. Too many things it could be really.

[iluvdrt]

Originally Posted by Novablue

I'm confused. What your saying is not normal behavior.

The car won't reverse over a curb? The service dept tried dong that and said what exactly? I'd very politely take the service tech for a ride and replicate the problem for them. Seeing is believing.

It might be possible something was wrong from the factory but it's also possible something broke out in the woods. If they can prove you damaged it... ouch. I suppose it could just be low on fluid too. Too many things it could be really.

I know it isnt normal. If I back up to a regular curb until the tires hit, it will not run over the curb. The service dept didnt do anything. They back it out of the service bay and said it reversed normally. There is no damage to it. I just bought it in march and it hasnt been down anything worse than a gravel road. I'll get some video of it uploaded soon to show everyone. It indeed is an abnormal problem.

[Flyn G]

Any follow up to this issue? I'm shopping for a 2012 or 2013 Outback this fall and doing my research right now. I'm not liking what I read about some of the CVTs in these situations. It's odd that others report no problems with their CVT too. Is it an option package difference? AWP? Bad lot of widgets?

[reddoak]

They did lower the reverse ratio for the 2013 Outback. They may have less problems than the 2010-2012 models. Get a 2013 and try it before you buy.

Now I just need to blow the tranny to get the newer one.... (No, I'm not.)

[Novablue]

Well there never was follow up from anyone that had these issues so it's hard to tell if they dumped the car, got it fixed, or dropped of the face of the earth.

Out of the hundreds of thousands of these cars made, there has only been a tiny handful of remarks. Few other car companies are so lucky. It's possible that all of those people did something to break the car or bad widgets like you say. I wasn't there so it's hard to say either way.

[plain OM]

Originally Posted by reddoak

They did lower the reverse ratio for the 2013 Outback. . . .

Interesting. Do you have the comparative (2013 vs earlier) numbers?

[photodude]

I'm new to this forum and new to the 4th gen Outback. My 2010 Outback exhibits the CVT "problem" discussed here--it won't apply much power to the wheels from a stand-still when the drive-train is "loaded". With the gas pedal floored, the engine is limited to 2400 RPM, and the car just sits still, with very little power applied to the wheels. Abnormal behavior compared to other cars, for sure!

I first encountered this problem on a rutted backroad last month. Once forward motion stopped, the tires wouldn't spin in forward or reverse, manual or automatic mode. At that time I wasn't familiar with the VDC button so VDC was enabled during this incident. I barely got out by moving rocks away from the tires. Any other car I've had woulda been able to reverse-out of the situation.

I recently found this post and did the curb test. In reverse-drive (regardless of VDC selection) the problem occurred and in forward-drive the problem was not evident (regardless of VDC selection). The curb was about 5.5" high, vertical, and there was a slight incline leading up to the curb. Our 2006 Forester with AT climbs right up the curb without difficulty.

The local dealer was aware of this problem and indicated that is was common, including on some 2011's. The service manager indicated the power applied in reverse is intentionally limited by the system's controls to avoid damaging the CVT.

The Subaru mechanic connected his diagnostic computer to my ODBII port and confirmed that I had the latest firmware that Subaru released which contained a fix for this problem. He confirmed that Subaru did not release a hardware fix for this problem (such as replacing a part in the CVT). I called the dealer where I bought the car and the salesman and mechanic seemed mostly unfamiliar with the problem all together.

I bought the CVT-equipped model because, for slower-rougher roads, Subaru's manual transmission's reverse and first gear ratios are too high, and their factory clutches are weak (in my experience). This OB does ok while in motion, but is horrible if one needs to stop, reverse, turn around, etc, on difficult roads.

I'm dismayed that this car really could leave one stranded many miles from the asphalt as I have journeyed so many times in my '99 Outback Sport on rocky, sandy, or snowy, backroads. In some rocky situations digging with a shovel is not an option.

As a follow-up, have more forum-folks with 2010-2012 CVTs experienced this abnormal behavior, performed the curb test, or had dealer interactions concerning this problem?

[Jake2c]

I have the 2013 OB. When I read this I was pretty surprised. Who would purposely make a car that can't back up over a 4" curb. So I went out and tested it on a bunch of curbs from about 3" up to one where the exhaust just cleared the step up. I tried it going forwards and backwards. I would put the wheels against the curb and stop so no running start at the curb in either direction. The car easily climbed over without racing the engine. It was predictable and the same I would have expected from any AT. So I don't know if the problem is limited to year or just a few cars within a year but these are the honest results I got. I did not try to "help" the car in anyway as I wanted ground truth on this.

[photodude]

Thanks Jake2c, that's good news. The promotional material indicates the CVT was redesigned for 2013. I'm aware of some 2010 and 2011's having the problem, but donno about 2012s.