[Jerry Erjavec]

In the process of replacing the 200k engine/tranny in my '06 Outback 2.5i and now that I have them pulled out of the vehicle, I found that the shift lever on the transmission should be able to shifted by hand when removed...which the one I pulled from the car does. Problem is the 60k transmission I picked up to put back in does not, and local dealer isn't willing to give me any guesses why without it being brought in and torn down (all they said was that it should be able to be shifted by hand, there's no other internal interlock to prevent shifting). Place I got it from said it was tested in the vehicle it was removed from and working at that time, but it's possible something happened between the time it was removed and when I purchased it. Model is TZ1B7LCCBA and is same as the one that was in vehicle (not trying to mismatch trannies). Looking for any help on what to look at and/or possible causes of the shift selector not being able to be moved. Wanted to have the car back running before there's white stuff on the ground, hopefully this doesn't hang it up. I have not dropped the pan on it yet but I was intending to do so to change the filter before driving it. The one that was in the vehicle worked but was causing TCM error codes and had not shifted right a couple times which prompted switching it out while doing the engine otherwise I would just put it back in without a second thought.

Thanks!

 

[RoughDiamond]

When you say selector, do you mean the lever on the passenger's side of the transmission? Or the actual gear shift lever in the car?

 

[CNY_Dave]

I think on the transmission...

The shift lever mechanically links to the parking pawl mechanism, visible in the tail section when the tail section is taken off. Could be a problem in there. Can the output shaft be rotated a little to see if that frees it?

Anything loose in the trans could jam the linkage which is also visible with the pan off.

Could of course also be the valve that the selector physically controls.

 

[plain OM]

Is there rust around the shift and inhibitor switch levers (see attached). The two levers are connected by a slot. It's not unusual for the pin and slot to corrode, preventing the shift lever from moving easily, if at all.

Hopefully, it's not a problem inside. The shaft controls a manual valve, and the parking pawl linkage.

 

[Jerry Erjavec]

Sorry didn't get notifications for the replies. Yes the selector on the passenger side of the trans housing with shift cable removed (out of vehicle). Tail shaft can be rotated by hand without a problem, didn't free up the selector, same with the inner input shaft. The inhibitor lever isn't stuck to the pin on the selector lever either. There seems to be some very slight wiggle of the selector lever but that's it. I'll remove the inhibitor switch and lever tonight and see if that for some reason is it, otherwise sounds like next step is to pull the pan and see what's inside, and take some pictures.

 

[Jerry Erjavec]

Possibly unrelated question but since on the topic, should the larger splined shaft that fits inside the torque converter be able to be rotated by hand or no? On the used one I intend to put in the car it does not, haven't separated the engine/tranny removed from the car to see if that one rotates.

 

[Jerry Erjavec]

Looked at it quick this morning, tried rotating tail shaft and moving selector lever - tail shaft rotates 360 deg+ without issue, at no point did lever move out of park. I removed the inhibitor switch/lever to make sure that wasn't the problem and the shift lever still does not shift out of park. It does have a small amount of play in it so I don't believe it to be stuck/seized, more like something inside is preventing it from moving. Given that I have this just resting on my garage floor, unattached to anything else, what's the best next move - remove tail section to see if there's a problem with the parking pawl linkage or drop the pan and look for loose things? Sounded like the parking pawl was related to tail shaft movement, does being able to rotate tail shaft rule that out as a possibility? It would be nicer if I didn't have to remove the tail section since I didn't purchase a gasket for it (didn't anticipate having to remove it) but if it has to come off then off it'll come.

 

[CNY_Dave]

I forgot- the parking pawl engages only the internal front-diff driveshaft, no?

 

[Jerry Erjavec]

I forgot- the parking pawl engages only the internal front-diff driveshaft, no?

I was hoping someone else knew that :grin2:

Does that have anything to do with the outer shaft at the torque converter? That one does not move while the inner shaft rotates, but my guess right now is that neither on of those impact the shift selector, but could always be wrong.

Since this is out of the vehicle, not mounted to the motor and I don't have a stand, aside from possibly making a puddle, any reason I can't stand it up on the bell housing to remove the pan/tail section?

 

[plain OM]

Turning the rear shaft does not necessarily move the reduction gears where the parking pawl is located (and, as was noted, the drive shaft to the front differential is connected.) If the parking pawl is jammed, that could prevent the shift lever from moving. The only way to rotate the reduction gears is through the axles.

Are the front axles off as well? If so then perhaps slip them into front differential, and, with the help of someone else, hold one from turning while the other is turned. If the parking pawl is engaged (as it would be with the shift lever in the park position), the axle will not turn, at least not more than fraction of a revolution. If that's the case, try turning the axle forward and back, while trying to move the shift lever out of the park position.

 

[Jerry Erjavec]

Turning the rear shaft does not necessarily move the reduction gears where the parking pawl is located (and, as was noted, the drive shaft to the front differential is connected.) If the parking pawl is jammed, that could prevent the shift lever from moving. The only way to rotate the reduction gears is through the axles.

Are the front axles off as well? If so then perhaps slip them into front differential, and, with the help of someone else, hold one from turning while the other is turned. If the parking pawl is engaged (as it would be with the shift lever in the park position), the axle will not turn, at least not more than fraction of a revolution. If that's the case, try turning the axle forward and back, while trying to move the shift lever out of the park position.

Yes everything is pulled but I can certainly put the axles in and give it a try (best part is I looked at a bunch of diagrams earlier trying to find where the shift selector goes and found all the other stuff you mentioned, so it all makes sense!). If this is the case and it releases the selector, what's the chance of it happening again, and should I entertain the idea of swapping parts from the original tranny?

 

[Jerry Erjavec]

Turning the rear shaft does not necessarily move the reduction gears where the parking pawl is located (and, as was noted, the drive shaft to the front differential is connected.) If the parking pawl is jammed, that could prevent the shift lever from moving. The only way to rotate the reduction gears is through the axles.

Are the front axles off as well? If so then perhaps slip them into front differential, and, with the help of someone else, hold one from turning while the other is turned. If the parking pawl is engaged (as it would be with the shift lever in the park position), the axle will not turn, at least not more than fraction of a revolution. If that's the case, try turning the axle forward and back, while trying to move the shift lever out of the park position.

I tried this gently this morning with two pipe wrenches on the axles (no one else awake, made sure not to ding up the axles with the wrenches) and could not get the shift selector to move while applying torque in either direction (front diff of course did not move other than a slight wiggle from being in park).
Any more ideas before I end up pulling the pan? Might try finding a subaru shop that does tranny work for advice, but not overly optimistic on that.

 

[Jerry Erjavec]

Inquired on justanswer, sharing answers for the benefit of the group:
"You are going to have to remove the valve body to access the shift linkage. When you drop the valve body you can see one area where it connects to the parking pawl which might be hanging up. You will also see a valve on the valve body where the linkage slides in. You will need to make sure that valve is moving freely. Depending on the year of this 4 EAT you are working on, it might have been part of the parking pawl recall. Sometimes the drift pins would get left behind and it may be causing the problem. It is true, it should shift into all gears by hand out of the car."
"We did a ton of these parking rod recalls years ago and really there wasn't much to it but dropping the valve body. Make sure the right bolts go in the right holes as well. some are longer then others."

 

[Jerry Erjavec]

Just updating on where things went. Pulled the trans pan, found the selector piston was seized in the valve body. Removed the valve body, twisted the piston loose and removed it, found the piston head away from the selector had some corrosion and pitting, which coincides with the condensed moisture that was visible when the pan was removed. I’m assuming it was stored exposed to the elements for some amount of time for that to happen.

On the advise of a subie shop in PA I contacted, I pulled and swapped in the valve body from the trans removed from the vehicle, installed a new internal filter and reinstalled the pan. New external filter, moved over the dipstick and remounted to the engine block.

Thanks all for the help along the way!