Shift Lock
 

After 2 1/2 weeks of daily driving (I'm putting it away until May tomorrow) I have had one annoying problem.
Over the first ten days it only happenened twice, but over the past week, its happening week its happened several times.

Upon starting, I cannot shift into gear without holding the shift lock button down. It doesn't happen all the time, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why it happens, when it happens. Other than that its running great.

Can anybody tell me whats happening, why its happening and what needs to be done. At this point its more of an annoyance than anything else, but I don't want to let it go

Thanx in advance

Re: Shift Lock
 

There's a solenoid that releases the shifter when you step on the brake to shift out of park. You should hear a click when you depress the brake pedal. I think it is also connected to the brake light switch if it's the same as other Subarus of the same era. Do your brake lights work?
I just had the same problem on my '97 Outback. The brake light switch was slowly failing until one day it totally failed and there were no brake lights and I could not shift out of park ever.
On the Outback there is an additional problem where the cupholder is positioned, so any spilling coffee, pop etc. dribbles down into the console and physically gums up the mechanical mechanism for the solenoid to release the shifter.

Re: Shift Lock
 

It's most likely the shift lock module, a small computer under the center console. Mine failed in much the same manner, progressively until I always had to use the button. Replacing the module with one from a junkyard SVX fixed the issue.