Help!! Asap!!!
 

My car thinks its in Drive, but the selector is in Park. I have tried moving the selector around, with manual on, and off, I have also disconnected the battery to see if maybe it would "reset" all be it only for about a minute.

Any ideas on why this is happening?

Need help ASAP!!

Sounds to me like the gear selector cable might have snapped. Or the inhibitor switch (attached to the side of the tranny and connected to the lever via the cable) might be bad. If the car's off and in neutral, can you roll it?

Edit: Here's the inhibitor switch I was talking about. As far as I understand, it tells the car what you have selected via the gear lever.
http://www.subaruparts.com/diag/?mod...category=183-A

If I put the car in neutral, it will roll, yes.

Where under the car should I look for this cable? Is it in an obvious place? Same for the switch?

If the car rolls, then it's not likely the cable. But I think your inhibitor switch could be bad.

Or I could be on the wrong track completely. :rolleyes:

The cable goes from the bottom of the shift lever, where it sticks through the bottom of the car, to the right side of the tranny case. It's not easily accessible, since the lever end of the cable is above the tranny. The switch may only be accessible by removing the exhaust, I'm not sure.

In this picture you can just see where the shift lever sticks through the floor:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...ckets/9048.jpg

So it's right over the driveshaft.

And this one shows the two types of inhibitor switches. The one on the right is from my car's original tranny and the one on the left is from a much newer rebuilt unit:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...ckets/9053.jpg

And, lastly, here you can see the older inhibitor switch on the new tranny (I was missing the wire harness for the newer one at the time). It's just above the oil pan:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/fil...ckets/9044.jpg

If your car thinks it's still in a mode you don't have selected, I can't think of anything else that would cause the condition. Of course, it could be the switch's wiring.

If anybody else has any other ideas, by all means speak up. :)

Strange problem....
 

Good luck with the repair Chris.

BTW - IBTS (in before the stop???:p :D )

Todd

the description makes a good case for a broken inhibitor switch.

one way to tell for sure is to move the lever...if you can engage park (won't roll) and neutral (will roll), then it isn't the cable. next, with the key on, move the lever, if the dash indicator (next to the speedo) stays in the same position, then it's the inhibitor. it's a pretty easy fix, new part and couple of wrenches and the description of how to set the unit up (see the manual (part 1) in my locker). btw, if it is broke and thinks it's in drive, then you shouldn't be able to start the car.

fyi, the inside of the inhibitor uses a piece of white plastic (teflon) with a couple of brass tracks that make contact as the lever moves telling the ignition system what's happening with the transmission. the plastic piece broke internally in mine (but luckily it broke where the car thought it was in park so no starting problems.)

if the dash indicator moves, then I would guess (and that's exactly what it would be) that the cable may have stretched enough to be out of spec. you then need to reset it - see manual on the stopper pin routine as mentioned above.

Thanks guys, after spme work with svxpert last night, and reading the descriptions here, we are pretty sure its the inhibitor switch.

Yes, it physically switches gears, yes the dash light stays in drive no matter what position the selector is in, and no the car wont start.

lee,
So when reading your guide, on page 12 it details the adjustment of the switch, is it literally that simple?

Install a pin in the holes with the shifter in neutral, and hook everything up?

If only half the adjustments I had to make on the aircraft I had to fix in the military were that easy!

The switch itself is very easy to install - nearly foolproof. Since your cable is fine, you should be able to install a new switch and be good to go.

Or are you going to try repairing your old switch?

I am replacing the switch with one off of a tranny from someone local who did a 5 Speed install... for free!! Yay!!

I will buy a new one later on down the road though.

sorry for the late reply, was out of town.

but, yep that easy. with jack stands or a lift I think less than a half-hour job. You may not need to do the stopper pin/cable adjust thing as long as nothing else gets disturbed (I didn't when I did mine).

the price certainly sounds right too ;)

put it in N and use e brake