Transmissions - Shifters :: 2009 Subaru Forester Not Engaging In Drive


Dec 14, 2015

I'm having a problem with my 2009 Subaru Forester.

When I start the car from "cold" (i.e., it hasn't run in several hours, regardless of the actual temperature), the automatic transmission cannot engage drive for several minutes. I can shift the car, and reverse functions normally. When shifting, I can feel the car engage reverse, and feel it shift into neutral, but when I shift from neutral to drive, I can't feel it engage. I can rev the engine, and it will just act as if it is still in neutral. I also cannot use sport mode to manually get the car into gear. After a few minutes (3-4), the car will engage drive. However, at least initially, it still seems to be pretty rough, with a few times where it will rev as if it's half in neutral, and then jump a little. Once it does get going, it settles down and is fine.

I took it to the dealer, but wasn't able to leave it over-night, so they couldn't get the problem to re-engage. They inspected the car, thought that the shift cable was a little stiff, so they took it off, lubed it, and put it back (they recommended replacement, but didn't have the part in stock). The next morning, the problem repeated itself, so it certainly appears that the cable is not the issue. The dealer checked the transmission fluid and said that was all fine.

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I have a 2013 Forester with 39k miles, and last week I was 200 miles from home, put it in Drive and it didn't engage. After car was left running for a few minutes, and shifting between P, R, N, & D, it finally engaged. I was able to get it home and took to dealer the next day. They looked at the car, checked the computer logs, and told me nothing was wrong. Since then, it's happened 3 more times, and now I'm noticing it's not shifting smoothly from 1st to 2nd gear (engine will rev and then it'll slip into gear).

To make matters worse, my wife couldn't get it out of Park two days ago. She had to use the shift lock release button, and could only start it when it was in Neutral. She then couldn't get it to back into Park and had to park it on a level surface with parking brake engaged. Heading back to dealer now, but would love to hear others' input.

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