floater Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 96 Outback, AT. Have the car in garage after a brake job. It won't start. I tried cranking it a few times and it may be the battery as it was sitting a while. So I was going to shift it into neutral and roll it out of garage and jump start it in driveway except you can't move the shift lever out of park unless the engine is running. Why is this? My girlfriends camry can be shifted, with the engine off, and key turned, from park to neutral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 as for starting, you need to try to jump it and let us know what happens. as for getting it out of park - there is a way to get it out, i believe somewhere at the base or under the parking selector cover is a access hole or something to get it out. check your owners manual, it should mention it. or do a search on this forum i know it's been covered before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Do you have the key on? There is a shift lock that needs to be powered. You can manually release it, there is a hole in the front Left corner that you can insert a 1/4" drive into and press down. Look in the owners manual for the procedure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 you can't move the shift lever out of park unless the engine is running. Why is this? This is not true if the car is in factory (non modified) condition. as othesr have said. What you need to do is step on the brake pedal. The unlock for the shift lever is incorporated into the brake light switch. My girlfriends camry can be shifted, with the engine off, and key turned, from park to neutral. It is not set to factory conditions if this is true. The brake pedal must be pushed. Back in the mid 80's a series of run away Audi 5000s brought this to light. The study found.... People stepped on the gas instead of the brake when taking the car out of Park.. We all got shift locks from the study. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 There is a manual override. ON Blu, there is a hole under the prnd321 trim peice where you stick a screwdriver. This disengages the interlock so you can move the shifter. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 My Oh Bee has no hole access or cover over the shift lock release hole. Earlier Legacys did. You must remove the cover to gain access to the hole where the screw driver is inserted and pushed down. Removing this cover with it in park is a chore. My car, even with a blown brake line and no fluid in the master cylinder, will release the shifter- if the key is on and the brake pedal is pushed far enough to light the brake lights. Here is the hole where you manually release the lock. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbusa Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 on my 96 obs auto the car doesn't have to be running but the battery can't be completely dead either. Look in your manual glossary for "shiftlock" and it will tell you what to do. Mine... I turn the ignition on, step on the brake and I can hear the "click" of the shift lock opening. The car does not have to be running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Hi. Here's a diagram from the owners manual for '00 outback; other soobs are similar. With key in run, then press on brake, the solenoid should click to let it out of park. I'm not sure but I think the solenoid only clicks if the shifter is in park. Else it would click every time you prsesed the brake. So if the shifter switch on the side of the trans does not think the trans is in park, the engine won't crank and the solenoid won't click to let it out of park either? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 kewl info Porc, as you said for a 2000 His OB will not have this opening and I'll bet that shift gate has him scratchin' his bean. ;^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Hi. Here's a diagram from the owners manual for '00 outback; other soobs are similar. With key in run, then press on brake, the solenoid should click to let it out of park. I'm not sure but I think the solenoid only clicks if the shifter is in park. Else it would click every time you prsesed the brake. So if the shifter switch on the side of the trans does not think the trans is in park, the engine won't crank and the solenoid won't click to let it out of park either? show off, he needed the pic for a 1996 :-p nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I would like to know for future reference if it looks different than the picture from my 97? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 hehe yah unfortunately my.subaru.com only has the PDF's of the owners manuals for '97 on up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 i have a manual for 1996, but its 700 miles east of here. If anyone wants a copy of that manual or a 1998, or a 2000 (i think) OE manual on pdf, send me a private message. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Found it for a '98 maybe that's closer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floater Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Thanks for the info. After reading the responses I went out and really pushed down hard on the brake pedal and walla, into neutral it went! Its funny but I had my foot down on the brake pedal yesterday but maybe it has something to do witht he fact that I had just bled the brakes and was not pushing hard enough? I jumped with my girlfriends car and no start. I'm almost postive its the battery as it barely cranks over on its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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