So here it goes. Driving down the road turn a corner go to shift into a gear (manual Trans) 95 subaru outback wagon. nothing happens, acts like I shifted into neutral and wont come out of it. clutch works fine, shifter goes through all gears fine but nothing engages in transmission. No prior trouble and no noise, definatly not the noise you you hear when your transmission goes out.

Just sounds like its in neutral.

So we get it up on a jack and look. It looks as though something that runs from the shift linkage to the transmission has come out. 

Anyone have any ideas. I see a lot of mud in this picture we have had a crazy muddy season and I had no idea that the car wash I go through does such a bad job but hopefully someone can see this and give me some input.

Do you think this is external to the transmission and can just be put back in an secured possibly a missing clip of some sort? Is there a part missing that holds it in the hole shown? Is it something that has to be re attached inside the transmission which would involve removing the transmission? Any input would be great. New to Subarus always drove Ford Trucks so this is all new.

 

These are the notes taken by my husband to give to Mechanic but we thought if we could fix ourselves we would.

 

The shifter will go through and into all gear positions and feels as
well as sounds like it is engaging correctly. Girl friend says it feels
no different now then when it was working. You can also do same with engine running, no grinding or difference at all.
 
You can rotate the wheels by hand with it engaged in any gear position with
no change in resistance compared with doing same rotating while in
neutral. 
 
The clutch cable and fork and slave cylinder(?) appear to be working same as ever and feel no different in her opinion.

 

Subaru - 1995 Outback - 200K+ - 4cyl - Manual‏

                  

this is what it looks like if it were              this is how it looks now unattched

attached

                        

 

Any help would be much appreciated

Edited October 22, 201411 yr by barngem

HOst the pictures somewhere else and/or get better resolution.  Cant'see in those.

 

Sounds like maybe a blown cutch disc?

Clutch works fine. Any suggestions on what this is that has come unattached.  Suggestions about where to host pics maybe photobucket?

I tried to cut and paste but it would not let me.

The are bigger when you double click but they appear clear to me when I look at them I will try some other way to post

Edited October 22, 201411 yr by barngem

 

Edited October 22, 201411 yr by barngem

 

These are the notes taken by my husband to give to Mechanic but we thought if we could fix ourselves we would.

 

The shifter will go through and into all gear positions and feels as

well as sounds like it is engaging correctly. Girl friend says it feels

no different now then when it was working. You can also do same with engine running, no grinding or difference at all.

 

 .......

 

The clutch cable and fork and slave cylinder(?) appear to be working same as ever and feel no different in her opinion.

 

 

If the shifter feels and sounds like its moving throught all gears........The it is......If you can feel the detents of each position...the shifter is working and attached.........

 

The fact that you can do that while the engine is running is a clear sign the clutch has a problem, and is not engageing......most likely a sudden delamination of the clutch material on one or both sides.....

 

IF the shifter feels sloppy, loose, and you cant hear the "clunk" of the gears moving when engine off (espescially reverse should be audible).....if that is sloppy no detents felt or engagement heard then it could be the shifter.........

 

can't tell ya....those pics are too hard to see stil for my eyes.

upload your pictures to tinypic.com

 

Its free. After you upload it will give you the new link for uploading to message boards 

 

Just copy that link and then paste it here and your picture should show up.

Edited October 23, 201411 yr by greg454

Or one of the front CV axles broke. 

Hello all, I'm the long time BF with some understanding of mechanics. First a big thanks for the replies so far, much appreciated.

 

Please disregard pics and any mention of something pulling out of or back away from the trans case. Initially we had an inadequate jack with car sitting over dirt and could not get a good enough look at things. Once in garage with floor jack and stands and shifter boot loose it was obvious what we saw was the main linkage from shifter to where it enters the trans case. The pics were of same linkage rod so likely not the issue anyway. It appears to be zink plated and drew my eye to the difference of color.

 

To her comment "clutch works fine" I'm going to say the clutch feels and appears to be working, unsure if it's functioning or not. Things are starting to point towards the clutch in my opinion. However, there is no noise or resistance anywhere or anytime, car running or not, wheels rotated by hand, etc.. If the fiber fell off from the clutch disc would it still contact the flywheel? Is there anyway that the pressure plate could have seized in depressed position?

 

The transmission certainly feels and sounds correct in my opinion and hers. Thank you Glowyale for lessening my fear of any internal problems!

 

Further thoughts will be much appreciated. Thanks you for the help provided.

Edited October 23, 201411 yr by barngem

Definitely sounds like a clutch issue, they can instantly disintegrate during a gear shift (exceeding facing burst speed limit). It would feel firm then absolutely nothing.

A worn disc could also be resting against the pressure plate but not touching the flywheel (clutch dust probably buffers sound also). And pressure plate finger and springs can get broken, but that would be super loud.

The only simple thing I can think of is that the clutch cable is not retracting (long shot). Leave it in neutral and visually confirm that the clutch fork moves, while someone presses the clutch pedal.

Good luck.

Edit: Ahh, I didn't see the part about the cable/fork working ok. I guess that is out, unless its full movement is restricted.

Edited October 23, 201411 yr by Ibreakstuff