2015 Forester pops out of first gear

[Jjack 1]

New Forester, 2015, bought in July of 2015 has the problem of popping out of first gear into neutral when decelerating on a slight downhill grade in first gear at low r.p.m.s (between 1000 and 2000 r.p.m.) It happened to my wife and me both, and happens about once every week or so.  The problem is slowly increasing in frequency.  The service department at our dealer has had the car since Thanksgiving and it is now Jan. 4th.  They say they cannot replicate the problem.  Has anybody run into this problem on a late model manual transmission Forester?

[Fairtax4me 1439]

Can't say I've heard of this being a problem. Normally popping out of gear is a synchronizer problem.

Do you force the transmission into first gear while still rolling?

[Jjack 1]

Thanks for responding.

If you are asking if I come to a complete stop before shifting into first, no.  At very low speeds I shift into first while rolling but give the synchronizer time to seed up.  If, for some reason, I decide to put it in first at a higher speed (10-15mph) I rev match (let out the clutch in neutral, rev the engine a little, push in the clutch and move the shifter to first). In either case, the shifter slides into first easily, without force or fuss.

 

We've been driving standard, between me and my wife, for a combined 92 years and haven't run into this before, except on a '46 Willy's that popped out of second every time you went down a hill in second, engine braking.

It takes very little change in speed to make it happen - like maybe 1 or 2 mph, always happens when decelerating or holding the car back with the engine, always at low RPMs and low speed.

[Jjack 1]

There is a good YouTube video of a WRX with exactly the same issue.

and another one that is poorer quality

[Jjack 1]

Just to clarify, I do not have my hand on the shifter when it pops out of gear.

[Fairtax4me 1439]

Still under warranty, the dealer should cover it. There is a problem with the first gear synchro, could have been caused before you even bought the car by the transporter leaving it in first gear on the truck going to the dealer.

 

 

If the dealer claims they can't replicate it, and you know you can, go there and drive the car while the tech watches.

[idosubaru 1852]

this is what i was thinking:

 

If the dealer claims they can't replicate it, and you know you can, go there and drive the car while the tech watches.

 

maybe even show them that video...if you don't mind being equated with WRX drivers.  LOL

 

look at mileage - how much have they driven it to test?  probably not much - they're in a tight spot - put 500 miles on it until it does it - that won't make a lot of customers happy, but if it doesn't happen after hours and 100 miles what are they do do?

 

or just keep driving it until you get a handle on how to replicate it or it gets worse. 

wonder if weather affects it - it's a lot colder now than it was a month or so ago?

[Jjack 1]

Eventually...

 

The Service Manager at the dealer agreed to ride with me while I tried to reproduce the problem (shifter popping out of first gear).  He brought his top mechanic.  We tried for over a hour, gently decelerating in first gear at around 12 to 1500 rpm but could not make the problem happen. Maybe the problem was temperature related, maybe the weight in the car was critical.  However, at this point the mechanic and the manager knew exactly how to make it happen.

 

I requested that the mechanic take the car home with him for the next week and drive it to work.  He did and the shifter finally popped out of gear for him.  He reported this news to the service manager. The service manager contacted the Suburu USA (or was it Suburu North America).  Suburu then called me and asked what I wanted to happen.  Remember, this is a new Suburu, and our first Suburu.  I asked them to replace the transimssion.  They did.  The shifter no longer pops out of gear.

 

The dealer had our new car for months but on the bright side they provided us with a loaner.

 

The dealer made two attempts to repair the problem previous to replacing the tranny.

 

This is apparently one of those problems that the local dealer cannot fix by adjustment or replacing just a single piece of the tranny. We never heard exactly what caused this shifter to pop out of gear.

[Fairtax4me 1439]

Glad to hear Subaru covered it under warranty.

No telling exactly what the problem was without disassembling the trans. Most likely it was a damaged synchronizer. Could have been a bent shift fork.