Going to look at a friends manual transmission forester.

 

Said it was in 1st gear and started to drive, then it went straight into second gear and stuck there.  Now it won't come out of gear.

 

I'll look at it tomorrow hopefully.

 

Check to see if the slave and fork are working properly is about all i can do right? 
Do slave cylinders fail catastrophically like that?  I replaced one a few years ago but I can't recall what the symptoms were. 

Should be able to get it out of gear with the engine off as long as cars not on an incline IF it's a clutch issue..  If it's jammed in gear regardless, it's a shift fork issue most likely. Either that or the trans/ syncros have failed somehow internallly. More than likely, shift fork issue. Probably cought in 2 gears at the same time due to a bent or broken fork. IIRC a Subaru 5spd trans has 3 forks

Car ran fine before this, no symptoms.

Thanks.

Pushing on it from the back, by hand, got it to come out of gear. 

 

Could bad shifter busing cause that?

Could be worn linkage bushings or worn out bushings in the u-joint thing that the front of the linkage causing it to stick.

 

No way for it to be stuck in 2 gears at the same time, the trans would lock up and the car wouldn't move at all if that happened.

Thanks.  I guess we'll see what it does from here on out. 

The shifter is sloppy but everything works smooth and well otherwise. 

My dad had a '94 Legacy with some finicky synchros in second gear when we bought it. It would usually stick out of second gear, but one day I went for a hard 1-2 (what can I say....I was 19), and it wouldn't come out of second.

 

 

Per the recommendation of one of the folks at CCR Engines posted here, I changed the gear oil, and added a quart of Rislone Engine Treatment (yep, you heard that right), and drove the car around the block (country block, it was a few miles total), by the time I got home, I could shift it again.

 

About a year later, we changed the fluid to "Uncle Scotty's Cocktail", and then several months later, again to straight gear oil. That car never had shifting problems again, but about 100k miles later (at almost 250k), a transmission bearing seized. I wish I had pulled that trans apart...

Edited November 7, 20169 yr by Numbchux