I have a friend who has a 2000 97,000 miles with auto transmission that doesn't go into drive when he moves the lever. If he rev's the engine, it will feel like it slides gradually into gear and then it will work normally. Reverse works fine. He's done two fluid and filter changes and the problem is the same. A search shows a couple people have had something similar to this problem, but nothing specific as to the final outcome. He is looking at options of dealer or aftermarket rebuild and also swap in of a used transmission, any suggestions for a good course of action?

I have a friend who has a 2000 97,000 miles with auto transmission that doesn't go into drive when he moves the lever. If he rev's the engine, it will feel like it slides gradually into gear and then it will work normally. Reverse works fine. He's done two fluid and filter changes and the problem is the same. A search shows a couple people have had something similar to this problem, but nothing specific as to the final outcome. He is looking at options of dealer or aftermarket rebuild and also swap in of a used transmission, any suggestions for a good course of action?

 

Before I spent any more money on the transmission, I would check the linkage.

I'm having the exact same problem with my 99 Outback at approx. the same mileage. Mine seems more prone to not shift into drive after the engine warms up.

First when I heard about this problem, I thought people were not doing maintenance ATF changes every 30000 miles. But it sounds like a recurrent problem. Furthermore, I recall a few people having that fixed under warranty.

It may be an issue in these 99-00 AT cars. Does anyone know if any TSB was issued for AT for this problem?

 

BTW, changing fluid to synthetic ATF, cleaning magnets, and replacing AT filter should not hurt when one has this problem.