at 183,000 my wife's wagon refused to back up, went forward ok, but would not shift. dealer said it's dead. we limped it home after she made a deal on an '02 outback - happy wife, sad car out in the weeds. am i dreaming, or can i get a used trans and diy-it assuming no hurry... the goal is to have a (non-competitive, but fun) autocrosser. auto sucks, but she doesnt like using her left foot anyway. thanks in advance for all encouragement and offers of help...

When you move the shifter, does it feel like it's moving anything, or just sliding around in it's positions? I've broken the cable between the shift lever and the tranny before, you might want to check. Others have had problems with the TCU biting the dust. Did it give any warning signs before it let out? Can you put it in park or nuetral?

I also had the same issue on a '95 Legacy wagon - no reverse-went forward fine. $900 to fix....and I'm totally drawing a blank on what they replaced. Somewhere on USMB is a fairly good description of a DIY replacement. Here's some more info:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48411&highlight=replace+legacy+trans

I also had the same issue on a '95 Legacy wagon - no reverse-went forward fine. $900 to fix....and I'm totally drawing a blank on what they replaced. Somewhere on USMB is a fairly good description of a DIY replacement. Here's some more info:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48411&highlight=replace+legacy+trans

 

Could they have replaced the front pump? reverse requires a higher line pressure then the forward gears to engage the band. Low line pressure will make you loose reverse.

Does the car shift normally otherwise?

If you found somone to just replace the pump you found a great shop. Most will just sell you a tranny at that point.

 

nipper

The '95 is gone ('97 OB now) along w/the receipt for the repair. But it wasn't a pump...i want to say it was a "clutch" in the tranny, but doesn't sound quite right. Torque bind was also fixed w/the repair.

 

Also, I lost reverse after having the tranny flushed.

 

The shop was/is pretty cool...small w/3-4 mechs that know their stuff, and don't sell you what you don't need.

The '95 is gone ('97 OB now) along w/the receipt for the repair. But it wasn't a pump...i want to say it was a "clutch" in the tranny, but doesn't sound quite right. Torque bind was also fixed w/the repair.

 

Also, I lost reverse after having the tranny flushed.

 

The shop was/is pretty cool...small w/3-4 mechs that know their stuff, and don't sell you what you don't need.

 

Maybe they rebuilt the valve body, another place you can loose reverse. The seals may fail (again higher pressure) then the other seals. 90% of the time chaning fluid clears up torquebind. SOunds like a great shop.

 

nipper