My cable between the shifter and the tranny on my 98 Legacy Outback broke. Not sure how it comes apart at the shifter. Looked like there was some plastic thing there. Anyone installed a new one? Any tricks to this?

 

Thanks!!

The same thing happened to my 99 forester a couple of months ago. I guess they're prtty similar. There is no need to take apart/remove the shifter . everything can be done working under the car.

At the shifter end of the cable, there are two nuts holding the cable to the shifter. measure the distance from the outer nut to the end of the threaded rod (this will enable you to get iton again, pre-adjusted) .Undo this nut. The outer cable is held to the shifter casing by 2 nuts on a flange. remove. At the tranny end the outer cable is held on with 2 nuts on a bracket. Remove. The cable is held to the selector rod with a wire clip. slip this off and waggle the whole lot free. replace with new cable.Bingo.

The whole thing takes about 30 mins and the new cable cost me £40 ($80), so it should cost you less. The bad news is ... I had to wait 3 weeks for a cable to be shipped from japan! Hopefully you will be able to find one quick, new or used. If not they are pretty easy to cobble up. My local parts store let me rummage through their clutch cables to find something that would work.

It may be that the outback cable is completely different. If so, good luck!

Thanks for the tips. Ordered today. $73 US. Said maybe be here by Saturday. Good thing I got the truck to drive!

My cable between the shifter and the tranny on my 98 Legacy Outback broke. Not sure how it comes apart at the shifter. Looked like there was some plastic thing there. Anyone installed a new one? Any tricks to this?

 

Thanks!!

I am interested in knowing how this type of cable breaks? Many many cars have gone under my feet and I have never had one break. Is it poor manufacturing? If so then I better get one for mine.

Well got the cable changed this past weekend. Was a lot of fun. Hardest part was getting the top bolt out and back in for the bracket that holds the cable up against the tranny. The manual did say to take the exhaust off, but its so rusty, I didnt want to do it unless I absolutely had to. Had I taken the exhaust off up front, this probably would have been a lot easier. Anyways, its all back together and I changed the knock sensor, and she is running very good again. Next thing will be the valve cover gaskets.