August 25, 200718 yr Hey all, I have a 84 Brat with a 4spd MT. When I first go it, I had no issues shifting the gears. However now that I have let it sit for half a year on jackstands and done some misc work on it, it will not shift into reverse. I can push it as far as possible to the right (to the point of rubbing on the tranny housing, and 4wd linkage) and pull back and it will still be 4th gear. I can find 1 -> 4 no problem, but there is no reverse at all. I re-did the shifter bushings with new factory ones, and also replaced the roll pin with the reccommended bolt/compression fitting fix. I had Chux take a look at it, and we are thinking that repalcing the roll pin was a bad idea. Has anyone experienced anything like this before?
August 25, 200718 yr i have the same problem with my brat. sometimes reverse isnt as far over as you think it might be,...its like playing hide and go seek. god help me if i needed to back up in a hurry, i need like 30 sec. to find reverse. but its a good tranny tho. Ea81 D/r 4wd tranny's are known for their revers going out tho. thats my response...someone more logical will chime in shortly:) -Dalton
August 25, 200718 yr It's all about the linkage and the tranny mounts. Specifically.... hard to say, but I can tell you the *reason* for reverse failure on the subaru transaxles is usually a result of not having the gear fully engaged. Redo the linkage and make sure the mounts are SOLID - it helps to move the tranny UP with some custom mounts too. Best solution by far is to install a 5 speed with it's superior linkage. GD
August 25, 200718 yr I don't think the gear has failed. it just won't go into it, the shift boot is off, so you can see the linkage is tight up against the tranny housing (as far right as it will go), and pull back, and then it moves forward.....I don't see how moving the tranny up would help, since the pivot point is on the tranny....it wouldn't change the geometry any.
August 26, 200718 yr Hi This is Jerry, i have a set of tranny mounts for your 4 speed make me an offer. But the best thing to do is what GD said install a 5 speed into your brat you will love it. Thanks Jerry
September 21, 200718 yr Author Arg... School has started so I have very little time to work on the brat anymore. I am with chux, that the reverse gear isnt borked. The issue must lie in the linkage. When I get time i think i am going to remove the supposed linkage fix and put a larger bolt through the whole assembly I am also thinking of securing the base of the shifter to the tranny w/ some instant bushing maker. the OEM bushing that goes on the very bottom of the shift lever is junk, and I cannot get the new one to seat properly. This reverse issue is the only thing holding my brat off the road. I already have it insured and everything. GAH!!!!!!
July 9, 200916 yr Arg... School has started so I have very little time to work on the brat anymore. I am with chux, that the reverse gear isnt borked. The issue must lie in the linkage. When I get time i think i am going to remove the supposed linkage fix and put a larger bolt through the whole assembly I am also thinking of securing the base of the shifter to the tranny w/ some instant bushing maker. the OEM bushing that goes on the very bottom of the shift lever is junk, and I cannot get the new one to seat properly. This reverse issue is the only thing holding my brat off the road. I already have it insured and everything. GAH!!!!!! Dynapar, did you ever figure this out? This is exactly what is happening to my 1980 Brat almost impossible to get into reverse! The bolt that goes through the shifter handle is actually rubbing on the Tranny housing. So frustrating! -Daniel
July 9, 200916 yr Check the shift rail and coupler at the rear of the transmission. If the shifter ever got a hard shock, then chances are that coupler is cracked. The hole can also be worn allowing the coupler to pivot without moving the shift rail.
July 10, 200916 yr Check the shift rail and coupler at the rear of the transmission. If the shifter ever got a hard shock, then chances are that coupler is cracked. The hole can also be worn allowing the coupler to pivot without moving the shift rail. OK, I need help with some of the terminology: What is the Coupler? Is that the little fork that bolts to the Shifter Shaft? The bolt through he shifter shaft is VERY loose, I can twist the shaft and move it side to side without the the little fork even moving... Thanks for any help. I will give int to good look over tonight... Its so frustrating, reverse works fine, just cant get to it! -Daniel
July 10, 200916 yr OK, The bolt through he shifter shaft is VERY loose, I can twist the shaft and move it side to side without the the little fork even moving... -Daniel There's your issue then. By coupler I did mean where the shift linkage meets the shift rail/rod that comes out of the transmission.
July 11, 200916 yr Cool, Tomorrow morning (when its cool, was 105 today) I will pull it all apart and goto the hardware store and tighten that guy up. Thanks for the info. I hop this clears it up. -Daniel
July 11, 200916 yr There is not a seperate coupler really on the 4 speed's like there is on the 5's. Tap the hole's in the sleeve and the shift rod and run a bolt through both of them. I made a post about it at one point - do a search. GD
July 11, 200916 yr My hatch started doing this sometime after doing the original compression bolt in lieu of the roll pin mod. The shifter would physically hit the tranny housing, which prevented it from going into gear. Tightened it up and whattayaknow, reverse. GD's "new" method is, by far, superior to the previous versions. Just my $$.02
July 13, 200916 yr Ya, Took it all apart... I could move the shifter about 1/2" to the right before the rod will actually start to turn... someone previously had put a little bolt in where the little spring pin goes. The bolt is wore severely... Also the bolt was two small in the first place it looks like. So I ordered all the parts from Subaru on Saturday, they will get here Thursday. Its bad in Dallas, always takes like forever to get parts as they dont stock any of them for the older Cars. I am looking at the alternate Methods... I am going to try this first, and see how this does... The one good thing is that my shaft leaks a lot of trans oil, so the pin will stay wet, so hopefully it wont wear to fast. :-\ -Daniel
July 13, 200916 yr and the rool pin removal replacement via a bolt, the bolt head, or the nut can hit the tranny case as said when it is motioning to go to reverse. Might need to grind off the head etc of the bolt now.
July 23, 200916 yr ok, almost all the parts ordered from Subaru where the wrong parts... Nothing fit right, Ended up going to the local mom and pop hardware store. Go some 7MM hardware (very hard to find!!!) and some Aluminum Tube that just fit over this. The shaft from the transmission is very soft! its a very poor design... But was easy to fix, although my fix will have to be repeated every year or so. I am soo glad to hear in the other posts that this design is not used in the new Gens... I used a 7MM Stainless bolt that is about 3/4" dowell and the rest is threads. about 1.25" long or so and made bushings / spacers with the aluminum tube, use the bolt and nut to mold in the aluminum in the gaps between the 7mm bolt and the existing rod as the aluminum tube was way to big to fit inside the hole. The aluminum will wear instead of the Rod... So here is to hoping it lasts a year or more. This fix gave me like 1/2" clearance between the shifter and the transmission, so Will have to check every so often to see how it does long term...
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