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1996 ECVT Trouble going from forward to reverse, or out of neutral

Discussion in 'Subaru Sambar' started by BadSambarJambar, Feb 21, 2021.

  1. BadSambarJambar

    BadSambarJambar New Member

    I held off writing a post about this for a long time, as I kept finding different things to try. Nothing seems to have worked and I'm about to pull the tranny out and investigate, any last-minute ideas which might prevent me from having to do that would be most welcome! oh, and thanks to Koffer for giving me some time and ideas when I first got the thing.

    When it starts up, I can get from P to R, D and Ds with no problem 9/10 times, just have to be firm and certain but not brutal. 1/10 times it says no, and if you get brutal it grinds nastily, so I have found I can just turn it off, back on and away we go. Same deal going from Ds, D or R back to P. Getting out of N is the no go, has to be turned off, put into P, started and then its usually ok. Not ideal, but it drives (and reverses...) well.

    Any ideas, resources or comments welcome, thanks in advance
     
  2. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Bad,
    Back in the Day, when a person had a trans. problem like that, it usually meant that their Fluid was low, and 9 times out of ten, that was it, but I know that's probably not your problem!
    Limestone
     
  3. BadSambarJambar

    BadSambarJambar New Member

    Thanks for the reply, it was actually overfilled by 500ml + (in the UK) when I got it, which didn't fill me with confidence! When I drained the excess it looked pretty clean and didn't appear to be saturated with broken metal bits and pieces :)

    The ECVT diagnostic manual (made for the Justy) mentions that a problem getting out of N and accompanying grinding can be due to the accelerator switch being out of alignment. Last night I chased that, found that the Justy one is adjustable and the Sambar one is not, however, mine appears to be functioning in the designed normally closed fashion and I have continuity to the ECVT controller. Today, when I couldn't get out of N, it occurred to me that I should look into that more, as on the D or R side I can feel and hear it is trying to engage, but cannot do it. From what I have read, N uses a pressure-release function, perhaps this could be my issue. Sorry for the wondering rant
     
  4. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Wandering Rants are good! Thinking out loud, is good! That's how were able to work through these things! I think your going about right, by checking the easiest things first! All else fails, you can always jump into that thing and tear it apart! Good Luck!
    Limestone
     
  5. Latka

    Latka Member

    Hey @BadSambarJambar, where did you get the Justy ECVT manual? I’m having a similar issue with mine (96, ECVT, 2WD). When we got it in D, It would go, but it was like the equivalent of being stuck in first gear on a MT. It would rev up to 25kph and then sounded like the world was going to come apart lol. Then when we got it home we checked the fluid. And there wasn’t enough to register on the transmission dipstick. We put in normal ATF (some say that’s an oops) and then the shifter started acting like yours. Didn’t want to come out or park, then it went into neutral and didn’t want to go into drive. Tried to put it back into park, and it just made a horrible grinding noise trying to get into Reverse. Finally discovered shutting it off we could move the lever back to Park.

    Oh, and anyone know what the black button is on the forward edge of the shifter housing?
     

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  6. rkrenicki

    rkrenicki Active Member

    The button is to release the shifter if the shift lock is not working for whatever reason. Most automatic cars have that button, but they are normally hidden away under a cover.
     
  7. Latka

    Latka Member

    Ahhh ok. I *thought* it was something like that. Thank you!
     

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