2003 Impreza shift lockout

The Subaru has a safety device that prevents the car from being put into gear from Park, unless the brake pedal is depressed. Is it possible for a mechanic to inadvertently bump something or loosen something that would break the solenoid that controls that feature?

My 2003 Subaru went into the dealer for an oil change, and came out with that safety feature not working (can put the car in gear without break pedal being depressed) and a loud click coming from the dashboard area when I move the shifter slightly to the right.

Thanks in advance

Reply to
mike
Loading thread data ...

Have you checked your break pedal switch? The break pedal switch can fail in the on position, and I would imagine the solenoid could also fail in the unlocked position as well. My solenoid seems to like to stick in the locked position for a few seconds a few times a month, so I have to tap the break pedal a few times before it decides to unlock the shifter and I can move it out of park. Probably just it's way of letting me know it wants to be replaced now, but like any good shade-tree mechanic I am waiting until I can't shift out of park at all to bump it to the top of the list of things I need to get at.

~Brian

Reply to
strchild

If the brake pedal switch had failed in the ON position, would my brake lights be on? I am not sure how to check it otherwise. The brake lights do come on when the pedal is depressed, and go off when the foot is lifted from the pedal.

Is the wiring for the solenoid visible below the dashboard? There are two dangling connectors, a small green one and a larger one, like you'd find on a computer power-supply. They are not connected to anything. Thanks

strchild wrote:

Reply to
mike

I'm not quite certain where your solenoid wiring would be, or mine either, so I would start by locating the solenoid itself near the shift lever and do the electrical testing there. You're talking about an '03, but in my '93 there are both dangling green and a dangling black harnesses under the dash that you only connect when retrieving and clearing trouble codes by means of the check engine light.

I seriously doubt the green harness connector relates to your solenoid, but If you can not ascertain whether or not the green wire pertains to your solenoid, you could use a voltmeter to test the wire when you depress the brake pedal. Attach the black / common lead from the voltmeter to a ground in the car (most unpainted metal surfaces under the dash where screws attach and are not obviously isolated from the car body frame) and probe one contact at a time in the green harness connector as you depress the brake pedal. The brake pedal should simply pass 12 volts through when on.

The larger connector you mention sounds like the OBD-II connector. No need to probe that without an OBD-II code reader.

It sounds like your brake pedal switch is fine since you say the lights go on and off in accordance with the brake pedal. If it fails on you won't be able to turn the brake lights off, usually even when the car is not running, resulting in a dead battery, unless of course you unplug the harness connector from the back of the switch or have LED brake lights which use much less juice. If the switch fails in the off position, no break lights, and possibly a cruise control that won't shut off quite when you tell it to. The switch doesn't have to fail all at once. It can be flaky before it fails, and may operate fine while you are testing but fail completely within hours / days / weeks after.

If you can find the solenoid, I would simply test for ground and power, when depressing the brake pedal. With your brake pedal off, the solenoid should be grounded, or have 0 volts applied to it. When you depress the brake pedal for shifting, you should be able to read 12 volts on one of your solenoid leads. If this is the case and the solenoid refuses to "click", you might try rapping on it lightly with a screwdriver to see if it is just stuck. Otherwise, it's probably time to replace it. If you're not receiving 12 volts when you depress the brake pedal, I think it's time to track your wire from the solenoid to it's source under the dash somewhere. Good luck with that, as I haven't the foggiest where they connect it at. I can give you a hint though - Fellow newsgroup poster Steve has graciously shared some Impreza / WRX manuals with us, through which I'm sure you can find the proper wiring diagram for your shift lock solenoid. I would start looking in the Wiring.pdf.

formatting link
Luck, ~Brian

Reply to
strchild

Thanks, Brian, for the helpful information and the link to the manuals.

strchild wrote:

Reply to
mike

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.