Hard to shift to reverse when first started in the morning

12277 Views 36 Replies 17 Participants Last post by madtowner, 5 d ago

Hatman

Discussion Starter · May 7, 2019

Is anybody else experiencing this? Whenever I start the car in the morning, shifting to reverse is a little harder than after the car has been running for a while. It’s stiff, I press the button on the shifter and pulling it back is a little hard, it works fine, and after I’ve been driving, shifting to reverse becomes easy. It almost makes me feel like there could be something wrong with the transmission.

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FirstSubie

· #2 · May 7, 2019

Are you parked on an incline, even just enough to roll your car slightly? Try the thing suggested in some threads here and other car forums, where you park it by doing:
- Foot on foot brake
- From last shifter setting (Drive or Reverse), move shifter into Neutral
- Pull up the parking brake flipper switch
- Let off the foot brake and let the car settle (rolls a little downhill, settling into the hand brake)
- THEN push the shifter into Park and turn off the engine

My garage is slanted enough to let my car roll slightly, so I do this all the time. Morning shifts are really easy and smooth. I don't know the exact whazzits, but it seems to be a way to not leave the car settled with tension in the transmission mechanics.

F.S.

Reactions: 1

Hatman

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 8, 2019

That did the trick! My driveway is slanted, I feel like such a noob lol. When I had a manual transmission I would always use the emergency break when parking, but once I switched to automatic transmissions I pretty much stopped using it completely. I guess the E brake exists for a reason!

Thanks man.

FirstSubie said:
Are you parked on an incline, even just enough to roll your car slightly? Try the thing suggested in some threads here and other car forums, where you park it by doing:
- Foot on foot brake
- From last shifter setting (Drive or Reverse), move shifter into Neutral
- Pull up the parking brake flipper switch
- Let off the foot brake and let the car settle (rolls a little downhill, settling into the hand brake)
- THEN push the shifter into Park and turn off the engine

My garage is slanted enough to let my car roll slightly, so I do this all the time. Morning shifts are really easy and smooth. I don't know the exact whazzits, but it seems to be a way to not leave the car settled with tension in the transmission mechanics.

F.S.

Reactions: 1

GaryInMI

· #4 · May 8, 2019

I've gotten into the habit of setting the parking brake before shifting into Park and that has prevented the hard shifting out of Park for me on the next drive. However, we don't have many steep inclines here in the flatlands of mid MI so this may not be as effective as the going to Neutral first procedure on a real hill.

Reactions: 2

Eye Am Horus

· #5 · Nov 10, 2019

Was just explaining this to my daughter. Parking on an incline without first engaging the parking brake let's the vehicle roll slightly. Thus putting a bind in the driveline. Upon next shift, the system needs to pop out of that bind.

The question is; does it cause premature wear on the CVT...

Robert.Mauro

· #6 · Nov 12, 2019

Eye Am Horus said:
Was just explaining this to my daughter. Parking on an incline without first engaging the parking brake let's the vehicle roll slightly. Thus putting a bind in the driveline. Upon next shift, the system needs to pop out of that bind.

The question is; does it cause premature wear on the CVT...

It potentially damages the parking pawl. Here's all the info (and more) that anyone ever wanted to know about this subject.

www.ascentforums.com

Rough Shifting

I've noticed if im on an incline, when I shift to forward or reverse-its very rough. Note the incline doesnt have to be steep to happen. When its level, the shift is smooth. Anyone else experience this? (I have an appt. scheduled).

www.ascentforums.com

www.ascentforums.com

robn30

· #7 · Nov 17, 2019

Could be a bad transmission too. Mine has done that for a long time and now it's going bad. Also been doing the chirp when shifting into drive. I don't care who says that's normal, its crap. Neither of my CVT Forester's did that, 2014 and 2017. Now my transmission is squealing, slipping, and performing absolutely terribly. If your transmission makes noise going into gear, is hard to shift into reverse, or makes any form of metallic clanking sound, it's a piece of junk and it's going to prematurely fail. It's just a matter of time, might be 20,900+ miles like mine, >10K miles like others, or 50K or < miles since most have not gotten to that mileage yet. Time will tell how those who have not had problems yet fair out.

Robert.Mauro

· #8 · Nov 17, 2019

robn30 said:
Could be a bad transmission too. Mine has done that for a long time and now it's going bad. Also been doing the chirp when shifting into drive. I don't care who says that's normal, its crap. Neither of my CVT Forester's did that, 2014 and 2017. Now my transmission is squealing, slipping, and performing absolutely terribly. If your transmission makes noise going into gear, is hard to shift into reverse, or makes any form of metallic clanking sound, it's a piece of junk and it's going to prematurely fail. It's just a matter of time, might be 20,900+ miles like mine, >10K miles like others, or 50K or < miles since most have not gotten to that mileage yet. Time will tell how those who have not had problems yet fair out.

No, torque lock from forgetting to set the parking brake isn't a bad transmission. Your former CVTs were different models and your former Subarus were half ton lighter.

Reactions: 1

robn30

· #9 · Nov 17, 2019

Robert.Mauro said:
No, torque lock from forgetting to set the parking brake isn't a bad transmission. Your former CVTs were different models and your former Subarus were half ton lighter.

It happened to me constantly while parked on a completely level surface in my garage, not on any type of incline or decline. Furthermore, and this is a question, is this written in the manual anywhere that the parking brake should be applied always before shifting into park? That is very abnormal procedure for parking on level ground. When I'm on an incline I always set the parking brake, usually while still in drive if it's an incline or from reverse if its a decline.

Robert.Mauro

· #10 · Nov 17, 2019

robn30 said:
It happened to me constantly while parked on a completely level surface in my garage, not on any type of incline or decline. Furthermore, and this is a question, is this written in the manual anywhere that the parking brake should be applied always before shifting into park? That is very abnormal procedure for parking on level ground. When I'm on an incline I always set the parking brake, usually while still in drive if it's an incline or from reverse if its a decline.

Parking brake is supposed to always be used. Not just on inclines. The Ascent is half a ton heavier than your previous Subies. I can induce torque lock on a flat ground by simply putting it in park and then pushing the car forward or back.

Alas, parking pawl requirements are getting more stringent to prevent roll aways, but that requires always using the parking brake before taking one's foot off the brake pedal.

So, the two problems aren't really related, and, when you get your new CVT, remember to follow the instructions in the manual about parking brake use, and you will be fine.

Reactions: 1

robn30

· #11 · Nov 17, 2019

Robert.Mauro said:
Parking brake is supposed to always be used. Not just on inclines. The Ascent is half a ton heavier than your previous Subies. I can induce torque lock on a flat ground by simply putting it in park and then pushing the car forward or back.

Alas, parking pawl requirements are getting more stringent to prevent roll aways, but that requires always using the parking brake before taking one's foot off the brake pedal.

So, the two problems aren't really related, and, when you get your new CVT, remember to follow the instructions in the manual about parking brake use, and you will be fine.

So the instructions are in the manual about this? This is something the dealers should be informing their customers about if that's the case. This isn't something most people would ever read in the manual as parking your vehicle on flat ground is normally pretty straight forward. I know I would probably skip that section in favor of more pertinent information related to the vehicle. I think my transmission has been petty lousy from day one. I hate the stumbling, bucking, surging, and overall weirdness of this CVT. I have a huge disdain for the artificial shift points, I preferred my 2014 which worked like a true CVT.

Robert.Mauro

· #12 · Nov 17, 2019

robn30 said:
I have a huge disdain for the artificial shift points, I preferred my 2014 which worked like a true CVT.

You and I both.

As for the thousand pages of manual, yep, there's a lot in there, sadly, and thus things that may be pertinent to some are often overlooked. I try to cover such things in posts or videos to help with that. But, there's a lot to cover.

GaryInMI

· #13 · Nov 17, 2019

Robert.Mauro said:
As for the thousand pages of manual, yep, there's a lot in there, sadly, and thus things that may be pertinent to some are often overlooked. I try to cover such things in posts or videos to help with that. But, there's a lot to cover.

It's on page 355 off the 2019 Owner's manual.

And thanks Robert for all of your helpful tips and videos.

See less See more

Reactions: 3

robn30

· #14 · Nov 17, 2019

Robert.Mauro said:
You and I both.

As for the thousand pages of manual, yep, there's a lot in there, sadly, and thus things that may be pertinent to some are often overlooked. I try to cover such things in posts or videos to help with that. But, there's a lot to cover.

I know I appreciate all the posts you provide, but I think they even exceed the size of the owners manual

. In any case I learn something from them, just as in this case, and will henceforth use my parking brake always.

GaryInMI said:
It's on page 355 off the 2019 Owner's manual.

And thanks Robert for all of your helpful tips and videos.

View attachment 2207

Thank you, I am going to review that section today and will talk to the dealership about making this part of their routine when turning over a vehicle to the customer. This way the new owner will be doing it right the moment they leave the lot. This is too important to not cover. I can use the manual to figure out a lot of stuff that has no mechanical effect on the vehicle and therefore won't hurt anything, but the application of the parking brake if not used correctly may hurt the vehicle in time.

Reactions: 1

bruce.berman

· #15 · 12 mo ago

Recently purchased a 2019 Ascent. It seems unusually difficult to take this car out of "Park". Just wondering if I should bring it in or if this is normal for this car.

xydadx3

· #16 · 12 mo ago

Do you set the parking brake before putting in park or at least before taking your foot off the brake pedal?
Other than having torque applied to the parking pawl by movement after parking, it should not be difficult to take it out of park.

Reactions: 1

ATXV18&Ascent19

· #17 · 12 mo ago

We’ve been setting the parking brake first before putting it in park. However, putting it into neutral first, parking brake, then park, seems to work better. No clunk.

Reactions: 4

bruce.berman

· #18 · 12 mo ago

GaryInMI said:
I've gotten into the habit of setting the parking brake before shifting into Park and that has prevented the hard shifting out of Park for me on the next drive. However, we don't have many steep inclines here in the flatlands of mid MI so this may not be as effective as the going to Neutral first procedure on a real hill.

Thanks for this! I'm going to try setting the parking brake before shifting into Park right away. I feel a bit optimistic already.

bruce.berman

· #19 · 12 mo ago

ATXV18&Ascent19 said:
We’ve been setting the parking brake first before putting it in park. However, putting it into neutral first, parking brake, then park, seems to work better. No clunk.

Thank you! I have not used a parking brake since my manual transmission days. I will certainly give this a try.

Reactions: 1

Titanrx8

· #20 · 12 mo ago

On a related subject, always use the parking brake (aka EMERGENCY BRAKE). It couldn't be any easier in the Ascent since it's a switch. Not sure about the mechanics in the Ascent but if it's cable actuated, use it or lose it. Regular use keeps it working properly.

Anyone who's ever lost hydraulics better know that the E-brake is working and how to use it.

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