2001 SUBARU FORESTER Transmission

Starting and operating7-9
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Starting the engine for an automatic transmission ve- hicle
CAUTION
If you restart the engine while the vehicle is moving, shift the se- lector lever into the “N” position. Do not attempt to place the se-
lector lever of a moving vehicle into the “P” position.
1. Ap p ly the p arking b rake.
2. Turn off unnec essary lig hts and ac c essories.
3. Shift the selec tor lever to the “P ” or “N ” p osition (p referab ly “P ” p osi-
tion). The starter will only op erate when the selec t lever is at the “P ” or
“ N ” p osition.
4. Turn the ig nition switc h to the “ON ” p osition and c hec k the op eration
of the warning and ind ic ator lig hts. Refer to the “Warning and ind ic ator
lig hts ” sec tion (c hap ter 3).
5. Turn the ig nition switc h to the “START ” p osition without d ep ressing
the ac c elerator p ed al. Release the key immed iately after the eng ine has
started .
If the eng ine d oes not start within ten sec ond s, wa it a while and then turn
the ig nition switc h to the “START ” p osition ag ain while d ep ressing the ac -
c elerator p ed al half way d own.
6. Confirm that all warning and ind ic ator lig hts hav e g one out after the
eng ine has started . The fuel injec tion system autom atic ally lowers the
id le sp eed as the eng ine warms up .
While the eng ine is warming up , make sure that the selec tor lever is at
the “P ” or “N ” p osition and that the p arking b rake is ap p lied .
Starting the engine during cold weather below –4°F
(–20 °C)
If the eng ine is d iffic ult to start using the norma l method (without d e-
p ressing the ac c elerator p ed al), turn the ig nition switc h to the “START ”
p osition while slig htly d ep ressing the ac c elerator p ed al.

Starting and operating7-11
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CONTINUED –
Manual transmission
WARNING
Do not drive the vehicle with the clutch disengaged (i.e., when the clutch pedal is depressed) or with the shift lever in the neutralposition. Engine braking has no effect in either of these condi-tions and the risk of an accident is consequently increased.
CAUTION
Shift into reverse ONLY when the vehicle has completelystopped. It may cause damage to the transmission to try shiftinginto reverse when the vehicle is moving.
The manual transmission is a fully sync hromeshed 5- forward and 1-re-
verse sp eed transmission.
HS0128
The shift p attern is shown on the shift lever knob . When shifting from 5th
g ear to reverse g ear, first return the shift lever to the neutral p osition then
shift into reverse g ear.
To c hang e g ears, fully d ep ress the c lutc h p ed al, mo ve the shift lever,
and g rad ually let up on the c lutc h p ed al.
If it is d iffic ult to shift into g ear, p ut the tran smission in neutral, release the
c lutc h p ed al momentarily, and then try ag ain.

Starting and operating7-13
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CONTINUED –
mph (km/h)
Vehicle type
GearLS
1st31 (50)31 (50)
2nd52 (84)52 (83)
3rd76 (122)75 (121)
Driving tips
Do not d rive with your foot resting on the c lutc h p ed al and d o not use
the c lutc h to hold your vehic le at a stand still on an up g rad e. Either of
those ac tions may c ause c lutc h d amag e.
Do not d rive with your hand resting on the shift le ver. This may c ause
wear on the transmission c omp onents.
When it is nec essary to red uc e vehic le sp eed d ue to slow traffic , turn-
ing c orners, or d riving up steep hills, d ownshift t o a lower g ear b efore
the eng ine starts to lab or.
On steep d owng rad es, d ownshift the transmission to 4th, 3rd or 2nd
g ear as nec essary; this help s to maintain a safe sp eed and to extend
b rake p ad life.
In this way, the eng ine p rovid es a b raking effec t. Rememb er, if you
“ rid e ” (over use) the b rakes while d esc end ing a hill, the y may over-
heat and not work p rop erly.

7-14Automatic transmission
WARNING
Do not shift from the “P” or “N” position into the “D”, “3”, “2”,
“1” or “R” position while depressing the accelerator pedal. This
may cause the vehicle to jump forward or backward.
CAUTION
Shift into the “P” or “R” position only after the vehicle is com-
pletely stopped. Shifting while the vehicle is moving may cause
damage to the transmission. Do not race the engine for more than five seconds in any posi-
tion except the “N” or “P” position when the brake is set or the
tires are on blocks. This may cause the automatic transmissionfluid to overheat. Avoid shifting from one of the forward driving positions into
the “R” position or vice versa until the vehicle has completely
stopped. Such shifting may cause damage to the transmission.
The automatic transmission is elec tronic ally c ontro lled with 4-forward
sp eed s and 1-reverse sp eed .
NOTE
Immediately after a disconnected battery is reconnected or ATF (au- tomatic transmission fluid) is replaced, you may feel that the auto-matic transmission operation is somewhat unusual.This results from erasure or invalidation of data which the on-boardcomputer has collected and stored in memory to allow the transmis-sion to shift at the most appropriate times for the current conditionof your vehicle. Optimized shifting will be restored as the vehiclecontinues to be driven for a while.

Starting and operating7-15
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CONTINUED –

Selector lever
OM-H0149
Release button With the brake pedal depressed, shift while pressing the button in Shift while pressing the button in Shift without pressing the button
HS0129
The selec tor lever has seven p ositions.
The release b utton must b e p ushed to selec t the “P ”, “R ”, or “2 ” p osi-
tions.
P (Park)
This p osition is for p arking the vehic le and starti ng the eng ine.
In this p osition, the transmission is mec hanic ally loc ked to p revent the
vehic le from rolling freely.
When you p ark the vehic le, first set the p arking b r ake fully, then shift
into the “P ” p osition. Do not hold the vehic le with only the tr ansmis-
sion.
A shift interloc k func tion is emp loyed in the autom atic transmission
system to ensure safe starting of the vehic le.
To shift the selec tor lever from the “P ” to the any other p osition, you
have to d ep ress the b rake p ed al fully then p ush the release b utton on
the selec tor lever when the ig nition switc h is in t he “ON ” p osition. This
p revents the vehic le from lurc hing when it is start ed .
If the shift lever d oes not move from the “P ” p osition with the b rake
p ed al d ep ressed and the release b utton p ushed in, r efer to the “Shift
loc k release ” sec tion in c hap ter 3.

7-16
R (Reverse)
This p osition is for b ac king the vehic le.
To shift from the “N ” to “R ” p osition, first stop the vehic le c omp letely
then move the lever to the “R ” p osition while p ushing the release b ut-
ton. N (Neutral)
WARNING
Do not drive the vehicle with the selector lever in the “N” (neutral)
position. Engine braking has no effect in this condition and the risk of an accident is consequently increased.
This p osition is for restarting a stalled eng ine.
In this p osition the wheels and transmission are no t loc ked . In this
p osition, the transmission is neutral; the vehic le will roll freely, even on
the slig htest inc line unless the p arking b rake or f oot b rake is on.
Avoid c oasting with the transmission neutral.
During c oasting , the eng ine b raking d oes not ac t. D (Drive)
This p osition is for normal d riving .
The transmission automatic ally shifts into a suitab le g ear from 1st to
4th ac c ord ing to the vehic le sp eed and the ac c elera tion you req uire.
When more ac c eleration is req uired in this p osition , p ress the ac c eler-
ator p ed al fully to the floor and hold that p ositio n. The transmission
will automatic ally d ownshift to 3rd , 2nd or 1st g ea r. When you release
the p ed al, the transmission will return to the orig inal g ear p osition.
n While climbing a grade
When d riving up a hill, und esired up shift to 4th g e ar is p revented from
taking p lac e when the ac c elerator is released . This minimizes the
c hanc e of sub seq uent d ownshifting to a lower g ear w hen ac c elerat-
ing ag ain. This p revents rep eated up shifting and d o wnshifting result-
ing in a smoother op eration of the vehic le.

Starting and operating7-17
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NOTE
The transmission may downshift to 2nd or 1st gear, depending on the way the accelerator pedal is pressed to accelerate the vehicleagain. n
While going down a hill
When d esc end ing a steep hill, d ep ressing the b rake p ed al will c ause
the transmission to d ownshift to 3rd g ear, thus ap p lying eng ine b rake-
ing . Reac c eleration for a short time will c ause the transmission to up -
shift normally. NOTE In some cases, depressing the brake pedal on a downhill grade
does not result in an automatic downshift to 3rd gear. This canhappen when the automatic transmission fluid temperature is
very low, for example, during driving shortly after the vehicle has
been parked for an extended period of time. When the ATF tem-perature has risen to a certain level, automatic downshift normal-ly takes place. In the meantime, downshift manually for enginebraking as required.Also, downshifting when braking downhill will not occur at
speeds above approximately 50 mph (80 km/h). 3 (Third)
This p osition is for using eng ine b raking when g oin g d own a hill or for
c limb ing a g rad e.
The transmission automatic ally shifts into a suitab le g ear from 1st to
3rd ac c ord ing to the vehic le sp eed and the ac c elera tion you req uire.
When more ac c eleration is req uired in this p osition , p ress the ac c eler-
ator p ed al fully to the floor and hold that p ositio n. The transmission
will automatic ally d ownshift to 2nd or 1st g ear. Wh en you release the
p ed al, the transmission will return to the orig inal g ear p osition.

7-18
2 (Second)
To shift from the “3 ” to “2 ” p osition, p ush the release b utton.
This p osition is for using eng ine b raking when g oin g d own a hill or for
c limb ing a steep g rad e.
In this p osition, the transmission hold s in the 2nd g ear.
Use this p osition when starting off from a stand sti ll on slip p ery road
surfac es suc h as mud or snow. It will ensure g reate r trac tion.
1 (First)
This p osition is for d riving up or d own very steep g rad es, or d riving
throug h mud or sand , or on slip p ery surfac es. In th is p osition, the
transmission hold s in the 1st g ear. Maximum speeds
WARNING
When shifting down a gear, ensure that the vehicle is not travel- ling at a speed exceeding the Maximum Allowable Speed for thegear which is about to be selected. Failure to observe this pre-caution can lead to engine over-revving and this in turn canresult in engine damage.In addition, sudden application of engine brakes when the vehicleis travelling on a slippery surface can lead to wheel locking; as a
consequence, control of the vehicle may be lost and the risk ofan accident increased.
The following tab les show the maximum sp eed s that a re p ossib le with
eac h d ifferent g ear. The tac hometer ’s (if so eq uip p ed ) need le will
enter the red area if these sp eed s are exc eed ed .
When shifting d own a g ear, it is imp ortant to c onfi rm that the c urrent
vehic le sp eed is not in exc ess of the Maximum Allow ab le Sp eed of
the g ear whic h is ab out to b e selec ted .
Exc eed ing the Maximum Allowab le Sp eed s will result in over-revving
of the eng ine. In ad d ition a p owerful eng ine b rake will eng ag e and
c ontrol of the vehic le may b e lost.