2001 SUBARU LEGACY automatic transmission

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 the on-board com-puter has collected and stored in memory to allow the transmissionto shift at the most appropriate times for the current condition ofyour vehicle. Optimized shifting will be restored as the vehicle con-tinues to be driven for a while.

Starting and operating7-15
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CONTINUED –

Selector lever for automatic transmission
HB7021BB
HB7010AA
The selec tor lever has seven p ositions.
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 when the ig ni tion switc h is in the
“ ON ” p osition. This p revents the vehic le from lurc hing when it is
started .
If the shift lever d oes not move from the “P ” p osition with the b rake
p ed al d ep ressed , refer to the “Shift loc k release ” sec tion in this c hap -
ter. 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.

7-16
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.
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. 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 rak-
ing . Reac c eleration for a short time will c ause the transmission to up -

Starting and operating7-17
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CONTINUED –
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.
2 (Second)
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.

7-18
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.
mph (km/h)
Vehicle
typeBrighton LGTOUTBACK
PositiontypeBrighton, LGT2.5 liter3.0 liter
135 (56)29 (47)31 (50)35 (57)
264 (103)58 (93)62 (100)69 (111)
3100 (161)96 (154)102 (164)111 (178)
NOTE In order to prevent over-revving during acceleration of the
vehicle, the transmission will automatically shift to the next high- est gear if the Maximum Allowable Speed for the current gear isexceeded.

7-32
HB4001BA
To release the p arking b rake, p ull the lever up slig htly, p ress the release
b utton, then lower the lever while keep ing the b utt on p ressed .
When the p arking b rake is set while the eng ine is r unning , the p arking
b rake warning lig ht c omes on. After starting the ve hic le, b e sure that the
warning lig ht has g one out b efore the vehic le is d r iven. Refer to the
“ Warning and ind ic ator lig hts ” sec tion (c hap ter 3).
When p arking your vehic le, always set the p arking b rake firmly and p ut
the shift lever in the “1 ” (1st) for an up g rad e or “R ” (Reverse) for a d own-
g rad e for manual transmission vehic les, or in the “P ” (Park) p osition for
automatic transmission vehic les. Always set the p ar king b rake firmly
when p arking your vehic le. Never rely on the transm ission alone to hold
the vehic le.
HB4015AA
HB4014AA

7-343. Push the c ontrol lever d ownward in the
“SET, COAST ” d irec tion
and release it. Then release the ac c elerator p ed al.
The vehic le will maintain the d esired sp eed .
Vehic le sp eed c an b e temp orarily inc reased while d r iving with the
c ruise c ontrol ac tivated . Simp ly d ep ress the ac c ele rator p ed al to ac -
c elerate the vehic le. When the ac c elerator p ed al is released , the ve-
hic le will return to and maintain the p revious c rui sing sp eed .
To temporarily cancel the cruise control
There are four ways to c anc el the c ruise c ontrol te mp orarily:
Dep ress the b rake p ed al.
Pull the c ontrol lever in the “CANCEL ” d irec tion. (if so eq uip p ed )
Dep ress the c lutc h p ed al (manual transmission vehic les only).
Shift the selec tor lever into the “N ” p osition (automatic transmis-
sion vehic les only).
To resume the c ruise c ontrol after it has b een temp orarily c anc eled
and with vehic le sp eed of ab out 20 mp h (32 km/h) or more, p ush the
c ontrol lever up ward in the “ACCEL, RESUME ” d irec tion to return to
the orig inal c ruising sp eed automatic ally. To turn off the cruise control
There are two ways to turn off the c ruise c ontrol:
Push the main switc h ag ain.
Turn the ig nition switc h to the “ACC ” p osition (b ut only when the
vehic le is c omp letely stop p ed ).
To change the cruising speed
n To increase the speed
1. Push the c ontrol lever up ward in the “ACCEL, RESUME ” d irec tion
and hold it until the vehic le reac hes the d esired s p eed .
When the d ifferenc e b etween the ac tual vehic le sp ee d and the set
sp eed is less than 4 mp h (6.8 km/h), the set sp eed c an b e inc reased
1 mp h (1.6 km/h) eac h time b y p ressing the c ontrol lever up ward in
the “ACCEL, RESUME ” d irec tion q uic kly within a half sec ond .
2. Push the c ontrol lever d ownward in the “SET, COAST ” d irec tion

8-2
New vehicle break-in driving
–
the first 1,000 miles (1,600 km)
The p erformanc e and long life of your vehic le are d ep end ent on how you
hand le and c are for your vehic le while it is new. F ollow these instruc tions
d uring the first 1,000 miles (1,600 km): Do not rac e the eng ine. Break-in engine speed limit
Vehic le with tac hometer
Never exc eed 4,000 rp m eng ine sp eed exc ep t for b rie f ac c eleration
in an emerg enc y. Vehic le without tac hometer (for manual transmission )
Do not exc eed the sp eed limits b elow for eac h g ear p osition exc ep t
for b rief ac c eleration in an emerg enc y.
mph (km/h)
1st
2nd3rd4th
22 (35)37 (60)50 (80)65 (105)
Vehic les without tac hometer (for automatic transmis sion)
Try to d rive at mod erate sp eed s while ac c elerating and b raking
smoothly. Prop er g ears are selec ted automatic ally a c c ord ing to the
d riving c ond itions.
Do not d rive at one c onstant eng ine or vehic le sp ee d for a long time,
either fast or slow. Avoid starting sud d enly and rap id ac c eleration, exc ep t in an emer-
g enc y. Avoid hard b raking , exc ep t in an emerg enc y.
The same b reak-in p roc ed ures should b e ap p lied to a newly installed or
overhauled eng ine or when b rake p ad s or b rake linin g s are rep lac ed
with new ones.