Car will not engage 2nd gear

So is the trans was low on fluid?
There is a very specific way to test the trans fluid. Have a look in your user manual and follow the instruction VERY carefully.
if topping up, You really must check it several times while using the correct procedure as in you user manual. I had to check mine 3 times and add till full.

Test the solenoids with 12v and check resistance. 1 is probably dead.

Problem fixed.
One of the solenoids was dead.
Replaced it with a used one that's working.
Car's perfectly fine now

Dear Cross Sport
Problem fixed.
One of the solenoids was dead.
Replaced it with a used one that's working.
Car's perfectly fine now.
Where to buy that solenoid.
My solenoid number is 1D 21
Please help me
With Bestregards

hey cross sport i have subaru forester cross sport 2002 with same issue. eco light flashing and car is not shifting gears. pls recon me what should i do? how did u sort out your problem ?

Here's a link to the JDM Solenoids. None of the US transmission shop supply them as the JDM v2 phase 2 is a slightly different layout.

Hopefully someone else with this problem won't have to spend as long looking for these as I did!

https://www.japanparts.com/parts/detail/31356 - link not working?

Hey Ryan

Can you recheck the link it doesn't seem to be working?

Cheers, Ken

Hi Ken, it works for me?

Just takes a long time. Thanks for the input

Please feel free to help out whenever you are on the site :)

Cheers, Ken

Quick update on this. My Solenoids arrived and they are genuine Subaru items. Part Number is 31929AA230

Good to hear, please use 2CarPros anytime we are here to help.

Cheers, Ken

Hey Ryan, I'm from Canada and have a JDM cross sports with the same flashing eco light and it won't shift from 1st. I just want to confirm that you ordered this kit https://www.japanparts.com/parts/detail/31356 and it worked for your Forester? I was going to order this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MXORQ0Q/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A20S5LN8OJRF0T&psc=1 but I don't want to get the wrong one. Any help or information you could give me would be great as I can't find information anywhere else. Thanks!!!

Those look like the right ones.

The 4eat shift solenoid for the Cross Sport was model specific so I would disregard the above comment. What year is your Cross Sport?

I suspect if you’re having this issue, it’s probably the same as mine as the only car to have the problematic valve-body was the Cross Sport and they rearranged the valvebody layout after a year or so to cure this issue.

The JDM 4eat was unique, it was tiptronic and the North American/EU wasn’t at this point in time, until approximately two to three years later when they had already changed the setup so I would imagine the Amazon units are wrong unless they are JDM CS specific.

I tried every auto trans specialist in the US and U.K. trying to source them and no one had them.

Subaru UK were no help in supplying the right parts for me. They wanted to give me an entire valve-body at $1,300.00+

The best route of action would be to contact the company at the link I provided and give them your VIN, they will supply you the correct items.

It did fix my problem, just make sure that you use the correct fluid when you replace. It needs to be Subaru’s own transmission fluid on the tiptronic boxes.

Good to hear, please use 2CarPros anytime we are here to help.

Mine is a 2003 Forester. It was actually built in December 2002 but it's the newer 2003 model.

Thanks I did contact that company and they said they will get back to me. I might have to wait a while because of the holidays though.

Yeah that Amazon one isn't JDM specific. And as for the trans fluid it should just be the local Subaru brand ATF? I can only find one type.

Thanks for the help. I just bought this car with only 60k kms on it so I would like to get it running soon.

The solenoids can go at any mileage. Should see a few years use at least. Use the fluid recommended for the 5EAT, pretty sure it’s called Subaru ATF rather than DexIII. The tiptronic box doesn’t like it.

Those will be the right solenoids. They were fitted to the early 2002-03 SG5 Cross Sport.

I’m a U.K. based full time importer of cars and parts so I can tell you that you won’t get a response until the 7th Jan at best. Holidays started today and basically everything is shut down until then.

They aren’t the quickest either, as they work as a broker, they don’t stock the parts themselves.

My car goes in and out of limp mode. Only sometimes the eco light starts flashing and it's stuck in 1st gear. But if I leave it for the night it will start up in the morning and run fine, the limp mode just seems to happen at random. This happen to anyone else?

Please start a new question " limp mode" Please post your new question here, you must be logged in.

https://www.2carpros.com/questions/new

Cheers, Ken

Sounds to me like an intermittent faulty solenoid. Plug it into a transmission capable OBD2 reader.

Thanks for the help Ryan, I have the parts coming. One more question, are you sure I should use the Subaru ATF rather than the Dex 3? I had a couple of people tell me to only use Dex 3 as the car recommends Dex 2.