03 Forrester - Hard Start-Rough Idle-Turn Off/On It's OK

[jw]

Hi,
This has happened about a year ago and then again this morning.
It starts as if the battery is just about dead. Once it starts it idles
really rough with a white smoky exhaust.
When I turn it off and then restart it -- it acts as if nothing ever
happened. It runs and idles just fine.
Can someone explain a possible reason for this. The warranty is about to
expire, should I be concerned.
The tank showed about 1/4 full this morning when this happened. When I
search the group the only thing I came up with that was close to this
problem was caused by a near empty tank.

Thanks for any assistance.

JW

 

[Kippers]

Hi,

Water in engine!

Reason: White smoke/misfire.
Water does not compress so can cause symptoms like a flat battery.
Water does not burn so causes a misfire.
Small amounts can be burnt with fuel but causes white smoke.

Causes...Been wading/off road? OR condensation build up in
petrol tank. Bum load of fuel

Maybe a tank drain is in order.

HTH
GL

PS Doubt it will be the Head gaskets due to timescale since last occurrence.

 

[Dan Duncan]

This has happened about a year ago and then again this morning.
It starts as if the battery is just about dead. Once it starts it idles
really rough with a white smoky exhaust.
When I turn it off and then restart it -- it acts as if nothing ever
happened. It runs and idles just fine.
Can someone explain a possible reason for this. The warranty is about to
expire, should I be concerned.

My 2003 Forester did the same thing for a while. It turned out to
be the oxygen sensor.

-DanD

 

[bm]

bump!
I have the same problem.
I am guessing that when I was hit and had a new rear quarter panel
replaced, the welding created some kind of short.
just a guess.

 

[Lord Drool Rockworm]

Yes, same here - '04 Baja.

I noticed a similar problem with my 04 Baja. Hard to start (cranked
okay), ran *REALLY* rough, and lots of smoke. Turn off and try again
and all is well. This *only* happened when it was cold - the first
start of the day.

I also had a slight TC with it - rear ended a pickup truck - *ZERO*
damage to the Baja, but folded the bumper of the truck under the truck
bed. This happened about 10 feet away from a cop. He came over asked
if anyone was hurt, and told us to sort it out ourselves. Anyway, I
don't know if the fault developed before or after this incident.

I took it to the dealer after I got tired of it. They tried to
re-create it but to no avail. I lived with it for a while longer.
Again I took it in. They evenutally got a note from Japan saying that
it was due to pressing the gas pedal *before* starting the car. (A
carry over from the old VW days I'm afraid). I thought that that was
a bit odd. but from then on I did not hit the gas and I never had the
problem. They said it was a software issue. Hmmm.

I've since gotten a Turbo Forrester, and have not noticed the problem
at all.

Good luck.

Cheers!

 

[KLS]

I took it to the dealer after I got tired of it. They tried to
re-create it but to no avail. I lived with it for a while longer.
Again I took it in. They evenutally got a note from Japan saying that
it was due to pressing the gas pedal *before* starting the car. (A
carry over from the old VW days I'm afraid). I thought that that was
a bit odd. but from then on I did not hit the gas and I never had the
problem. They said it was a software issue. Hmmm.

None of the cars I've owned that were MY89 or newer required that gas
pedal business: all of them just required a fully depressed clutch
and a turn of the ignition key to start the engine. Old habits do die
hard, don't they?

 

[Lord Drool Rockworm]

None of the cars I've owned that were MY89 or newer required that gas
pedal business: all of them just required a fully depressed clutch
and a turn of the ignition key to start the engine. Old habits do die
hard, don't they?

Yes, they do. Just showing my age I guess.