97 Outback: vibrations when idle in D

[VLH]

Just bought a 97 Outback which runs fine accept one thing. When idling with
the trans ine R, D, 1, 2 or 3 there is some vibration in the car.

This happens when coming to a stop at a traffic light.

No vibration when moving.

Any ideas on what to check? Milage is 123k km.

 

[David]

Just bought a 97 Outback which runs fine accept one thing. When idling with
the trans ine R, D, 1, 2 or 3 there is some vibration in the car.

This happens when coming to a stop at a traffic light.

No vibration when moving.

Any ideas on what to check? Milage is 123k km.

4cylinder? That's a very common problem with older 4cylinder automatics.
I'd imagine that some cases can be solved by doing things that make the car
run/idle smoother. Sometimes I doubt there's a practical solution,

Is the idle speed correct? Are the O2 sensors original? If so, it's
reasonable to replace them even if they're OK. Have you had any
diagnostics done? Scanned for ODB-II trouble codes?

 

[JWC]

I drive a 98 Legacy Outback. My car was having similar problems. Idling at
a traffic light in drive the car would vibrate or rock pretty
substantially. If I pressed the gas slightly, the vibration would lessen.
Though this was pretty annoying, I didn't think too much of it. When my
'Check Engine' light came on, I took the car to the shop thinking it was
an emissions sensor that would need to be fixed/replaced. They told me the
Check Engine code indicated that I had a misfire in one of my cylinders.
At first they suspected a burnt valve, but further investigation found
that all I needed was a valve adjustment (with new shims or seats, I think
that's what they were called). Apparently the valve wouldn't seat properly
and this prevented the cylinder from achieving the necessary compression,
and with the periodic misfire, I was more or less driving on 3 cylinders
instead of 4. After having this fixed my car doesn't vibrate any more.
The bill came to a little under $700 (at the Subaru dealer) which also
included adjustments for the other valves while they had the engine apart.

 

[VLH]

Is the idle speed correct? Are the O2 sensors original? If so, it's
reasonable to replace them even if they're OK. Have you had any
diagnostics done? Scanned for ODB-II trouble codes?

Will have all that checked by a dealer soon. Just bought the car.