hesitation problem first thing in morning

[Nicolaas]

My 05 Outback is wierd. When I leave to work in the morning, I back out of
the driveway and when I put it in drive, the hit the gas, it doesn't do
anything for a second or two, then it flies forward, causing a "jerking"
motion. The Subaru service manager thinks that I'm not letting it warm up
enough before I start off, but I think 20-30 seconds is plenty of time for a
new car.
Any thoughts? It feels as if the fuel just doesn't flow properly when I
accelerate. Does that make sense?

btw, the auto transmission seems like it doesn't shift very smoothly either.

If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't have bought this vehicle. I've
been to the service dept. 3 times already in the first 30 days. I HATE MY
SUBIE!!!

 

[Edward Hayes]

Gee: If I made such a terrible mistake I would sell it immediately
and not tell anyone. I don't know what your used to driving but, all
my recipient cars needed several minutes of easy driving while the
pollution control system does its thing. My 2000 Suby AT will not
shift from 1-2 or 2-3 until the transmission oil is above a certainty
temperature which takes about 20 seconds easy driving.. Ed

 

[Nicolaas]

Well, I don't "fly" out of my driveway. I go very easy for the first few
minutes.
I don't believe in keeping quiet about any manufacturing problems. It's the
only way that things get fixed.
WOW! I can't believe the problem you have with your Subie. That sounds
awful.

 

[Sparky Polastri]

My 05 Outback is wierd. When I leave to work in the morning,

What is the ambient temperature when you do that?

I back out of

the driveway and when I put it in drive, the hit the gas, it doesn't do
anything for a second or two, then it flies forward, causing a "jerking"
motion.

Yeah, it will do that if the trans fluid is still jell. Check it out some
time, at 10 degress it's more like rasberry jam than a liquid.

The Subaru service manager thinks that I'm not letting it warm up

enough before I start off, but I think 20-30 seconds is plenty of time for
a
new car.

No friggin way is that enough time. The edges of the cylinder walls are
barely heated by then. To let the transimission heat during idle in drive
way you have to heat the engine block up to normal temp, which heats the
radiator, which (as far as I understand) a cooling loop through the
transmission... which heats the tranny. But not all parts of it, most of
the tranny is heated via friction which you do not get while the car is not
in gear.

Try changing to a high-performance or cold operating transmission oil next
time it's changed.

Any thoughts? It feels as if the fuel just doesn't flow properly when I
accelerate. Does that make sense?

Yeah, the engine is cold. The computer is still warming it up. THATS HOW
COMPUTER CONTROLED ENGINES WORK.

btw, the auto transmission seems like it doesn't shift very smoothly
either.

True, Subies are pretty "notchy". You can vary that a little bit by varying
the transmission fluid level. I have mine on the high side to reduce that.
Note that it will downshift under normal driving condiditons at a lower RPM
which you may not like either.

If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't have bought this vehicle.
I've
been to the service dept. 3 times already in the first 30 days. I HATE MY
SUBIE!!!

I'll buy it from you for $10 if you want.

Seriously though, it sounds like you had a 92 Ford Automatic as your last
car and simply do not understand how modern cars work.

 

[Nicolaas]

This morning, it was 46 degrees Farhrenheit.

What is the ambient temperature when you do that?

I back out of

Yeah, it will do that if the trans fluid is still jell. Check it out some
time, at 10 degress it's more like rasberry jam than a liquid.

The Subaru service manager thinks that I'm not letting it warm up

No friggin way is that enough time. The edges of the cylinder walls are
barely heated by then. To let the transimission heat during idle in drive
way you have to heat the engine block up to normal temp, which heats the
radiator, which (as far as I understand) a cooling loop through the
transmission... which heats the tranny. But not all parts of it, most of
the tranny is heated via friction which you do not get while the car is
not in gear.

Try changing to a high-performance or cold operating transmission oil next
time it's changed.


Yeah, the engine is cold. The computer is still warming it up. THATS HOW
COMPUTER CONTROLED ENGINES WORK.

True, Subies are pretty "notchy". You can vary that a little bit by
varying the transmission fluid level. I have mine on the high side to
reduce that. Note that it will downshift under normal driving condiditons
at a lower RPM which you may not like either.


I'll buy it from you for $10 if you want.

Seriously though, it sounds like you had a 92 Ford Automatic as your last
car and simply do not understand how modern cars work.

 

[Deb]

What is the ambient temperature when you do that?

My '02 6 cyl Outback does this too when it's cold, below approx 20
degrees F. I always assumed it was normal because it goes away within
10 min as the engine warms up. I don't "warm up" my car because I was
told it's unnecessary for modern cars and amounts to nothing more than
a waste of gas and a warmer interior. All the literature says "just
start the car and drive easily for the first 10 minutes." So, that's
what I do. Never did anything about the hesitation/surging issue, and
I LOVE my subie! 51K miles in 3 years and going strong!

 

[Nicolaas]

Thanks for the input.
btw, I traded in my 2004 Accord for the Subie.

 

[Nicolaas]

Thanks everyone. I guess I will just have to let the Outback warm up more in
the mornings. It seems like a waste of gas though. Funny, I always had the
impression that Subie's (being all wheel drive) were made especially for
colder climates.

 

[Mike]

Colder climates and the car being cold as a matter of having sat
overnight are two disctincly different things. You think your car sufferes
on a cold day? I can attest that most motorcycles (esp. those that are
carburated) run very poorly until warmed up for a few minutes minumum.
Start your car up and drive drive it like a soccer mom for a few minutes
until the temp needle comes off the peg (should take but 5 mins or so). The
computer will do the rest -- regulate fuel based on colder temps, adjust
choke likewise, etc.

Mike

 

[Pete2000]

I had the same problem with my '02 OBW (4cyl). Finally, I ran a bottle of
Chevron injector cleaner through the tank, I changed the plugs (after 25K
miles) to platinum, and I replaced the spark wires ($35 for 4 cyl).

I am not sure which did the trick, but my problem went away, and it was a
cheap fix.

 

[Robert Vedutis]

I have a 1993 Subaru Impreza LS and my car does the same thing when
cold. Took it to my local mechanic and he told me that when the car is
cold (or often damp) some of the electrical charges that get sent
through the spark plugs actually don't fire where they are expected to.
He upgraded my spark plugs and that resolved 90% of the issue. He told
me that my car was pratically running on 1-2 cylinders when cold, when
the engie warms up it evaporates the moisture and all is good. Every
once in a while it still has that lag and jerky motion in the morning,
just used to it by now

I am having a problem with the "shift lock" feature that subaru has
puts into it's automatics. My locks sometimes and i have to manually
override it with a scredriver to get my car out of park, any advice is
apprecated!

 

[Alan]

My 2004 OBW is slow in shifting from reverse to forward and forward to
reverse. You have to wait 1 or 2 seconds for it to shift.

 

[Hallan Blaggit]

drive drive it like a soccer mom for a few minutes

My God, that would kill the poor car. I don't know what the "soccer
moms" are like where you are, but around here, they're the most
agressive drivers going.

Have you ever tried to get 3 kids dressed and out the door in time for
anything? If you have, you'll know why they drive that way.

 

[Hallan Blaggit]

I had a toyota camry and a chev cavalier with fussy shift locks. Try
turning the wheel a bit. It's nothing specific to Subies.

I like the cold electrons, that can't find their way.

 

[rvedutis]

This isn't because the shifter is locked because of the steering wheel.
When you depress the brake, it releases a safety latch on the
shifter(internal), you can hear it release when it works properly. I
have had cars where the shifter will lock because the wheel is turned
one way or another too much but unfortunatley this is not the case. I'm
trying my hardest not to fall back to taking this to the dealer!

 

[Jerseyj]

My '02 6 cyl Outback does this too when it's cold, below approx 20
degrees F. I always assumed it was normal because it goes away within
10 min as the engine warms up. I don't "warm up" my car because I was
told it's unnecessary for modern cars and amounts to nothing more than
a waste of gas and a warmer interior. All the literature says "just
start the car and drive easily for the first 10 minutes." So, that's
what I do. Never did anything about the hesitation/surging issue, and
I LOVE my subie! 51K miles in 3 years and going strong!

I have the same problem, but rather than when it's cold, only when it's
rainy! I also know I have one of those darn cars that need the head
gasket replaced and wonder if the two things are related.

 

[ismlv]

I have the same problem, but rather than when it's cold, only when it's
rainy! I also know I have one of those darn cars that need the head
gasket replaced and wonder if the two things are related.

Is your problem when it's rainy that the car sputters until it gets going and warmed up really good? I had that problem on my 99 SUS and
they cleaned the Idle Air Control valve and some other valve on it and it works fine now. Also replaced the spark plug wires.

 

[rvedutis]

is the head gasket the cause of a bad oil leak and having the oil burn
off and smoke all the time?

 

[Jerseyj]

Is your problem when it's rainy that the car sputters until it gets going and
warmed up really good? I had that problem on my 99 SUS and
they cleaned the Idle Air Control valve and some other valve on it and it
works fine now. Also replaced the spark plug wires.

Yes, that is exactly my problem!!! Thanks, it's due for 150K service,
I'll have them look at it during that visit.

Jerry