[Keith Tobberman]

Hey,
I was sitting in a 2004 Forester XT with 99,000 miles and I noticed something. It runs smooth when revving, but, when the RPMs die back down to an idle, when the truck is in neutral, the idle shakes the vehicle quite a bit. Is that shake normal? I know in very powerful muscle cars they do that, but what about these?

-Thanks

 

[lh0628]

Mine does that too, every second or two the engine shakes a bit. I've read before that it should be normal. But I'd like to know for sure as well.

 

[satalac]

Yeah, mine does as well. I like it though. Haha. It's normal.

 

[Keith Tobberman]

Alright, thanks. This one just has a constant rumble kind of feeling. It is not perfectly even feeling but the engine sounds fine. Anyway, this particular 04 XT has 99,000 miles and sounds great, with little to no ticking or knocking. How long should this thing be good for? By the way, it has a standard tranny.

-Thanks

 

[JohnThomas Sorrels]

If you have a rough idle you might want to check on/ remove the little filter screens like below...

http://www.scoobymods.com/tsb-02-97-05-t5782.html?p=20694

 

[VTME09]

04 XT MT idle shake

Removed the filters AVCS filters from my 04 FXT MT but no change in idle shake. Cleaned the MAF already. Going to try removing the turbo oil filter. Any other ideas?

 

[spencerepp]

removed the filters today engine shake/rough idle is reduced but not eliminated completely

 

[funkymonkey1002]

Is there any oil under the throttle body/intercooler? I had a hose that runs from the intake manifold to PCV valve under the throttle body crack and it idled rough and would hesitate a bit off the line.

 

[adamh]

I have the same problem on my 2003 XT, like a misfire? But it cuts out on cold starts. Suspecting the maf but not sure. I've done 94k miles and just had some valves replaced so want to sort this soon but without costing the earth!

 

[Brandon]

My '04 FXT was idling rough when cold as I got close to the 105k mile mark. Then I got my timing belt service and it went away.

 

[Blue Fox]

Just re-timed mine (and triple checked it) and mine also has a bit of a rough idle when waiting at stop lights, or in neutral. Mine use to do it every so often, but lately it's been noticeable. I don't have the AVCS screens either. Guess I'll try the grounding mod, and check some hoses. Otherwise it works fine.

 

[subaruoutdoorsman]

After just having my engine completely rebuilt, pretty much from scratch, I have this issue as well. It must be normal for the 2.5L Turbo if so many other folks are having the issue as well. If anyone finds a fix, please post!

 

[Thermo1223]

I thought it was always due to the UEL headers. The way the exhaust pulses out the back.

Didn't they eliminate that on the new Foresters because they use Equal Length headers now?

 

[VTME09]

Just re-timed mine (and triple checked it) and mine also has a bit of a rough idle when waiting at stop lights, or in neutral. Mine use to do it every so often, but lately it's been noticeable. I don't have the AVCS screens either. Guess I'll try the grounding mod, and check some hoses. Otherwise it works fine.

I tried the grounding mod, no difference.

 

[VTME09]

Any Thoughts on this applying to us?

"STi guys, if your car is not idling smoothly, we have found it's the crank sensor screwing up. When changed the car idles great again. We can not guaranty it will be this simple all the time, but so far we are batting a 1000 on each car we checked, vs the dealer. Reset your ECU after the install. " Other subi knowledge here Xcceleration

 

[INSubbie]

Mine has had this intermediate "shake" since new and is normal, shaking every few seconds for a cycle or so.... Almost like one cylinder forgets to fire or one gets a little more fuel than the other and fires stronger... I now have 98K miles and is still hasn't gotten any worse or better. It doesn't seem to have affected my performance or gas mileage..

 

[exerda]

Check the power steering pump, pulley, and fluid.

I had made the mistake of letting Jiffy Lube change the power steering fluid about 10k miles back, before I took an interest in my own maintenance. Whatever they used was not Dexron III ATF--it was a clearish-to-yellow fluid. Not to mention it had gotten a bit gunky (not cooked, thankfully, but still not clean at all.)

I pumped it out of the reservoir and added clean Dexron III, then with the engine on ran the steering wheel fully from one side to the other repeatedly. Rinse (figuratively) and repeat.

After doing this a couple of times and then again a week later, I now have nice red, clean fluid in the system. And the very rough idle has completely gone away!

I don't know how much damage might have been done to the pump, but its pulley and/or belts are a bit squeaky at the moment and will bear further investigation. A local Subaru mechanic claims use of "plain power steering fluid" probably wouldn't have hurt the pump itself, so I've got my fingers crossed, but clearly Jiffy Lube didn't use the right stuff, either.

 

[dutchman]

Sorry for warming up this thread, but I would like to pay it forward by describing my troubles and experiences from the last few days to hopefully help others..

I have a 2004 Forester XT with 163,xxx miles purchased less than 3 months ago. It ran great with a bunch of service history included in the glove box which entailed a timing belt replacement at the correct interval and what looked to be a pretty good record of regularly scheduled maintenance. It started idling somewhat rough and noticeable loss of power a few weeks ago. The idle got substantially worse and the car would die at just about every stop sign. CEL and cruise illuminated so I took it to a local shop. The mechanic said P0302 and P0304 were the codes that were in. They did a compression check on two cylinders and said they were both around 100 psi, indicating I had valve trouble. I was not convinced just yet..

I removed the screen from the turbo banjo fitting and verified the avcs filters were not installed. Turbo banjo fitting had around 25% blockage. I removed both avcs assemblies looking for any obstruction and freedom of movement. Cleaned the grime from them and changed engine oil and filter, but no change in performance. Next I pulled the spark plugs (which were replaced by other about 30,000 miles ago according to the glove box records) and found them to be the wrong plugs. Since I had them out, I did a compression check. Results as follows: (cold engine, unplugged crank sensor for testing)

Cyl 2 - 110
Cyl 4 - 111
Cyl 1 - 109
Cyl 3 - 109

I replaced the plugs with OEM NGK's and swapped bank 2 coils to bank 1 to see if by chance the coils were bad - I would see the codes swap over to bank 1. No change in performance and now I had codes P0302, P0304, and P0021. I convinced myself that the solenoid on bank 2 avcs had to be the problem. In the end I replaced bank 2 avcs and it runs better than ever.

Thanks to this site, I was able to keep the heads on my XT for a little longer.

 

[ForestGumpXT]

Sorry for warming up this thread, but I would like to pay it forward by describing my troubles and experiences from the last few days to hopefully help others..

I have a 2004 Forester XT with 163,xxx miles purchased less than 3 months ago. It ran great with a bunch of service history included in the glove box which entailed a timing belt replacement at the correct interval and what looked to be a pretty good record of regularly scheduled maintenance. It started idling somewhat rough and noticeable loss of power a few weeks ago. The idle got substantially worse and the car would die at just about every stop sign. CEL and cruise illuminated so I took it to a local shop. The mechanic said P0302 and P0304 were the codes that were in. They did a compression check on two cylinders and said they were both around 100 psi, indicating I had valve trouble. I was not convinced just yet..

I removed the screen from the turbo banjo fitting and verified the avcs filters were not installed. Turbo banjo fitting had around 25% blockage. I removed both avcs assemblies looking for any obstruction and freedom of movement. Cleaned the grime from them and changed engine oil and filter, but no change in performance. Next I pulled the spark plugs (which were replaced by other about 30,000 miles ago according to the glove box records) and found them to be the wrong plugs. Since I had them out, I did a compression check. Results as follows: (cold engine, unplugged crank sensor for testing)

Cyl 2 - 110
Cyl 4 - 111
Cyl 1 - 109
Cyl 3 - 109

I replaced the plugs with OEM NGK's and swapped bank 2 coils to bank 1 to see if by chance the coils were bad - I would see the codes swap over to bank 1. No change in performance and now I had codes P0302, P0304, and P0021. I convinced myself that the solenoid on bank 2 avcs had to be the problem. In the end I replaced bank 2 avcs and it runs better than ever.

Thanks to this site, I was able to keep the heads on my XT for a little longer.

('03-'05) 04 Forester XT - CEL with 6 codes - Subaru Forester Owners Forum

This one is my car. Has about 162k on it and now I'm screwed!