[katuah]

Hey y'all. I tried searching on this, but I can't find anything that sounds even vaguely like what I'm hearing.

I have a 2010 Forester X SE, less than 3000K miles, manual. When I pull out from a stop, sometimes I hear a soft "thwack" noise that sounds like it's coming from directly under/in front of the front passenger footwell. I hear it EVERY morning when I back out of my driveway and start driving - it happens about 1 sec after I begin forward motion. I sometimes hear it when pulling out at lights/stops, or from being parked, but not every time.

My first thought is that it's coming from the auto-clutch thing, but it sounds more like a mudflap flipping up or similar, and not quite as mechanical-sounding as I'd expect a clutch to sound.

I'm at the dealer right now for a 3000m oil change, and I asked them to look at it, but I just thought maybe somebody on here would know right off hand what this sound is, and help me stop worrying. Thanks.

 

[phill]

I hear it EVERY morning when I back out of my driveway and start driving - it happens about 1 sec after I begin forward motion. I sometimes hear it when pulling out at lights/stops, or from being parked, but not every time.

i hear it every morning when reversing out of my driveway too! but i drive the auto tranny in a MY2010.

any ideas? :N_poke:

pls & thx

 

[funkymonkey1002]

Its the ABS self test. It should do it 1 time when you first start moving after starting the car.

 

[phill]

Its the ABS self test. It should do it 1 time when you first start moving after starting the car.

ah, so thats the answer? wow!

thank you for that.

 

[caddguy6]

Well "thwack" could be a way to discribe the sound but I to get a quick sound after backing away from the front of my house, I stop and shift into drive, move a couple of feet and than I hear the sound. It happens just once and always in the mornings.
Another thing that makes you go, "Hmmm...?"

 

[ArcadeTom]

Yep, it is almost certainly the "self test" function of your four wheel antilock brake system. It will only happen once when you first begin traveling forward for the first time after starting the engine.

 

[justinw2116]

I have this happening too, I thought it had to do with the steering, but maybe not. And I swear it only happens after I have let it sit overnight, but I am not sure. I always thought I was going crazy... you know when you work on your car, and you turn into a hypochondriac, and everything you hear could just be something awful.

I think I am going to try to pull the ABS fuse to see it this is true... I also have a 2010 X Manual.

 

[BAC5.2]

The manual cars don't have an auto-clutch.

It is the ABS self test. My wife's 09 Impreza does it. My 09 OutbackXT is MUCH quieter than hers though.

 

[phill]

I think I am going to try to pull the ABS fuse to see it this is true... I also have a 2010 X Manual.

Justin,

if you do go ahead with this.. let me know.. i might just do that same test if someone doesnt beat me to it.

 

[ZapWizard]

I was also curious about this, it really concerned me the first few times I heard it.

 

[romclean]

I had the same sound and wondered what it was...I asked at the dealer and was told it is the ABS system..my brother who knows his wheels much better than I drove it and told me the same thing.. happens every morning when I back out of the garage and then drive forward..apparently normal operation.

 

[funkymonkey1002]

It's been covered here many times before. All the 09+ should do it.

 

[katuah]

You guys beat the dealership all over the place on this one. I thought it was probably something simple and obvious like that, and I fully expected to have them tell me immediately something like "oh, that! its a geehawker biddyboom disconnect, everybody has that" or whatever. But no! They treated me like I was Just A Silly Woman making it up, and maligned me for consulting a Forum about the problem. These guys get no more of my business, not when there's another Subaru place just a few miles down the road.

Oh, and I can tell you for sure that there is an automatic hill-holder clutch feature on the 2010 manual, because it's kept me from rolling into jerks who pull up too close at least twice already, while I was still getting used to the clutch.

Thanks y'all! I can stop worrying and learn to love my daily thwack now.

 

[NormSubie]

i hear it every morning when reversing out of my driveway too! but i drive the auto tranny in a MY2010.

any ideas? :N_poke:

pls & thx

Yah, me too! It's more like a CLANG!

 

[justinw2116]

Yeah, so I pulled the ABS/VDC fuse and I did not hear the soft thwak when I started the vehicle. I started the car cold a couple of times today, and it all points to the ABS self check as the source of the thwak.

Oh yeah... and don't drive down the highway with that fuse pulled. My dear Oswald (my fozzie's name) was making odd noises after, and I have no clue why. But everything went back to normal when I replaced the fuse.

 

[trailangel]

Oh, and I can tell you for sure that there is an automatic hill-holder clutch feature on the 2010 manual, because it's kept me from rolling into jerks who pull up too close at least twice already, while I was still getting used to the clutch.

Thanks y'all! I can stop worrying and learn to love my daily thwack now.

Well, you first called it an "auto clutch",,,, no such thing. Yes, it's called "hill holder" on manuals. Hill holder is a brake.

I didn't need to pull the ABS fuse on my 2010.....after 6 people told me the noise was from the ABS self-test I knew that it was from the ABS self-test.

 

[TCARZ]

I, always, thought that it sounded like auto-doorlocks engaging, when you started out. I knew that the Forester didn't have them, so it's good to know what it really was. Thanx.