I've had my 22 Touring for 6 months now, took it in for the 6 month service. Asked the service manager if the high idle is supposed to stay on for 4+ minutes before it lowers to normal idle when starting a cold engine. He said yes it's normal. I then asked what if I needed to go in a hurry, will putting it in gear at high idle hurt the transmission? He said no, perfectly OK to put it in gear and drive. I'm still not feeling comfortable with his answers so I'm still going to wait for the idle to drop before putting it in gear. Anybody dealt with this issue/concern? What did you find out?
2022/2023 - High Idle when cold? (merged thread)
goldcornet
21 - 33 of 33 Posts
Excellent advice! I’m a Forester owner three times over.
@goldcornet,
My 2023 Forester does the same thing. Would be nice and would also show some customer support if Subaru would document this. Who feels good going on the word of a service dept person? Sure it does make sense to warm up the engine when cold, but again, talking to YOU Subaru, why no written confirmation about this?
My 2023 Forester does the same thing. Would be nice and would also show some customer support if Subaru would document this. Who feels good going on the word of a service dept person? Sure it does make sense to warm up the engine when cold, but again, talking to YOU Subaru, why no written confirmation about this?
@Category5 Where would you put this information in the owners manual? And who actually reads the owners manual. This high idle speed is not something new, all cars to the best of my knowledge dating back to the 1970's have had high idle for various reasons....so I am not sure I understand why all of a sudden it's becoming an issue today?
I don't know if my '17 DI turbo 2.0 engine cold-idles as fast as a '22 DI 2.5, but it is in no way anywhere close to the fast idle speeds that were commonplace with the primitive carbureted engines of 50 years ago. Those really slammed into gear - or else the engine stalled - or both. We usually didn't have a tach to quantify the rpms, but I think 2500-3000 was the ballpark. My CVT has stayed happy, now 93,000 miles. The "jolt" of shifting into drive after a cold start is minuscule compared to those old cars.
Subaru of America does not monitor this website.
That seems to be true (SoA forum monitoring), but they do have both a customer service line and website they do monitor, so perhaps it would be more effective to send Subaru a concern directly rather than venting here where they won't see it.
As far as a fast idle on startup, every car I've ever owned does that, and for a reason..
It's to get the engine up to temp faster.
If the engine is still cold, a throttle blip won't drop the idle, but once it's warm enough, it will.
As far as a fast idle on startup, every car I've ever owned does that, and for a reason..
It's to get the engine up to temp faster.
If the engine is still cold, a throttle blip won't drop the idle, but once it's warm enough, it will.
Every car I have owned except one has idled higher than normal operating temperature when cold.
I don't need something in writing to tell me it's by design. I believe it used to mention something in the older owners manuals, but it probably became like beating a dead horse.
The one that did not idle above 750 rpm no matter how cold it was, was my 2001 Dodge neon.
Even a PCM swap didn't change that.
Edit: neons didn't even have EGR from 2001 to 2005, but things changed since... : Edit
I have to admit, it was a bit refreshing to not have to deal with a high idle. It was an MT car, so possibly that might have had something to do with it.
Otherwise I'm sure customers would be screaming about their car stalling when put in gear with an automatic.
BTW, don't blame Subaru, complain to the EPA. Car companies are only doing this stuff to meet emissions regulations.
But perhaps you would like to pay $100 more for a few lines of text in the owners manual to help manufacturers offset some of the costs associated with compliance?
I don't need something in writing to tell me it's by design. I believe it used to mention something in the older owners manuals, but it probably became like beating a dead horse.
The one that did not idle above 750 rpm no matter how cold it was, was my 2001 Dodge neon.
Even a PCM swap didn't change that.
Edit: neons didn't even have EGR from 2001 to 2005, but things changed since... : Edit
I have to admit, it was a bit refreshing to not have to deal with a high idle. It was an MT car, so possibly that might have had something to do with it.
Otherwise I'm sure customers would be screaming about their car stalling when put in gear with an automatic.
BTW, don't blame Subaru, complain to the EPA. Car companies are only doing this stuff to meet emissions regulations.
But perhaps you would like to pay $100 more for a few lines of text in the owners manual to help manufacturers offset some of the costs associated with compliance?
It is documented, if people bother to read it or not before complaining is another matter.
From page 300 of the owners manual:
"NOTE . Avoid rapid racing and rapid acceleration immediately after the engine has started.
For a short time after the engine has started, the engine speed is kept high. When the warm-up is completed, the engine speed lowers automatically."
That degree of detail is for the Service Manual and will probably be in it. But a car owner doesn't need to know that much detail, just that idles faster until it has reached operating temperature and is thus fine for the Owners Manual (there is too much detail in there as it is). No make of car would stipulate the rev ranges like that in an owners manual and I haven't come across it in any of my previous car manuals.
Nope.
That would be TMI, IMHO. ( +1 @Shilo)
The level of specificity you seem to want isn't any better documentation, but it is over specification that is irrelevant, and cannot be stated in a form you seem to want...
Because:
There is no way to accurately say how long an engine will run at a specific RPM for all conditions, as that time will vary, sometimes considerably, based upon ambient conditions at start time, as well as the temperature of the engine when started.. e.g. a car that has been in a deep freeze overnight will take longer to get to operating temperature than one that is barely cool by morning.
There's such a thing as too much detail, and what is provided in the manual for most people is more than adequate.
As was noted, the manual is more than thick enough as it is, speaking of thick...
@Shilo 1800 rpm for x amount of time, then 1500 for x amount of time, then normal idle, would be documentation.
Having been through VW and Mercedes Dieselgate. That information opens car makers whether it's Subaru or otherwise to all kinds of lawsuits. Someone's going to say "Why is it still idling high after X minutes. The reality is the amount of time at each RPM is completely dependent on what the ECU sees based on it's sensors and not on some "timer logic".
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