[c130phil]

Hi all,

I have purchase a Subie Forester 2003/04 XS which has a 2.5 litre engine.

I have had some problems with the Idle air control vavle but has been fixed for the moment. I am having a few problems just in Second gear it usally is when im in a car park (slow speed) I take my front of the Acc pedal but the car starts to jerk back and forth and has became quite bad becoming ibe had to put the clutch in. Also when warm and only when down shifting it seems to not want to take second gear without a strugle.

anyone got any ideas what could be casing this
, I have a great mechanic who today adjusted the throttle sensor postion which has seemed to helped the problem with both with idle and Jerking.

Regards

Phil

 

[Bassmaker]

Hi Phil. That's really annoying. I don't know if this is of any use but I had something similar on my UK 99 S turbo, but in any gear from about 1800rpm down to idle with my foot off the throttle and it would start jerking, getting progressively worse till I had to put the clutch in. I replaced my MAF sensor with a genuine Subaru item which made a huge difference compared with the half price Ebay unit I bought first to save a bit of money, that made no difference. I have noted though that since I changed my throttle position sensor as well, fine tuning the TPS seems to have moved the remaining judder down to a manageable 1000rpm to idle, but the quantity of the judder is hugely reduced since the MAF change. I'm not sure if the USDM 2003 XS uses a MAF sensor or not but replacing mine cured a whole list of other problems as well. While I was at it I removed the idle air control valve and gave that a good clean out as well, looked like a coal mine in there, and I think the idle may have been a bit smoother after but it's hard to say because I did all three jobs within a short time frame.

 

[Bassmaker]

Sorry Phil, I put in USDM Forester because I didn't look first and your in Aus not the US. The thing with not being able to get 2nd gear too easily - did you know there is a dipstick for the gearbox oil level? It's to the back and left of the engine/gearbox when looking from the front of the car, worth checking. I had my Foz for a couple of weeks but the seller negelected to mention that there was a leak in the gearbox and I ran it dry and seized it, quite scary in a 4 wheel drive because all wheeks lock up together. I was unaware of the gearbox dipstick at that time. If you are low on fluids, it is a good idea to get some approx 10mm inside diameter clear tubing from your local hardware store, a couple of feet will do and a funnel because the hole for the dipstick is a little tricky to get to with an oil bottle. As I said, I have the turbo, so that is in the way as well as the intercooler, perhaps this is not such an issue on the XS.