[Fibber2]

If I were to jump in here and dare to suggest my 12v 1 amp power supply with DVM ECU keep-alive method when removing the battery, will I just spend the next month defending why?

 

[bbottomley]

I think that subject was completely discussed in a separate thread recently. The theme of this thread is a bit different. Let's keep it that way.

 

[Fibber2]

Kind of figured that!

I'll offer one comment: Reading through this thread and remembering the retorts in the last fiasco, there is a common theme: SJ and SK Foresters seem to have the smarts to either not forget the throttle plate learned position, or seem to have the ability to adjust and relearn quickly enough that retaining data in memory isn't essential. Many of the same players on both threads saying the same thing. Newer vehicles don't gain as much.

But as this thread was started by folks with older vehicles, for them it is a bigger deal. Even some of our illustrious staff weighed in that a relearn procedure is necessary on pre-2014's, and not just BS.

So if you don't want to discuss how to retain the learning, maybe we should cover the method to restore the throttle plate to factory spec position so that no learning is necessary. I learned this from Toyota ownership and used that method successfully on my 2002 Outback 2.5 EJ engine.

 

[Cooper67]

I have a 2014 Forester 2.5i Limited Automatic Trans. with 88,500k miles on it. Bought it new at the dealership and have never had any real serious issues with it other than normal wear and tear, brakes pads/rotors and a couple of wheel bearings replaced. I always did regular vehicle maintenance on it like clockwork. We live in Michigan and the winters here can get pretty harsh during the months of January-March. So, normal driving I would say, by Midwesterners standards I suppose. I just recently had the front/rear differential fluids changed and a full transmission flush done at the dealership.

I replaced the battery about four months ago and have noticed the vehicle was sluggish during acceleration from a full stop. I also noticed that the RPM needle was fluctuating up and down between 450-650. I wasn't too overly concerned about it being that it has over 80k miles on it. We gave the car to my daughter a few months ago and she was telling me the same thing. She also said that the car stalled at a stop sign right when she pressed the accelerator pedal to move. It freaked her out because that's never ever happened to her on any car she's ever driven. I decided to drive the car for a week and started to research on the idling issue and came across this post. After reading the steps on how to re-calibrate the ECU idle parameters, I honestly don't know if it would work or not but given the step-by-step procedures and how easy it was, I thought it wouldn't harm anything to try. I just got done with the procedure about an hour ago and right off the bat, the tachometer needle stayed at the 600rpm mark and barely moved. I took it for a drive and did a series of acceleration and stops and the car seems to be back to normal. I made a complete stop at a red light and watched the needle, it did not move at all and I accelerated, it moved without being sluggish whatsoever. So, in IMHO, this procedure worked for me. Now, with that being said, a person without any mechanical or car knowledge skills would never think that this needs to be done after swapping out the battery. I've swapped out batteries on other vehicles before and never had to do this. So, if this is a Subaru thing, maybe they need to rethink their engineering of future cars. Anyway, just thought I'd share my adventure with you folks here. Thank you for all the feedbacks that I've been reading. It's been very helpful!

 

[D3stination]

The 1st set of instructions totally resolved my issues!! Very thankful cuz I’m the driver when my daughter goes into labor any day now. 2009 Outback replaced battery and I knew it would take a bit to readjust but NOT 100+ miles nah I ain’t got time for that anxiety about not have a reliable vehicle. Grateful that this Hokey Pokey dance worked!! Yay me!

 

[bagpiper22]

This worked great for me! I had my battery disconnected for a couple hours this weekend while changing spark plugs. Hooked it back up and it stalled several times while test driving. I was first worried the plugs had to be redone, but this cured the issue. Drives great now. Thanks!

 

[rsbst19]

Just figured I would chime in to this old thread...replaced sparks on my 2015 Forester. Stall when starting (if I didn't give it gass), rough idling, etc. The technique at the start of the thread worked!
There might be simpler, more efficient methods, but for as often as I change spark plugs, this is fine.

 

[sjduskin]

Sorry about the tone of my earlier reply. Like I said, glad it worked for you, but I am pretty sure that the ECU will perform what little learning it does during normal driving. Maybe LPG changes that for some reason.

-- Steve

That is NOT true for my 2014 Forester. The rough idle will continue for weeks any time I disconnect the battery. Turning it to the On position without starting for 15-20 seconds then idling for a number of minutes - clears it up immediately.

Thanks for the reference link to my post BOD. For those claiming BS... say what you want, you're wrong. The process I posted solved the stalling problem I was having in my MT 2005 Forester after I had run the battery dead. I ran the battery dead because I had broken the alt belt and was trying to get the Forester back to civilization. For about a week it stalled whenever it idled, including when I was downshifting on an exit ramp going 50 mph. After I did the "relearn" process the problem went away. I did nothing else, so this process DID fix it.

Still works on a 2014 Forester in 2024, as well. Some things don't change...

Just figured I would chime in to this old thread...replaced sparks on my 2015 Forester. Stall when starting (if I didn't give it gass), rough idling, etc. The technique at the start of the thread worked!
There might be simpler, more efficient methods, but for as often as I change spark plugs, this is fine.

Works for my 2014 Forester too. I disconnect the battery for long parking periods at the airport (came out to a dead battery in the long term lot one too many times), and if I drive away without the Idle Re-learn procedure, the thing idles to zero at every stoplight on the way home.

 

[Jimmyyy]

I would like to confirm this is not BS! It works for me!
I recently disconnected the start battery on my 2016 Subaru Forester 2.5iL to install the dash camera VIOFO A229 plus with HK4 hardware kit by myself. After the installation is done, I found that my car engine would stall right after I started it, so its not like the engine wont start, but it just stalled immediately after that. The same would happened during start stop as well, which cause my car stop running in front of a red light. It will show all sort of warnings including "Power Steering Warning" but they are just the result of engine stalling.

Initially, I thought I have used the wrong fuse slot (I used the seated heater for always on, and an empty slot for acc), or I messed up other connecter while installing my camera however the problem persist after I have fully disconnected my dash camera hardware kit.

Then I discovered this post and follow exactly how OP described to re-learn the idling and now everything start working again! I will re-connect my dash camera a few days later to ensure its running smooth first.

I am pretty sure not every steps on the OP procedures are required, probably the most important steps is to not start the engine right after re-connecting the battery but put it to on position for 20s first but I don't have time to verify that.

(Also, don't forget to re-calibrate the passenger side windows to allow it to be controlled by the driver side control again after re-connecting the battery, steps can be easily googled)