Hi,
I've got an '05, XT and yesterday was the third time that I've experienced problems starting the vehicle after it's sat parked outside overnight. The first time was in December and it was 7 degrees outside when I attempted to start the vehicle. Turning the key would get the engine cranking very weak, and it took several attempts of pumping the accelerator before it finally "caught" and started up. It had sat from 19:00 till 05:30 the following morning. Not really a long period of time, and I figured it might have been a battery issue. I had no problems starting the car later on in the day and the problem did not re-occur until a few weeks later.
The second occurance involved similar circumstances, but this time the vehicle sat parked a little long, and the outside temps were in the upper 20's to low 30's. The next day, I brought it into the local dealership and they ran a load test on the battery and did not find anything. I suspected that would happen because I had driven the car for about 15 minutes prior to dropping it off. They suggested waiting until it happened again, and bringing it back in.
Yesterday, the problem occured for the third time, and this time I could not get it to start. I called Subaru Roadside Assistance to get a tow and when the tow truck showed up 45 minutes later, the driver asked if he could try starting up the Forester. Naturally, he was able to start it right away. I drove it to the dealers and asked them to let it sit overnight before they attempted to start it again. For whatever reason(s) they didn't let it sit and started attempting to trobuleshoot it yesterday afternoon. They didn't find anything and I asked them to let it sit overnight and try again in the morning. They tried in the afternoon when the temps were close to 60 and said that they could not replicate the problem. I reminded them that each time this has happened it's has been when the temps were below freezing and the vehicle has sat park overnight.
I've got a loaner car from them and asked if they could let the Forester sit till Monday or Tuesday and then try to start it up. I'm fairly certain the problem will happen again, but short of videotaping it or having it happen at the dealership, they're going to be somewhat skeptical.
I asked a co-worker who is fairly knowledgeable about cars and he said it may be a bad cell with the battery or vapor lock. I'm not buying off-brand gas and usually stick with the same couple of local stations, so I don't think it's a fuel issue. For what it's worth, I think it may be a battery issue and a replacement would take care of the problem.
I'm waiting to hear back from the local dealer to see if they'll keep the car over the weekend. In the interim, they said that they were unable to find any codes or service bulletins relating to the problem. They also said that when do have the starting problems, I should never pump the gas pedal. I explained to them that after several attempts, the only way that I've been able to get the vehicle started, is by doing just that (pumping the pedal). Even the tow truck driver commented yesterday that from his past experiences in similar situations, a lot of these vehicles with starting problems, only seem to start up after they're flooded.
Has anyone else experienced this type of problem? If so, was it a fuel problem, battery problem or something else altogether?
Thanks in advance for reading through this somewhat lengthy sequence of events.
I've got an '05, XT and yesterday was the third time that I've experienced problems starting the vehicle after it's sat parked outside overnight. The first time was in December and it was 7 degrees outside when I attempted to start the vehicle. Turning the key would get the engine cranking very weak, and it took several attempts of pumping the accelerator before it finally "caught" and started up. It had sat from 19:00 till 05:30 the following morning. Not really a long period of time, and I figured it might have been a battery issue. I had no problems starting the car later on in the day and the problem did not re-occur until a few weeks later.
The second occurance involved similar circumstances, but this time the vehicle sat parked a little long, and the outside temps were in the upper 20's to low 30's. The next day, I brought it into the local dealership and they ran a load test on the battery and did not find anything. I suspected that would happen because I had driven the car for about 15 minutes prior to dropping it off. They suggested waiting until it happened again, and bringing it back in.
Yesterday, the problem occured for the third time, and this time I could not get it to start. I called Subaru Roadside Assistance to get a tow and when the tow truck showed up 45 minutes later, the driver asked if he could try starting up the Forester. Naturally, he was able to start it right away. I drove it to the dealers and asked them to let it sit overnight before they attempted to start it again. For whatever reason(s) they didn't let it sit and started attempting to trobuleshoot it yesterday afternoon. They didn't find anything and I asked them to let it sit overnight and try again in the morning. They tried in the afternoon when the temps were close to 60 and said that they could not replicate the problem. I reminded them that each time this has happened it's has been when the temps were below freezing and the vehicle has sat park overnight.
I've got a loaner car from them and asked if they could let the Forester sit till Monday or Tuesday and then try to start it up. I'm fairly certain the problem will happen again, but short of videotaping it or having it happen at the dealership, they're going to be somewhat skeptical.
I asked a co-worker who is fairly knowledgeable about cars and he said it may be a bad cell with the battery or vapor lock. I'm not buying off-brand gas and usually stick with the same couple of local stations, so I don't think it's a fuel issue. For what it's worth, I think it may be a battery issue and a replacement would take care of the problem.
I'm waiting to hear back from the local dealer to see if they'll keep the car over the weekend. In the interim, they said that they were unable to find any codes or service bulletins relating to the problem. They also said that when do have the starting problems, I should never pump the gas pedal. I explained to them that after several attempts, the only way that I've been able to get the vehicle started, is by doing just that (pumping the pedal). Even the tow truck driver commented yesterday that from his past experiences in similar situations, a lot of these vehicles with starting problems, only seem to start up after they're flooded.
Has anyone else experienced this type of problem? If so, was it a fuel problem, battery problem or something else altogether?
Thanks in advance for reading through this somewhat lengthy sequence of events.