hesitation problem first thing in morning

Well, I don't "fly" out of my driveway. I go very easy for the first few minutes. I don't believe in keeping quiet about any manufacturing problems. It's the only way that things get fixed. WOW! I can't believe the problem you have with your Subie. That sounds awful.

What is the ambient temperature when you do that?

I back out of

Yeah, it will do that if the trans fluid is still jell. Check it out some time, at 10 degress it's more like rasberry jam than a liquid.

The Subaru service manager thinks that I'm not letting it warm up

No friggin way is that enough time. The edges of the cylinder walls are barely heated by then. To let the transimission heat during idle in drive way you have to heat the engine block up to normal temp, which heats the radiator, which (as far as I understand) a cooling loop through the transmission... which heats the tranny. But not all parts of it, most of the tranny is heated via friction which you do not get while the car is not in gear.

Try changing to a high-performance or cold operating transmission oil next time it's changed.

Yeah, the engine is cold. The computer is still warming it up. THATS HOW COMPUTER CONTROLED ENGINES WORK.

True, Subies are pretty "notchy". You can vary that a little bit by varying the transmission fluid level. I have mine on the high side to reduce that. Note that it will downshift under normal driving condiditons at a lower RPM which you may not like either.

I'll buy it from you for $10 if you want. :)

Seriously though, it sounds like you had a 92 Ford Automatic as your last car and simply do not understand how modern cars work.

This morning, it was 46 degrees Farhrenheit.

My '02 6 cyl Outback does this too when it's cold, below approx 20 degrees F. I always assumed it was normal because it goes away within

10 min as the engine warms up. I don't "warm up" my car because I was told it's unnecessary for modern cars and amounts to nothing more than a waste of gas and a warmer interior. All the literature says "just start the car and drive easily for the first 10 minutes." So, that's what I do. Never did anything about the hesitation/surging issue, and I LOVE my subie! 51K miles in 3 years and going strong!

Thanks for the input. btw, I traded in my 2004 Accord for the Subie.

Thanks everyone. I guess I will just have to let the Outback warm up more in the mornings. It seems like a waste of gas though. Funny, I always had the impression that Subie's (being all wheel drive) were made especially for colder climates.

Colder climates and the car being cold as a matter of having sat overnight are two disctincly different things. You think your car sufferes on a cold day? I can attest that most motorcycles (esp. those that are carburated) run very poorly until warmed up for a few minutes minumum. Start your car up and drive drive it like a soccer mom for a few minutes until the temp needle comes off the peg (should take but 5 mins or so). The computer will do the rest -- regulate fuel based on colder temps, adjust choke likewise, etc.

Mike

I had the same problem with my '02 OBW (4cyl). Finally, I ran a bottle of Chevron injector cleaner through the tank, I changed the plugs (after 25K miles) to platinum, and I replaced the spark wires ($35 for 4 cyl).

I am not sure which did the trick, but my problem went away, and it was a cheap fix.

I have a 1993 Subaru Impreza LS and my car does the same thing when cold. Took it to my local mechanic and he told me that when the car is cold (or often damp) some of the electrical charges that get sent through the spark plugs actually don't fire where they are expected to. He upgraded my spark plugs and that resolved 90% of the issue. He told me that my car was pratically running on 1-2 cylinders when cold, when the engie warms up it evaporates the moisture and all is good. Every once in a while it still has that lag and jerky motion in the morning, just used to it by now :)

I am having a problem with the "shift lock" feature that subaru has puts into it's automatics. My locks sometimes and i have to manually override it with a scredriver to get my car out of park, any advice is apprecated!

My 2004 OBW is slow in shifting from reverse to forward and forward to reverse. You have to wait 1 or 2 seconds for it to shift.

My God, that would kill the poor car. I don't know what the "soccer moms" are like where you are, but around here, they're the most agressive drivers going.

Have you ever tried to get 3 kids dressed and out the door in time for anything? If you have, you'll know why they drive that way.

I had a toyota camry and a chev cavalier with fussy shift locks. Try turning the wheel a bit. It's nothing specific to Subies.

I like the cold electrons, that can't find their way.

This isn't because the shifter is locked because of the steering wheel. When you depress the brake, it releases a safety latch on the shifter(internal), you can hear it release when it works properly. I have had cars where the shifter will lock because the wheel is turned one way or another too much but unfortunatley this is not the case. I'm trying my hardest not to fall back to taking this to the dealer!

I have the same problem, but rather than when it's cold, only when it's rainy! I also know I have one of those darn cars that need the head gasket replaced and wonder if the two things are related.

Is your problem when it's rainy that the car sputters until it gets going and warmed up really good? I had that problem on my 99 SUS and they cleaned the Idle Air Control valve and some other valve on it and it works fine now. Also replaced the spark plug wires.

is the head gasket the cause of a bad oil leak and having the oil burn off and smoke all the time?

Yes, that is exactly my problem!!! Thanks, it's due for 150K service, I'll have them look at it during that visit.

Jerry