Hesitation & surging in 2006 Forrester

hmm. mine's not a turbo. and i happen not to be a sir. wonder if that's part of the problem, eh? :-)

Your first note didn't actually specify what kind of car you were complaining about; however, I do highly recommend you connect with other

2006 Forester owners and make sure that it's not just something that is in fact normal after all.

My vehicle (2004 WRX STi, Canadian spec) does strange things at odd times all the time. Here's a brief list:

. When it's cold, the clutch shudders if I rev too low when pulling away in

1st gear. When it warms back up, all's well.

. If I put the DCCD on anything but wide-open and turn tightly and sharply and basically do rings in a parking lot, I get a horrible, metal-on-metal grinding noise.

. When going around some corners where the pavement is uneven, I get jerked back and forth like a big giant kid's hand is flinging me forward and back as the AWD compensates, wheel to wheel, for the uneven terrain.

. On certain turns, I can feel the auto-mode DCCD react to the higher sideways g-force and induce (or eliminate) passenger-noticeable understeer, non-linearly with the throttle position.

. Going at about 20-40kph down a hill (or most anywhere else for that matter,) if I lift my foot immediately off the throttle, there is a definite forward-and-back "surging" which is caused by the manual transmission, especially when I'm in a lower gear.

. Depending on the steepness of the hill, my 1st gear is very tall; therefore, it will rev up quite a bit just coasting in gear, but I know that's normal for me. The weight of the vehicle and occupants is enough to overcome the inertia of the engine up to a certain point. That's where my brakes come in.

. At ~200kph, there is a loud whistling that is emitted from the driver's-side rear-view mirror. If I tuck the mirror in, the noise goes away.

. The front-wheels' limited-slip differential can make handling much different from a normal WRX in terms of understeer around corners.

These are all quirks of the vehicle, or normal behaviour because of the nature of the vehicle. I've seen a handful of people now who've purchased a

2004 STi and complained bitterly about whirring, whistling, bumping, jolting noises and behaviour and each time I've been surprised because in my case I simply found out what exactly was going on and realised that it was perfectly normal. Eventually, the noises and behaviour stopped bothering me because I *knew* what was going on.

I apologise if I sound like I'm being unsympathetic, but if this is your first Subaru, there are definitely weird things you're going to have to get used to. I'm not in a position to claim your vehicle is behaving normally; however, I personally know of two people who found the STi's personality to be too much for them to cope with.

So, I guess my advice is to learn more about what's going on, and learn more about your Forester's mechanical systems. Learn about the ECU. (For the STi, for example, its fuel maps are far more detailed than the WRX' are.) Try to reasonably extract information about what SOA thinks is going on. Find out the name of the Tech who went out for a ride with you, and get his technical opinion as to what's going on and whether it's normal. Go around to different Subaru dealerships and test-drive other Foresters.

Keep detailed notes, and try to be constructive with your time instead of worrying about it so much: if it is normal, do you think you could get used to it? Has it put your life in jeopardy, or can you foresee situations where it might put your life in jeopardy? Would it be too difficult for you to depress the accelerator a millimeter or two while you're driving downhill?

We aren't going to be able to help you, much, because none of us can drive over and sit in your car and tell whether it's something we've felt before or not. In my opinion, you're wasting your time hanging out here *at this point in time.*

Approach it with a calm head, draw some conclusions about your vehicle and yourself, and then act. Do you have any family who might know how to drive a standard who might also be willing to lend a hand?

As much as it pains me, there is still a lot of being dismissive of women by the automotive industry in general. Maybe not so bad when you are preparing to plunk down many thousands on their merchandise, but if you want service....

Mike

Hello k. ote. I appreciate your taking the time to reply. However, there is no way in hell that the way this car is driving, is normal. Pressing the accelerator a bit when going downhill makes no difference at all.

It's true that I'm not car-knowledgeable, nor do I intend to learn more about my car's mechanical systems. It's true that this is my first Subaru, but I come from a family of Subaru owner/drivers; they've driven this car and none think it is normal. Remember that the dealership's mechanic and salesman also drove this car, and do not think it is normal. I think that's enough evidence that I am not merely a car-illiterate who's misinterpreting things. (by the way, k. ote: I find this sentence - "Do you have any family who might know how to drive a standard who might also be willing to lend a hand?" pretty funny since I've always driven a manual transmission.)

My purpose in posting here was/is as much to let others know what I'm going through (so perhaps they can avoid the same thing), as to gain knowledge of the problem.

At any rate, I have since spoken to the dealership's manager and he assures me that if SOA doesn't come through, he will "do right" by me since his people (mechanic, salesman) have told him something's definitely wrong with the car. It's been almost a week, however, and I've heard from neither dealership nor SOA, so perhaps it's just more runaround.

Thanks for your response, though. Just remember that lots of people who buy cars, aren't acquainted with the details of the car's mechanics, nor should they have to be to get an obvious problem fixed.

k. ote wrote:

[...]

I did not hear about that problem before. Whats is fifferent between

2005 and 2006 models, engine ECU what casues that...

HI

Another 06 Forester that surges. Had the car two months and the problem is getting worse ----especially coming down a steep grade and coasting---Mammoth to Bishop---drop of 3000 ft in 15 miles. Also tach fluxuations at long lights--500 rpm---even when the engine is warm. Had it into the dealer once and they put it on the computer---result---the Foresters do that. Now when I take it back I'll have some backup and won't be brushed off as a "blonde" Hope you don't mind my printing out the e-mails---will leave off the addresses.

I test drove three different Foresters before buying---but always on the flat and not for more than 20 minutes in warm weather. Ordered mine from a dealer in northern CA ---I live in southern CA. Notice a little bit on the maiden voyage but just thought it would settle out as the miles were put on. NOT. What worries me is that this winter when I really need the control on an icy road heading for the ski slopes with my grand kids that I won't have it with the surging.

Thanks for the input everyone---maybe together we can all get Subaru off their backsides and get the problem solved

Hey Skylandia. I have been invited back to the dealership to drive a different Forrester 06, to see if the same problem occurs. The dealership has promised to "make me happy" if SOA (subaru of america) won't. SOA has offered - get this - to give me a $2K trade-in allowance on an AUTOMATIC Forrester 06. I surely don't want that but I'll take it if I drive another Forrester 06 and find the same problem. (Though the dealership has invited me to drive a different Forrester

06, they are not yet saying they will give me a different one.)

Reading your email, I'm less optimistic that I will be able to find an

06 Forrester that doesn't exhibit this problem. I sure hope I do not have to take an automatic! I do not WANT to drive an automatic car, and it seems unfair that may be my only alternative to driving this malfunctioning manual 06 Forrester.

Thanks....feel free to write me offline and commiserate!

I am going to drive the different Forester in a few hours, so I will post back soon and let everyone know the results.

Skylandia wrote:

Not sure if this would apply to you or not... but it might be worth a try...

There has been a similar thread on a local Ottawa Subaru club forum, and two members reported having the same hesitation/surging problem that you've experienced. Their problem went away after they replaced the spark plugs. One member reported that his Impreza ran much more smoothly after he switched from the stock Champion plugs to NGK Iridium plugs. If your car has a regular 2.5L engine, then my guess is that using NGK copper plugs would work just fine. I believe the turbo charged 2.5L engines require platium or iridium plugs. Your dealership should be able to help you choose which ones to try, if you decide to go down this road.

I have a 2005 X Forester with a manual trans and I haven't experienced this particular problem. I've no idea if this would fix the problem with your car, but new plugs are cheap, so it's probably worth trying...

I am a *firm* believer that the owner of the car should do all they can to familiarise themselves with as much of the inner workings and mechanics of the car as they can possibly absorb.

I have a problem with people who aren't interested in learning the details of a 3000-lb box of metal that hurtles down the road at a break-neck 75mph, opposed by other 3000-lb boxes of metal doing the same speed, in the opposite direction, often divided merely by a yellow painted line in the middle of the road, given that those same people are climbing inside voluntarily!

Only humans would think of such a death trap gauntlet.

It is your duty to learn more about your car. For your own, and your family's, sakes.

So what kind of gas are you filling it up with? Have you tried using a higher octane gasoline to see if that makes a difference? Try at least two tankfuls.

Didn't know if you were still bloging on this site---my 06 Forester goes in tomorrow for a once over and I've downloaded several descriptions of the problem---

Let me know how you made out with the dealer

snipped-for-privacy@cybersurfers.net

also known as Skylandia

Sorry to take so long in getting back to this!

I test-drove another 06 Forester, and it has the same issue, though to a slightly lesser extent. So I guess SOA is right-on that this car is "operating as designed".

I suggest anyone considering buying a manual-transmission 06 Forester, be sure to perform this test to make sure you can tolerate this car's operation: on a road that has a moderate downhill slope, drive the car in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th gear at a steady rate of speed, with RPMs between

2500 and 3500. Make sure you can tolerate the surging, hesitation, and uneven feel of the transmission. Ask your salesman about it! Then, as long as you're OK with it, buy the car! I highly recommend it in every OTHER way.

So now I have a couple of options. The dealership is being completely cooperative; although we haven't talked the actual dollars of a trade-in, they are fine with me trading the car for a manual 06 Outback or an automatic 06 Forester. They claim we can arrange it so I won't incur a financial loss. (SOA is offering me a $2000 "customer satisfaction" coupon if I trade my current car in for an automatic 06 Forester). I've test-driven both the automatic Forester and the Outback, and frankly, don't care for them at all. The automatic, I simply don't like/want because I greatly perfer manual transmissions. I was *hoping* to like the Outback, but 1) lower headroom, 2) less nimble handling, 3) slightly less gas mileage, 4) slightly higher cost are all dissuaders. (The only plus is it's quieter.)

My next step is to take the dealership up on its suggestion that I take the Outback for a day and drive it around, particularlly in my mountainous neighborhood, to see if I can sort of get used to it.

I'll most likely end up taking the Outback and trading it in after a couple of years. What will my opinion of Subaru be at that time? Well, I have to say that the dealership has been so cooperative that my opinion of them might offset my opinion of SOA, which I think has handled this in a BAD way.

By the way, another person wrote me and has filed a report about this same issue with NHTSA. You can find that report at

. Good luck to everyone who has the misfortune of finding themselves in this situation. Caveat emptor!

Skylandia wrote: