03 Forrester - Hard Start-Rough Idle-Turn Off/On It's OK

Hi, This has happened about a year ago and then again this morning. It starts as if the battery is just about dead. Once it starts it idles really rough with a white smoky exhaust. When I turn it off and then restart it -- it acts as if nothing ever happened. It runs and idles just fine. Can someone explain a possible reason for this. The warranty is about to expire, should I be concerned. The tank showed about 1/4 full this morning when this happened. When I search the group the only thing I came up with that was close to this problem was caused by a near empty tank.

Thanks for any assistance.

JW

Reply to
jw
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Hi,

Water in engine!

Reason: White smoke/misfire. Water does not compress so can cause symptoms like a flat battery. Water does not burn so causes a misfire. Small amounts can be burnt with fuel but causes white smoke.

Causes...Been wading/off road? OR condensation build up in petrol tank. Bum load of fuel

Maybe a tank drain is in order.

HTH GL

PS Doubt it will be the Head gaskets due to timescale since last occurrence.

Reply to
Kippers

My 2003 Forester did the same thing for a while. It turned out to be the oxygen sensor.

-DanD

Reply to
Dan Duncan

bump! I have the same problem. I am guessing that when I was hit and had a new rear quarter panel replaced, the welding created some kind of short. just a guess.

Reply to
bm

Yes, same here - '04 Baja.

I noticed a similar problem with my 04 Baja. Hard to start (cranked okay), ran *REALLY* rough, and lots of smoke. Turn off and try again and all is well. This *only* happened when it was cold - the first start of the day.

I also had a slight TC with it - rear ended a pickup truck - *ZERO* damage to the Baja, but folded the bumper of the truck under the truck bed. This happened about 10 feet away from a cop. He came over asked if anyone was hurt, and told us to sort it out ourselves. Anyway, I don't know if the fault developed before or after this incident.

I took it to the dealer after I got tired of it. They tried to re-create it but to no avail. I lived with it for a while longer. Again I took it in. They evenutally got a note from Japan saying that it was due to pressing the gas pedal *before* starting the car. (A carry over from the old VW days I'm afraid). I thought that that was a bit odd. but from then on I did not hit the gas and I never had the problem. They said it was a software issue. Hmmm.

I've since gotten a Turbo Forrester, and have not noticed the problem at all.

Good luck.

Cheers!

Reply to
Lord Drool Rockworm

None of the cars I've owned that were MY89 or newer required that gas pedal business: all of them just required a fully depressed clutch and a turn of the ignition key to start the engine. Old habits do die hard, don't they?

Reply to
KLS

Yes, they do. Just showing my age I guess.

Reply to
Lord Drool Rockworm

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