Forester - Subaru :: 2004 - Smells Electrical When Turned On The Heater Fan?
Nov 25, 2013
I have a 2004 Subaru Forester, today when I turned on the heater fan I noticed that electrical (melting) smell, and the fan thus only ran very slowly on setting three and mostly okay on setting four, but not really at all on setting one or two. I found where the fan is located, but was wondering if it is the blower motor or the blower motor resister. I think on high, the blower motor by-passes the resister, and it seemed as though the smell really only occurred when I had the blower set on a lower setting. The resister is about $45 and the blower is about $145. If I can get by with only replacing the resister, that would be cool because I am assuming a new blower motor does not come with a new resister attached and I would have to buy that separately.
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Sitting in my living room I noticed that suddenly my headlights on my 97 Subaru ob turned on. First thought was someone was stealing my pos. Knife in hand I went to investigate. No one there. The keys were in the car, in the off position. The headlights all of a sudden turned off. I noticed that the dash lights were flickering on and off. I removed the keys yet the dash lights remained on. Not wanting my battery drained I disconnected the positive cable, which obviously corrected the issue for the time being. When I was disconnecting the battery I heard a mechanical whirring noise coming from the passenger side of the car just behind the headlight. Have never heard this noise before. NOT the intake fan or the AC. Did not investigate extensively due to darkness, wind and rain.
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headlights on 2001 Forester not working. I checked the fuses ,bulbs and they look good. The highbeams,taillights,and interior lights all work. I do hear the relays click when I turn on the switch.
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I have a 2004 Subaru Forester xs and the a/c goes out intermittently. I was told I need a new compressor clutch and that the whole compressor assembly will have to be replaced. I contacted another mechanic and he said that he would fix just the clutch but I should replace the whole thing. So, what do I HAVE to do? Are these prices in line? Can I get used parts or discounted parts?
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Today, for the first time the back up lights stayed on when the car was turned off. What causes this? The lights went off when the car was restarted.
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I have a 2004 Subaru Forrester with a 2.5L engine (non-turbo) and about 137,000 miles. I usually get just a bit more than 300 miles on a tank of gas. About 3 weeks ago, I took the car for a major tune up (and they also replaced a valve cover around the spark plugs area). After the tune up, the car was running great and I was still getting about 300 miles to the tank. Within the last 10 days, I noticed that the gas mileage on the car has decreased - I am now getting closer to 250 miles per tank. The mechanic rechecked the fuel lines and test drove the car two days ago but did not see any signs of leaks. The weather was near freezing for about a week but has warmed up again to the 40's. My driving habits have not changed and I am driving the car the same way as before. I am stumped as to why the gas mileage would drop that much. What might be happening?
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My 2004 Forester (73000 miles) with 5-speed manual, is sometimes hard shifting into gears. The Subaru agency says that there's 'not much left' on the clutch and I need a new clutch @ $1300. Does hard shifting , no clutch slipping, indicate new clutch is necessary?
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After smelling a bit of a "hot oil smell" on and off for several weeks and culminating in a getting smoke from the engine at the end of a mountain road, we took our 2004 Subaru Forrester (147,500) to the trusted mechanic. We were told that it needs head gaskets in both banks.
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2004 Forester does not always start when gear shift shows it is in park. Happens intermittently. Lights, radio come on (battery is OK), but nothing else happens. Car will start after shifting in and out of park and trying again. Have replaced and tightened bushings. Gear shift now moves easily. Mechanic is suggesting a new starter.
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I have a 2004 Turbo Forester. It's been maintained since purchased new at the same dealer with oil changes every 3500 miles or so and all the "big" required/recommended maintenance every 15000 miles. After the 75000 mile check, I kept smelling a burning oil smell, especially when car was idling. I had it back to the dealer several times but they couldn't find anything wrong. The car did not seem to be using excess oil, there were no "puddles" under the car where it was parked. Today I brought the car in for routine oil change (78400 miles). On the way in, started smelling the burning smell again and saw smoke around the turbo charger.
The mechanic saw "Moisture" (oil?) around a lower bolt on the heat shield around the turbo charger. He said it was likely a failing turbo charger causing oil to leak on making that bolt wet? The engine is not making any noise, nor is the turbocharger, and there was no "check engine light" illuminated. I'm scared now to take the care elsewhere for a second opinion...don't really want to drive it and trash the engine. It's out of warranty now, and this is a painfully expensive fix that couldn't have come at a worse time on a car that's been maintained "by the book". I'm reading a lot about this "banjo bolt screen" problem. Would that be something to find out about on a 2004 Forester? Is there anything else that could be causing the problem (mechanic couldn't think of anything).
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I have a 2004 Subaru Forest with 181K. I have a grinding that is loud and worsening in the cold weather coming from the right rear of my car. Is this a CV Joint or a bearing issue? It is far more noticeable at low speed that high with the radio on.
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Our beloved 2004 Subaru Forester has the check engine light on. We've been told that the 4th cylinder has either low or no compression. Is this fixable/worth fixing? Would you replace the engine? The car has 183K miles on it, and runs great! It is stuttering now, due to this issue, but otherwise - runs great and is in good condition!
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I have an '04 Subaru Forester which sputters and stalls after fill up. It sends error codes for cylinders 1, 3, & 4 misfiring...I only have a 4 cylinder car - This only started Friday - a few days later and I'm really getting desperate. I screw my gas cap on, we check the connections...and we've read all kinds of random solutions that spread across the board.
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In the last few weeks, as AC season started, I notice a very bad smell, It comes out of the vents for the first few minutes of running and than its gone. Every time I start the car.
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I've got a 2004 Cavalier and when the heater is turned on it makes a clicking noise (sounds like someone on a snare drum playing over and over again) You can feel it if you touch the bottom of the Heater/AC module on the passenger side of the car above your feet. It stops when you turn the heater control to the recirculation position.
My guess is it's the recirculation door actuator motor, but I can't find it through NAPA or any automotive parts online sites, what the Chevy part number is for this, and/or a parts blowup of the HVAC module? Also, the factory service manual I've got says that the entire HVAC unit needs to be drained of 134 and removed from the vehicle to replace this actuator, does it can be done without removing the entire unit? From the few pictures it shows of where the actuator is, that part appears to be near the top (that's why I'd like to see a parts blowup if possible).
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So my defrost works and my floor works but when i put my heater on defrost/floor mix it only comes out in the floor not the windshield.
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One of the fuel lines on our 2007 Subaru Outback needed to be replaced (rodent damage). Now the car reeks of gasoline. The dealer said it will take time to dissipate. How we can speed up the process?
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Have a 2004 Sport Trac with approx 78,000 miles. My daughter drives the vehicle around town. Approx. 2 weeks ago when she started it a loud squeal came from under the hood. I raised the hood and determined it was coming from the serpentine belt. I sprayed some lubricant on the belt and the sound went away, temporarily. I took the vehicle to a local mechanic. He thought the belt needed to be replace and did so. He showed me the old belt and commented that the old belt was in great shape and he could not determine where the sound came from. He also was able to spray lubricant on the belt and make the sound stop for a while. The squeal is definitely rpm related and also gets louder if the heater/ac fan is turned on. I have been reading alot on the internet about such problems with this vehicle and am getting really concerned. If it were the harmonic balancer would the vehicle still be operating this length of time since it started making the noise? What does replacing the harmonic balancer involve.
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I have recently purchased a 2003 Subaru Baja Sport, the car of my dreams! I purchased the car in NC and drove it where I live in SC which is over 250 miles. The car smelled of petroleum based fluid and/or cleaner. I just thought the dealership cleaned the engine or oil may have been spilled during maintenance. A few weeks later, I had it in the dealership and they checked out. The head gaskets were replaced and the problem was to be solved…Nope!
Every time the car is driven on a long trip and the engine/transmission gets hot the smell returns and there are other problems as well. The car will shutter from start through the gear change to 2nd (it’s a manual 5-speed). It also has a “bumping” sound coming from the from the front wheel area during a sharp turn at low speeds, again only after a long trip.
I am clueless to what the issue could be and my dealership/mechanic cannot determine the cause either because of the necessary drive time to get the car to present the issues.
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I'm hoping it's a small simple fix when I climb under the hood. Has happened before, but was an easy fix. The smell is much stronger this time. Any major problems any of you have had if I can't find the culprit?? Learning as I go...always up for checking on every possibility.
2004 F250 SUPER DUTY 6.0 ......
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For the last month or so my car (2005 Subaru Outback LL Bean) has been producing a burning odor. It smells like air out of a latex balloon that has been burnt. I took the car to my mechanic but was unable to reproduce the smell. He asked if the car only produced the smell going uphill as it could be my coolant leaking. Since then I have noticed that the car does in fact produce the smell primarily, if not exclusively going uphill. But coolant should smell sweet not burnt?
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