Subaru - Outback :: Shuddering Frequency Increasing When Accelerate From A Stop
Feb 5, 2014
Over the last several months, the frequency with which my 2007 Subaru Outback is "shuddering" when I accelerate from a stop has been increasing. It feels like driving over a cattle grate -- a vibration that lasts for just a few seconds, and occurs in the 35-45 mph range. Now is happening on a daily basis, a couple of times per day. Based on some internet searchers, I concluded this might be a torque converter problem. Took it to the mechanic today and, of course, couldn't reproduce the problem with them present. They replaced the transmission fluid with a synthetic fluid and replaced the transmission filter.
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I have a 2000 Subaru Outback with a little over 162,000 miles. About 3 years ago I had the head gaskets replaced. This past March the car started over heating while on the highway driving back to Boston from New Jersey. It has been doing this intermittently since then, and I have had two mechanics look at it.
The first mechanic, who is my beloved mechanic in Maine (where I am originally from), checked the sensors and relays. He even replaced the relays for free, and it still overheated on the way back from Maine to Boston. Needless to say I did not give him enough time to really look at my car to figure out the problem.
I then went to my back up mechanic in Boston, who kept the car for about 4 days. He said there are no leaks and the car did not actually over heat while with him. He had one of his guys drive the car home at night and back to the shop in traffic in the AM, and had it run for hours while on a lift, and on the ground. Still no overheating. However, he did say that the car was eating up coolant, which indicated to him that there might be a head gasket problem.
I was a little upset by this diagnosis because I had them replaced already, and also because I am getting married this summer so this obviously is not the right time to be buying a new car. I should mention that both mechanics looked at my car at the end of August. I have still been driving and watching the coolant.
The car is still randomly overheating but i tend to notice it happen more while in stop and go traffic and when I accelerate. The needle will go all the way up to red, stay there for a few seconds and then slowly creep down. This happened this morning, and I had checked the coolant yesterday and it was full! I checked it again at lunch time to see if it had used all the coolant during rush hour and it was still full. This chain of events seems to keep happening and I constantly check the coolant. Since August I have only had to fill it once. I have also noticed that when I open the radiator cap the coolant is not sitting level like I've been told it should. I've put a decent amount of work into the car and everything else runs perfectly.
Is it possible that this is a pumping or air bubble problem, and not a head gasket?
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I have a 2001 Subaru outback. Recently I've noticed a rattle when I accelerate, especially when I take off from a dead stop. I sounds like it's coming from the front wheel area. It also occurs sometimes when making a turn and then accelerate. It almost sounds like an object in a box and someone is shaking the box-very noticeable.
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I have a 2002 Outback with 98000 miles. I am running conventional oil. How many miles between oil changes?
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I am having an engine temp issue when climbing steep hills. The gauge goes from normal to the red line but not into the red. The VDC OFF light is on but the CEL is not one. Once I reach the top of the hill the engine begins to cool off and returns to normal. Yesterday I had the radiator flushed and the thermostat changed. Am I looking at a water pump or head gaskets?
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This has been happening for the past 6 months or so. I recently had new ball joints, 4 wheel alignment, and 4 wheel balance. Even with this I'm noticing a very slight high frequency vibration at highway speeds. I noticed on one of the front wheels that a weight fell off, so this might explain the high speed vibration.
However - When I'm starting at 0mph, and accelerate to say 50mph for example, the car vibrates rather substantially as the speedometer moves from around 25mph to just past 30mph. After those speeds it goes away.
I've also noticed that it tends to be worse if I'm going up hill, which, according to the laws of physics, would tell me that going uphill would put more pressure on the front end, given it's heavier with the engine there. If I'm going downhill it vibrates much less.
When I drive I tend to not accelerate quickly, meaning, I don't 'punch' it, and accelerate gradually instead. If I'm driving on a level, well-paved road, and accelerate quicker than regular, the vibration seems to not be as heavy.
Any other tests for this? Struts, control arm, steering knuckle, drive shaft ?
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I have a 2006 Outback XT, which recently started shuddering (like it wants to stall) at idle... At least that's how it started. I noticed it for a few weeks but with no check-engine light, and no error codes cropping up, I kind of ignored it. It then started to stall at idle. Took it to my local guy, who checked all the simple stuff: vacuum hoses, mass air flow sensor, he even removed and cleaned up the throttle body. But the problem persists.
I guess the part that really has me puzzled is the lack of a check-engine light or an error code. With how computer-regulated cars are nowadays, I'm baffled as to how this isn't causing some alarm to go off.
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I have a 1998 Subaru Legacy Outback (automatic) that has 176,779miles on it. I live in San Francisco and only drive the car occasionally every 2-3 weekends out of the city. Recently within the past month I have noticed that after turning on my car and once it is in drive for the first 10-15 minutes it has a hard time getting past 20 mph. When I put the foot on the accelerator to go past 20mph the rpm goes way up to 4, 5 or 6. Once it gets past this then car is smooth and I have no problems. This problem seems to go away within 10-15 minutes of driving or if I turn my car off and then on again it seems to go away. I called my mechanic and they said it could be that the transmission fluid is low. I checked the level and it is perfectly normal.
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I have a 2002 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport with ~140,000 miles on it. Recently, it's started having a problem, where when I make a right hand turn, it fails to accelerate until the wheel is straight...as if it's revving but not catching/accelerating until I've straightened the wheel and am headed straight onto whatever road I've just turned onto...does that make sense?
It tends to happen more at 1st start up in the morning...and then, once its warmed up it's not as bad, but still present. Left hand turns I don't notice it...maybe because they aren't as sharp? Also, fyi, the check engine light has been on for a while, but I know this is due to the catalytic converter..and am saving up to get that replaced.
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I am wondering if the frequency of the signal to change lanes can be increased from three (3) blips to four (4) or five (5) blips. Mine does only 3 and sometimes I do not find that sufficient - maybe I like to be extra cautious.
I have a Ross-Tech VAG-COM so looking for any way of changing it using that tool. I just do not feel very inclined to go around changing parameters without knowing what the outcome may be. I find the Ross-Tech manual to be rather cryptic.
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Had a long trip with the X this week and noticed a weird vibration up at speed. Anything before 65 mph and the truck was smooth, higher than that a medium vibration developed. Its frequency increased with speed. Never got the truck over 70, but the vibration was there enough to rattle change in the cup holder and the rear view mirror. What it might be? I was thinking a hub bearing... 2000 Limited 4x4 PSD ....
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2000 Subaru Legacy Outback (or is it Outback Legacy.....I've never known)165000 milesWhite
I have this chronic and intermittent problem with my Subaru. It's been going on for years. I had it to the dealership a few time as well as other mechanics, but of course, it never misbehaves then.
Here's the problem. The car always will start when cold. Occasionally when you go somewhere, primarily short errands etc. the first stop is no problem but when you stop at the next place and come back a short while later (5-15 minutes) it will not start. It does not make a sound. Lights work. The battery is just fine. Stopping on long trips is especially problematic.
At first, it would cure itself after opening the hood, scratching your head, etc. and closing the hood. Or maybe it was slamming the door but you could depend on it starting after some hocus pocus like that. Now it seems to be getting worse. However, there is one thing that so far never fails.... you can jump it and it will fire right up. Remember, the battery is not low, but jumping works.
Actually, the battery is just about a year old. One time it died and when I couldn't get it to start after a long time I thought it was finally my chance to get a mechanic to trouble shoot it. So after towing and about $300 between troubleshooting fees and the diagnosis that the battery was shot, they were confident they had solved the problem. No such luck
I can say confidently that the battery terminal connections are clean and tight. I've checked the wire and mount on the starter too.
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I went to start my 07 Subaru Outback 2.5i yesterday morning with both kiddos in the car and it seemed to begin to start and then just seemed to stop the starting sequence. When the key was in the ignition in the on position, the lights work, the radio works, everything thing besides the engine seems to work, BUT above the odometer there was an error reading "Er HC', and the temp gauge was as high as it would go on H but the car had not been run for over 24 hours at that point. The fan to the engine seems to be running also when in the on position which I do not remember happening normally, maybe it is always on when the engine is on but b/c the engine is not on I can now hear the fan?
Tried over and over again to start it but the engine never made another sound and every time the lights would turn on and the error message would appear over the odometer.I ran a scan for any engine problem codes but it said it was clear. We tried jumping the car, but the battery is fine (all lights come on, radio works etc). The car has never missed any maintenance and has always had its oil changed every 3000 to 3500 miles. The car has 62000 on it and just (in the last 1500 miles) had its 60000 mile tune up at the dealership.
We had the front two control arm bushings replaced at Les Schwab (b/c it was less then 1/2 the price of the dealer), they were cracked, but all the other stuff was normal and really they were changing fluids etc. at the dealer and didn't replace anything. Our car has never had any problems besides the control arm bushings just being replaced and now this. We had to have it towed to the dealership and it has been there now for over 24 hours and they have told us 'we have never seen this problem.
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My Subaru 2000 Outback is dying occasionally when I come to a stop. It will stutter and die. I can restart it and everything is fine. It does not happen everytime, but happens more when I come to stop quickly, less when I come to a gradual stop. What is this?
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My Subaru Outback is dying on me when I come to a stop and has happened when just idling. I have been told it is the torque converter and replacement is 2 thousand.
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My husband I purchased a 2012 Subaru Outback May 2012, we notice a hesitation when we first drove it and couple weeks later it started stalling out, now it stalls about every other day, we have noticed that ours is after a 15 to 20 minute stop and go traffic and then when your able to drive at normal speeds without stopping, and then stop it stalls out, we have rough idle and transmission acts like it is trying to shift but I know this isnt possible with a CVT transmission.
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Why when I come to a stop with the heater on, the car smells like exhaust? I took in into our local Subaru shop and they couldn't find anything wrong. When I'm driving it's fine, but in town or in traffic, I have to keep shutting off the heater. If I forget, the car fills up fumes and I have to drive with the windows down or my daughter's asthma flares up.
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I have a newly purchased 2000 subaru outback automatic. I just busted my back doing new front CV Axels, Inner/Outer tie rods with boots and front tires with alignment. The other day when coming to a stop at a intersection she shut off rather abruptly. She started up again right away but its happened a few times. The general consensus is that this typically is an indication of an electrical problem but I have also heard transmission fluid issues and perhaps an air sensor. I plan to do my transmission fluid and see if that does the trick.
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Whenever the temperature is below 20 degrees F and am idling at a stop light, if I have the heater fan running I get a horrible exhaust smell inside my car. I have discovered that I can lessen the bad smell by turning off the fans when the car is idling and then turning it back on when I start to drive.
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Transmission issues...2000 Subaru Outback AWD Automatic. Decelerate to a complete stop, and it just shifts to neutral...have to give it some gas before it pops into 1st gear again. Only seeing the issue when I decelerate all the way to a complete stop, or very near a complete stop. No issues with shifting from reverse into drive. Any solution beyond the $1800 for a new transmission?
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I have a 1999 Forrester "S", automatic with ~100k miles. This started intermittently but now is consistent. At about 45 mph or higher the rear of the car will shake with increasing intensity. It feels similar to a bad strut that allows the axle to hop. I have checked the balance on all the wheels, bearings feel free, nothing seems to be loose in the suspension, have placed the car on jack stands and run at 60+ with no vibration. My best guess is the carrier bearing or rubber suspension on the drive shaft. It is hard to evaluate in the car.
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