will it hurt my 98' forester to drive it when one cylinder has no compression? They tell me it needs a valve job for 2,500. They already put a mass air flow sensor in, and replaced plugs and wires. Still got the miss, but I need the vehicle.
View 2 RepliesOur 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!
View 11 RepliesRecently, my car had started having cooling issues. It was running hot, into the danger zone, and it would not blow hot air. I took action and replaced the thermostat myself, drained the coolant, and bled out any air bubbles, filled it up with coolant and the problems still persisted.
View 14 Replies1998 Forester, 233,000 miles.. Two years ago it started running hot after 15 minutes of either driving or idling. Coolant seemed to vanish into thin air. The Subaru Dealership said that I either had a bad head gasket or a cracked cylinder wall. They said if the head gasket was bad then need to replace the head gaskets. They said if the cylinder wall was cracked, then we would need a new engine.
View 4 RepliesSo I have been unable to figure this problem out and so had my mechanic, I am starting to think this car is cursed. I have an 07 outback with about 54000 miles on it, a few weeks ago it through a P0303 for a misfire in the third cylinder, thought nothing of it, light went off in the next couple starts and the car was running great. Had this happen a couple more times but only after the car had been out in the rain. Each time the problem went away. Now the car has sat in my garage for four days, I got out to start it and get an extremely long crank but no turn over. Try again and after 5-6 seconds car turns over but is running really rough and stalls out. Disconnected the battery checked hoses, everything looked normal, reconnected the battery and now the car is running fine.
View 3 RepliesGot myself into a tight situation with a truck I recently purchased and seeing if any of you have experienced the same thing or know what may be going on. I bought a 1998 F-150 with 213,000 miles and a 4.2 engine. When I test drove the truck it had a small chugging vibration, for lack of a better term, but the check engine light was not on and it seemed to run great while driving. No problem at highway speeds nor below.
On my way home the check engine light turned on which turned into a blinking check engine light and I knew I had been taken by a person with a diagnostic computer who cleared the codes. He made a comment about it turning on before but his "buddy" fixed the issue but I took his word because he seemed like a decent person.
I took it to a local shop and, if I remember correctly, error code 302 came up for misfire on cylinder #2. He changed the plugs and wires and it seemed to run a lot better. About 5 miles later on my way home the check engine light turned back on, but it still seemed to run smoothly by the time I got home.
The next day I took it back to him and this time we got the same error code plus (again going of my poor memory) error 174 which he said was cylinder #2 running lean. Earlier today he called and said he checked over everything and couldn't figure out anything wrong until he checked the compression. He said the other 5 cylinders were around 130 psi and cylinder #2 was at 75 psi.
Now this mechanic runs more of a brake and exhaust shop so his next statements are why I'm coming to all of you for your opinions.
He said the cylinder was shot and everything inside was shot including the piston, rings, and everything else associated with #2. (I don't think he got in there to really check it out) After scouring the forums I hear more people talk about the valves may not be sealing correctly and what sound to me, to be smaller issues than the entire #2 cylinder being toast.
I'm not sure if I am going to go after the person who sold it to me or not yet but I would like to see what others may think is going on before I light this guy up. I plan on taking it to a more proficient mechanic to do the work, if deemed worthy of work, but would like to kmow where I stand.
My 2005 Subaru Forester just passed Rhode Island inspection last week. I didn't use for 6 days. Last night when we got home I moved the car and noticed a strong gas smell. This morning on I drove it cold on way to work right away I noticed lack of power at low gear (its automatic trans), a jumpy idle, and some smoke out back (not too much and looked whitish). Check engine light flashed a couple of times but didn't stay on nor flashed continuously. I know flashing CEL is BAD, so I went right back home and parked, didnt even drive a mile.
I'm thinking some sort of cylinder misfire.
I just bought this car for my daughter. It's in very good shape; runs like a top. But the gas mileage is a lousy 20 mpg. All of my trips are local (no stop and go stuff as we live in the country). A buddy of mine with the same car and similar driving habits says she gets 25-28 mpg. So far I have changed the oil, oil filter and air filter.This can't be the best I can expect, can it?!
View 10 RepliesI have 2006 Subaru Forester that is idling roughly. 90k – oil change every 3k miles. Per diagnostic codes I learned that the 2nd cylinder was misfiring. I replaced the coil, spark plugs, ignition wires, and an airflow sensor. Yet, my car still idles rough. The check engine light is solid and the cruise control is flashing. The idling problem only happens when stopped… after I get high rpms there is no shaking. I had someone disconnect the battery and reset the computer and the lights stayed off for about a week and idling was fine. Week later – the problem returned. I think this an electrical problem, but not sure if mechanical.
View 19 RepliesMy 09 Forester continues to skip although I have changed spark plugs and wires. Always reads misfire on 03 and 04.
View 2 RepliesOkay, I've been trying to diagnose this problem for ages. Whenever I top off my tank with fuel, the garage smells of fuel until I use up about a quarter of the tank. The smell stays mostly outside of the car. So far I have replaced the drain filter (a few years ago), fuel filler neck, hose leading from the filler neck to the tank, and had the system pressure tested. I'm fairly certain it's not the tank because the car has been undercoated since new and my mechanic saw no signs of a leak when he replaced the rear crossmember recently. My next guess is either the gas cap, the charcoal filter, or some hose leading to/from the charcoal filter.
View 7 RepliesI can not get my car out of park. I must replace a fuse every time . 1998 subaru forester . 241,000 miles
View 4 RepliesThe day before my road trip from VA to ME I had the oil changed in my 2006/120,000 mile Subaru Forester. Soon after getting on the road I noticed a burning smell and smoke coming from my engine. I called my mechanic and he said it was dripped oil burning off. about an hour later we noticed oil dripping from the engine and when we checked the oil we noticed it was overfilled. We then took it to a nearby mechanic who said they thought the oil tank had been overfilled and may have blown out the camshaft seal and that was the cause of the drip and oil burning. They said it was a repair that would take some time, but when asked the mechanic also said we would do no harm and it wouldn't be dangerous to drive so long as we kept the oil levels up.
An hour on the road and the car started to vibrate and lose power. So we took it to yet another mechanic (same group as the prior two) the next morning and they concurred that it was likely the camshaft seal but would take several days to repair, and diagnose and repair the cause of the vibration. after a week I was told that the repair to the camshaft had indeed fixed the oil leak but that with further examination it was discovered that the pressure in one of the cylinders was 20 lbs, not the 100lb it's supposed to be. So my question is - could there be a link between the overfilled oil tank, the damaged camshaft seal, and the cylinder.
I got a 98 Subi Forester L, stick, 130k mi.
I've been thinking about what gs ragtop & tester mentioned about the silicate stuff and I'm ready to take the chance, but there's one thing bothering me: If that stuff is supposed to be drawn into the combustion chamber where the silicate comes in contact with the super hot temps that solidify it, thereby sealing the leak, that assumes coolant is going into the combustion chamber, right? Well, I've been driving this car with a blown hg for at least 2yrs maybe 3, (that in itself amazes me), and I've never seen any sign of coolant in the exhaust, no smoke, nor any rough starting issues to speak of.
So, my question is simply, HOW THE HECK DOES THAT HAPPEN!! How in the world can I lift the hood and watch exhaust gases bubbling up in the radiator, yet when I park on a hot, 95 degree August day with a fully pressurized cooling system, the next time it's started there is no sign of coolant. The physics of that defy me! I mean, it says that the head gasket magically blew a "one-way" valve in itself? What do you think? Am I missing something?
I have a 1998 Subaru Forester that is leaking oil through the head gasket. Repairs for the head gasket seem to be in high range, which is at or above the value of the car. Is trying any of the head gasket sealant products such as Blue Devil worth trying? Do they have the potential to do more damage than good? I love the car, but I'm also not sure if it is worth getting if fixed or if I should be looking to sell it for parts and buy a different used car.
View 15 RepliesI drive a 98 Subaru Forester with ~190,000 miles on it. This car is incredibly reliable and excluding the following incident I have never had a problem with it. The other day I went out to run some errands and when I came out of the store my car wouldn't start. I turned the key and nothing happened. There was no sound from the engine or starter whatsoever, but the radio, air, etc. came on. It had started perfectly fine just an hour earlier that day. I had a friend and with a few strikes from a hammer on the starter the car fired right up so that appears to have been the problem. It's been a few days now and it has started right up every time I've turned the key since. Was this incident just a fluke? Is this what they call a "dead spot" in the starter? Should I replace it or can I get away with just carrying a hammer and push starting if worse comes to worst?
View 2 RepliesI drive a 98 Subaru Forester and last month the village cop pulled me over for having no brake lights. It turned out to be a blown fuse for the brake lights so I replaced it, problem solved. Well, I got pulled over by the same cop, in the same place tonight. Blown fuse for the brake lights. It seems like a fuse should last more than a few weeks. Is there a problem which would over tax the fuse?
View 4 RepliesGot a 98 Subaru Forester with 130,000mi. Good car so far. Just got a good deal on a scanner and it reports 1 code - PO0400. I see it mean EGR flow error. What is the most probable cause or a troubleshoot process to narrow it down? My repair manuals on the car are kind of lacking and I can't even find the blasted EGR valve! I thought I found it but I think it's the knock sensor.
View 14 RepliesI have a 2003 Subaru Forester, bought it this past January. Got 163,000 miles on it, and we've driven it mostly around town. Over the last month, it has developed an intermittent problem with stalling and rough "putt-putt" running, and will only keep running if the gas pedal gets pumped. This seems to happen about every other time we turn it on, but without a pattern. It can be running fine, and then switch mode, as it were, to running rough and tending to stall. I've gotten ignition codes (check engine light came on and I had my guy check it out on the computer) twice. My mechanic (a long-term Subaru mechanic) has checked out the injectors, and replaced the head gasket, but the problem has not changed. I'm thinking that this may be an electronics issue or possibly something in the gas tank/line.
View 1 RepliesI've 2005 Subaru Forester automatic with 2.5L engine. It ran fine since I purchased it in 2005. However for the last 3 months it is behaving strangely. When it sits in the garage for 2 days or longer, it starts up very rough. It feels like the engine is misfiring. If I let it run for 10 to 15 minutes, it is back to normal!! The car has 80,000 miles. It was tuned up at 61,000 miles. I recently had a diagnostic check done. It showed no problems.
View 1 RepliesI have an 06 subaru forester with a little over 130k miles on it. The AC has now become intermittent and when running doesn't blow super cold air. I had it recharged but that didn't fix the problem. What happens is that it will run fine for like 15-20 minutes or if not hot. The clutch will start by attaching very firmly but then suddenly for no reason will disengage. It is not slipping the belt at all. I dont think that it is a matter of too much air gap because when it grabs it does so very firmly. Also when they were charging it i noticed that the for a moment it was kicking on and off rapidly and then he did something that looked as though he might have released some and it stayed more constant?
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