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?
View 2 RepliesMy a/c has been cutting out (warm air coming through) intermittently. If I turn it off for a few minutes, it generally comes through nice and cold again; sometimes the cold lasts for a while and sometimes not. It can happen after just 10 minutes of driving 45 mph, or after 1 hour of driving 70 mph.My mechanic drained the system and re-charged it, but that hasn't worked - although he is a terrific diagnostic mechanic, he is puzzled.
View 3 RepliesThe check engine comes on and goes off intermittently. Because it was not on when the situation was checked the diagnostic scan did not show a problem. I have noticed that the gas cap has been extraordinarily tight on two occasions and after the car was refueled, the light went out when it was supposed to when the car was restarted. Today the light came on, but the cap was just normally snug. The car has been scrupulously maintained. It is a 2001 model with 145,000 on the odometer. No other problems are evident.
View 6 Replies2001 sub forrester. In 2009 it was intermittently stuttering: tuneup, new coil, finally O2 sensor (both) replaced which fixed it. In Oct started to do the same thing. First the back then the front sensor replaced but they commented the flow was low on the catalytic converter but wouldn't say it could be the cause of the sensor issue. Now the O2 sensors are on either end of the converter and the car is starting with early signs already. Is is reasonable that it is the catalytic converter? I am wrestling with just having them do the full tuneup and replace the converter or am I crazy?
View 7 RepliesI 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?
View 8 RepliesMy 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?
View 5 RepliesAfter 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.
View 7 Replies2004 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.
View 2 RepliesI 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).
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.
View 4 RepliesI 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.
View 7 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 RepliesI 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.
View 18 RepliesSubaru Impreza 2004 2.5 TS170,000 km
For a couple of months now and every few days, my car turns over nicely but chokes. I can keep the engine running by pressing the gas pedal as lightly as possible without letting the engine stop or rev too high, and after about 15 seconds it stays on on its own. When it's running it runs very smoothly...no knocking or shuddering or poor idling at lights.
So there’s obviously a gas delivery problem at startup. I don’t know if I can but I would love to rule out the fuel pump since it's only at startup (fuel filter is new, battery is new, and sensors have been checked, even during a failure to start scenario) and it runs so well when driving. Also, it won’t start randomly, regardless of temperature, cold start or not, incline, etc. I read that a fuse can have intermittent problems but again it seems to me that it should be properly intermittent, not just at startup. Which leaves the relay and wires.
Now thinking about wiring, a few years ago I noticed I could no longer leave my highbeams on. I could hold the lever and make them stay on, but pushing the lever into the on position no longer works. Also, recently and only once, on a -26 C day, the air compressor was dead when I started the car. After stopping and starting for a half an hour I noticed that it had come back on. Does this sound like it could be connected? Where do I even start to diagnose this starting problem?
I have a 2004 Subaru Outback. This fall I started having intermittent problems starting the car. It would run like a champ, no problems. Then every once in a while when I would try to start it, typically happens after it has sat all night, it would turn over just fine, motor would catch, then the motor would quit running (almost immediately upon start). It is kind of like the old days when your carburetor was not adjusted quite right and you would have to keep one foot on the brake the other on the gas while stopped at a stop light to keep the motor running.
The first time it happened we added "heat" as we thought it might be water in the gas line somewhere. It started, then ran just fine. This winter the problem started recurring more frequently. We added injector cleaner, it seemed to work a bit, but did not solve problem. We took it to the shop, and they could not figure out what was going on as nothing is registering on the computer and the car would start just fine for them. Brought the car home it worked OK for a week or so, then started up again.
The motor would catch then would quit running almost immediately. We were able to get it running good enough to get it to the shop (kept one foot on gas at stop lights, etc so would not kill). My car has been at the shop for two weeks now. It finally misbehaved on their watch, and they replaced a sensor, but they are not sure it fixed anything. They are keeping it so see if they can get a better diagnosis.
My first thought was the gas pump, but they said they had never seen a subaru gas pump fail and usually when a pump goes out, it goes out. They thought it could be electrical, but not sure as the problem is so intermittent. I would like to get my car fixed and back home. It's a great car; when it is running it runs great. The shop we work with is very good, and they are reluctant to start just replacing parts if it is not going to fix the problem.
I have an '06 Forester XT 2.5 turbo that has, what I can only describe as a stumble around 2500 rpm. The car's maintenance is always up-to-date, and never has anything under 91 octane run in it.This started out when you had the cruise set and now does it all the time whether or not the cruise is used. I've had it to 2 shops including a Subaru dealer that had it for a month and couldn't find the issue. We've been through injectors, coils, maf sensor, etc. to no avail. The trouble code that we're given is a misfire in cylinder 1. We discovered, while trying to find the issue, that there was only 30psi in that #1 cylinder and the valve guides were the issue. So the motor was pulled, heads planed, etc. and new guides installed. Also, put in a new timing belt, and so on, that is usually done when the motor is out.They have done a leak down test and compression tests as well. This is my wife's car and she absolutely love it, so I need to get this figured out.
View 2 RepliesI 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 RepliesAt 56,000+ miles on my 2006 Forester, I was horribly shocked to learn while having 60,000 maintenance done that my head gasket was leaking. inclusive of timing belt replacement required. I have read some discussions in this vein, but none regarding a car with this few miles on it. It does not seem right. I have had other issues with this car, my 2nd forester. I do not know what I should do.
View 12 RepliesI have a 2015 forester & the seats are not wide enough so my right leg rests on the front corner of the seat & after driving 70 miles my legs & back are hurting. I think the outback has seats 2 inches wider , that could work.
View 2 RepliesSometimes when the AC is on automatic control it will kick out of auto control into manual control and the fan will speed up. All this happens without touching anything. Dealer said it's working fine.
View 1 RepliesI have a 2003 Forester that has low air flow thru the vents if you try to use the AC or heater.
If you turn the speed from 1-4 you can hear the blower fan turning faster but the air coming out of the vents is very low. YOu can hardly feel it. I checked to see if there was a cabin filter and there was none.
Even though you can barely feel the air coming out, when on AC the air feels cold and when on heat it feels hot.