Subaru - Forester :: 2009 - Rear Suspension Really Sags
Jul 11, 2014
I have a 2009 Subaru forester and the rear suspension really sags when I have my Bike rack on it. It's a hitch mounted Yakima rack that weighs around 50 pounds unloaded and maybe up to 100 lbs loaded.in either case the back end sags and occasionally if I go over a speed bump the suspension will bottom out.I have heard that some foresters have something called "saggy but" due to the suspension just being soft in general....
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I bought the car brand new in May of 2009. All was good until February of last year when the battery died. I kind of wrote it off as one of those things that's part of life in AK. But then the same thing happened in November - yes, it was cold again, but it died after I'd successfully started it and drove it to my husband's work. He was inside for maybe thirty minutes. Not wanting to waste gas, it turned the car off and listened to the radio. When hubby came back, I tried to start the car and ... nothing. We had to get it jumped. Hubby said I shouldn't have been listening to the radio with the engine off. Anyway, I had a service appointment at the dealership a few days later and mentioned that the battery died again. They checked it and said it was weak so they replaced it.
Now, of course, I'm super-paranoid about everything that could be draining the battery. I turn the lights off whenever I turn off the engine (even though that's supposed to be something the car does automatically), and only listen to the radio when I'm driving. I've made sure that there's nothing plugged in any of the power outlets, and I don't have anything that's aftermarket. Oh, and middle of last year the radio/CD player died too, and that had to be replaced. Don't know if it's linked, but it's still odd.
The only advice the dealership had was to drive it more. I guess I'm pretty severe on the car - work's maybe a fifteen minute drive (20 if it's snowing) and a fair few of my journeys are short ones, for a variety of reasons. Plus, it's Anchorage, AK. Severe driving's standard here. But I never had these issues with my other cars, and my driving patterns haven't changed at all. Could there be something that's draining the battery that I haven't thought of, or am I really stuck with driving around Anchorage aimlessly for at least 20 minutes each time I get in the car?
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I have a 09 Subaru Forester (automatic) with 56,300 miles on it. Within the last 100 miles, the transmission has started 'hiccuping' as it changes gears. Also, when the car is cold and first started up, as I drive the rpms rise to around 3k when switching gears; sometimes holding there for anywhere from 3 seconds to 12 seconds before finally changing gears. As the car warms up, this problem disappears, but the 'hiccuping' continues. I took it to the dealer and they flushed out the transmission fluid, but problem still persists. I called the dealership asking for a new transmission because it is still under warranty, but they refused. They are going to check pan for metal shavings, and if they're present then they'll replace trans. If not, then they will replace other parts until problem is fixed.
Also, another important question: If I had the transmission fluid replaced, would it be possible that they may have cleaned out any metal shavings, and when they check 100 miles later, there wouldn't be any? I'm worried that I'm going to get screwed because they eliminated any metal shavings and when they go to look again none will be there because there hasn't been enough mileage put on the car to make them appear again. I do not know enough about cars to know if this is even a possibility. They refuse to honor the warranty until they go through a checklist of possible repairs, and I'm nervous that list will run out when I hit 61,000 miles and warranty runs out.
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I've never replaced a car stereo and have no clue what to look for as far as compatibility goes. My '09 Forester has a am/fm/sat. radio hookup/ 6 cd changer. Do I have to look for a specific stereo head other than it being a 2-DIN?
I'd like to be able to continue using the aux port that is in my center console, and I would like a USB port that I can plug a Galaxy S4 into.
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35,000 miles... I don't know which I noticed first, getting my head snapped back after rounding a corner and accelerating or starting to free wheel at about 15 mph approaching a stop. I am embarrassed to say it took me a while to figure out it was the same problem only worse when rounding a corner.
Briefly. The transmission is not down shifting all the way on deceleration. My local mechanic told me to try overfilling the xmission. I did (1qt) and now it only does it when cold. Subaru knows all about it except that part about how to fix it.
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I'm having a problem with my 2009 Subaru Forester.
When I start the car from "cold" (i.e., it hasn't run in several hours, regardless of the actual temperature), the automatic transmission cannot engage drive for several minutes. I can shift the car, and reverse functions normally. When shifting, I can feel the car engage reverse, and feel it shift into neutral, but when I shift from neutral to drive, I can't feel it engage. I can rev the engine, and it will just act as if it is still in neutral. I also cannot use sport mode to manually get the car into gear. After a few minutes (3-4), the car will engage drive. However, at least initially, it still seems to be pretty rough, with a few times where it will rev as if it's half in neutral, and then jump a little. Once it does get going, it settles down and is fine.
I took it to the dealer, but wasn't able to leave it over-night, so they couldn't get the problem to re-engage. They inspected the car, thought that the shift cable was a little stiff, so they took it off, lubed it, and put it back (they recommended replacement, but didn't have the part in stock). The next morning, the problem repeated itself, so it certainly appears that the cable is not the issue. The dealer checked the transmission fluid and said that was all fine.
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My 09 Forester continues to skip although I have changed spark plugs and wires. Always reads misfire on 03 and 04.
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I've spent a lot of time and money putting in nice speakers and audio equipment in my 2009 forester. I also got all of the rattles and vibrations out of the interior except for the passenger side door. I've used sound dampening and checked everything I can, but somewhere on the door panel there is a vibration that I can't find. So, the only thing I can think of its too seal the various seams on the interior of the panel with something. .. caulk or glass sealant?
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My 09 Subaru Forester has been spitting small chunks of frost at me in the mornings, why? frost has been flying out of the defrost vents ~10 min into my morning commute for the last few weeks. The outside temp has been around 50 degrees (+/- 5) in the mornings, and the air has been humid. I rarely use my AC, maybe once a year. I did take the suggestion from a friend to maybe turn on the AC and see what happens, so i ran it for a day and the next couple of days no frost but it has now started again.
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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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Well, we let my son take our 2009 Subaru Forester across the country to college, and of course, the car seems to be having issues now. He says he is hearing a "sloshing" sound under the car towards the rear (cargo area) whenever he stops or goes over speed bumps. He insists that he has looked under seats and in crevices for loose items with liquid in them, and nothing. He also hasn't noticed (yet) any spots on the ground under the car.
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It happens when I accelerate from 10MPH up to about 70MPH and then is intermittent at higher speeds. The volume and pitch of the whine is constant the whole time I am accelerating. If I brake while accelerating the noise does not change. It is a very high pitched noise almost to the point of being out of range for the ear to hear. The noise is so high pitched that it is hard to determine exactly where it is coming from except I fell like it is behind me. Cornering doesn’t seem to make a difference. I hear it most when I start my commute getting onto the freeway, I have also heard it when I do stop and go while running errands.
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When I make sharp turns forward left or right and when I back up and turn left or right my car feels wobbly/grinding. My mechanic says he thinks it "may" be the rear differential needing servicing. I have 135,000 miles. Does that sound right? There is no noise associated with this sensation.
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I have a 09 Subaru Forester with 66k miles that vibrates like it is going over rumble strips when it up shifts from 3rd to 4th gear. It occurs under normal (not brisk) acceleration. I had the trans fluid changed at both the 30k and 60k services. I have owned this since new. It began before the 60k service. Also, sometimes the tach will increase revs during this as well. I don't know if this next thing is related but when I once need to merge quickly into interstate traffic I gave it a good amount of throttle and the tach revs increased but the trans did not follow with an immediate down shift.
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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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Have a 2000 Forester with 114K. Had to replace driver's rear wheel bearing at 100k & again at 110k; when replacement bearing started to fail, ABS light came on because wheel was not spinning true! Replaced passenger's rear wheel bearing at 105k (this one is getting noisy now).
Hard to believe I got 2 "bum' bearings! Not a difficult repair, but this will be 4 bearings in less than 2 years. The car's driven on paved roads & with little load, so it's not from harsh road conditions or heavy loads.
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I just took my 2009 Subaru Forester (80,000 miles) in to a mechanic because it was having an intermittent power steering assist failure during low speed maneuvering (i.e., parking lot). This is always accompanied by a loud rhythmic whining form under the hood (kind of like a whaawhaawhaawhaa). By intermittent, I mean maybe 50% chance of it happening when I am maneuvering in a parking lot. By failure, I mean I can still turn the wheel but it's much harder. The mechanic diagnosed it as the following:
dry rot in drive belts, recommended replacement
leaky rack and pinion, recommended replacement
2 leaky front struts
I checked my power steering fluid before I brought it in and the level/color looks great. The mechanic said in addition to the leak that there's a little bit of a catch in the steering at a certain steering position when going faster, but I haven't noticed it myself. I have trusted this shop in the past and had good experiences, but there has been a lot of turnover lately, so I'm unsure of what to do. I went ahead and had them change the belts, but decided to wait on the rack/struts until I did more research/got a second opinion.
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We have a 2006 Subaru Forester with approximately 118000 miles. My wife is the sole driver of this vehicle, we purchased it used a little over two years ago. When the engine is cold (only when it is cold) a loud "kick" sound comes from what sounds like the rear of the car when and only when switching from second to third gear. The dealership flushed and calibrated the transmission but the problem persists (albeit less).
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Right before Xmas our 09 Forester was hit while parked on the street. The whole front end of our car got wrecked. Was still driveable but we needed a new radiator, AC compressor, fenders, bumper, hood, lights, etc...over 5K worth of work.
As soon as we picked it up we noticed that when you press on the gas the car makes a high pitched whistling noise, almost like the noise when you'd try to tune in an old transistor radio. It only happens when the car is driving and the gas is pressed, not when parked or in neutral.
I know we should have probably brought it right back to the shop that day but I really did not like the shop at all and they are not at all convenient to where I live. I've read it could be a loose cat converter. I checked the air intake housing and that is secure.
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I have a 2009 Escape that has developed a clunking noise in the right rear. On any bumpy roads it sounds like the shock tower lost it's top bushing but it could also be coming from somewhere lower. It also seems like the truck drifts to the right on bumpy left hand turns, kind of scary.
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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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