Subaru - Forester :: A/C Blows Freezing Cold Air Idling / At A Stop Light
Aug 5, 2015
My Forester blows freezing cold air sitting in the driveway idling or at a stop light. As soon as you get out on the highway, it blows about 10-15 seconds of cold air and then 10-15 second of warm air. On a really hot day it is borderline uncomfortable. Already had the freon checked and it is fine. What this could be? I've searched all over the internet for people having a similar problem, but everyone else who has intermittent A/C has like ten minutes of cold and then it blows warm until they stop.
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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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So I am trying to figure out where my AC system has failed in my car.
The back story is: While I was on a road trip down to southern Utah in the middle of summer (you know, painfully hot desert area), my whole AC system felt the need to blow up in my face.
It all started when I pulled over for gas and noticed a giant puddle of water under my car. Then when I got back on the road, the system was still blowing air, but it was no longer cold (yes the AC was still on). A few miles later the fan stopped blowing all together. Then windows down, riding through the desert, a passerby shouted through my window that my car was smoking, I pulled over to find my AC compressor belt lying on the road under my car.
Now I would love to repair it but I don't know where to start. I have replaced the fuses to no avail (at least the interior ones labeled "blower", but they also seemed to be intact upon a visual inspection).
I have noticed that while on the highway the vents will produce air (not blow it though) of the temperature the gauge is set on (I assume that matters). Also, the AC button under the vent control (air speed) does not appear to light up.
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OK, so I have a 2010 Subee, 36K miles. Three events here, added in car monitoring from State Farm for Ins Discount, had a nail in back tire which I had repaired, it's been pretty cold at night here in GA. When I start the car, both the cold engine and the brake light are lit. Cold engine normal, takes it a few minutes then it goes out. Brake light is staying on until the car drives a bit (maybe 10 minutes?). No odd brake noises, brakes feel fine, emergency brake fully released. Recently had fluids checked and oil changed at Jiffy Lube. Have had the car for 3 years, this is new. It didn't do it last winter. So - do I need to go to the dealership? A brake place? Check the brake fluid.
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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 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.
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Our 2006 Forester started shaking very hard while idling or driving. We drove it to the dealer asap, but the violent shaking had stopped. They hooked it up to the diagnostic machine and everything checked out as fine. This problem happens intermittently so the mechanics have not witnessed it. We've even let them keep the car a week and drive it home and back and it never gave them the shaking problem. There is no pattern to when it happens - hot or cold engine, hot or cold outside, just started or been running for awhile, it just doesn't seem to matter. If we give it some gas while at a stop sign it smooths out a bit but it doesn't stop the problem. When driving it still shakes but it's harder to tell how hard. I'm talking about shaking very hard, not just a rough idle.
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1998 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.
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I have a 2006 Toyota Sienna Van that has 111,000 miles on it. I have a problem with both the heat and a/c. If you have the heat on but are just idling, it begins to blow cool air. Likewise, if you run the a/c but are just idling the air begins to blow warm. In either case, if you rev the engine (either in park or nuetral say at a red light), the air gets warmer if the heat is on, or colder if the a/c is on. In other words, the temperature only works correctly if the rpm's are up. Could this be a stopped up heater core.
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I have a 2006 Subaru Forester with 115K miles. It's been well-maintained and well-loved.
For the past few months, the brakes have been inconsistently making a dragging/grinding noise when coming to a stop at low speeds (<5mph). It sounds to be coming from the front half of the car - I can feel it vibrating a little near the driver side. We've taken the car in to be looked at three times - each time, the mechanics think they've heard the noise and report there is absolutely nothing wrong with the brake pads or rotors. Twice they reported a shim was out of alignment. After the last shim adjustment, the noise got a little better - instead of grinding, it's more of a dragging sound now. Because the noise is inconsistent, I haven't been able to crack the formula of the conditions that produce it, other than that it only happens as I'm coming to a stop at very low speeds.
Is there something besides the brakes we should be having inspected? Does this sound safe to drive?
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So, I purchased a 2004 Subaru forester at the in of 2013, from a private seller. When I turn on the a/c the air is warm, I thought maybe the refrigerant so low, so I check the level and it is good, the a/c compressor clutch engages, but warm air still comes out of the vents. I am asking what else could cause the a/c to blow warm air?
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With the very cold weather I'm having problems getting my car to start again after it's been running a while--starts okay initially no matter the temp, run it for ~15 minutes then go to my first work stop. One hour later sitting outside in 0F and I can't get it to start, won't turn over. Just got a new battery, had the spark plugs/starter/fuel line checked "looks okay". Starts after it gets really cold again, needs to sit out for a few hours in the single or negative digits. Dealer is 100 miles away and I have not been happy with the service there.
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Having problem with an exhaust or fuel smell in the cab? i have had the exhaust checked & the seal on the back door, all have been fine. it has only happened in the really, really cold weather.
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When the weather gets really cold (below 30) I intermittently smell a gas/exhaust smell in the cabin but also on the exterior. I have on two occasions had my mechanic check this and each time he has replaced an "old and cracked" hose.
He has to use the smoke tracer to find where it is leaking and replacing hose. On both occasions he urged me to make the repair immediately as it could be extremely dangerous. (Makes sense if I am smelling gas.)
I am wondering if this could be an exhaust/heating system problem. The car is 11 years old with 120K miles and I want to keep it running a few more years. I am due for front brakes and new tires soon...
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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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I 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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We're talking about a 2002 Subaru Forester with only 80,000 miles on it.
This winter, the cold seems to have taken its toll. The fuel economy is bouncing around between 16 and 24 MPG and the car runs a bit roughly. Especially when it's colder (<30 F) there is often a lack of power/RPM when depressing the gas pedal. The problem is worst in city driving, but exists on the highway also. It doesn't go away during my 15-20 minute commute. For a period of a couple weeks, it was even easy to induce misfires (I think that's what they were; quiet pffft pffft pffft sounds during severe lack of power) by fully depressing the gas. But even if you half-depress and hold the pedal steady, the car will accelerate weakly and then sometimes surge forward. Other times it seems to be idling strong and running rich. Now that it's warmer (>40 F) the problem has lessened, but I've also started feeding it 93 octane gas and the car feels rougher than normal.
A year or two ago, I replaced the front oxygen sensor and spark plugs (prior to problem). This winter, I took it to a mechanic who couldn't explain the problem and replaced the spark plug wires.
Based on my reading, it seems like the only other most likely culprit is the manifold air pressure (MAP) sensor that's mounted on the intake manifold. I haven't worked up the effort (and can't find my multimeter) to do an electrical test of the MAP sensor's output itself. I'm also not keen on just buying a $270 part without sound evidence, nor paying for ill-informed guessing by lesser mechanics (than yourselves, of course!). I also have a sneaking suspicion that the automatic transmission could be slipping -- when I drive with 2 adults and two kids in the car up a hill, it seems more underpowered than days of old.
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I have a brand new (2 months old) 2011 Subaru Forester 2.5x that has a 4 cyl engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. This past week it's been cold here in New Hampshire and in the morning when I first drive the car, I have trouble shifting from 1st to second gear. When I shift from 1st to 2nd, I hear/feel some grinding noise as I try to engage 2nd gear. This only seems to happen when the car has been sitting around in the cold for a long period of time. Our garage has been cold (34 deg this AM) for the past week and when I drive out of our driveway and on our street I encounter this problem.
Normally, this problem only happens the first time you shift out of first and into 2nd. However, the other day, when it was very cold (5 degrees out) it happened several times as I drove down the street. After it happened the first time that morning, I stopped the car and drove from a dead stop, shifting from 1st to 2nd. I had problems 3 or 4 times trying to shift to 2nd. I ended up double clutching the car to avoid making the grinding sound. I took the car to the dealer. The couldn't repeat it but I didn't expect it to, because the car was warmed up and it was warmer during the day (low 30's by the time I got to the dealer that afternoon). The mechanic changed the transmission oil and checked the magnet in the pan to see if there were any metal pieces. He did not find any metal pieces. That was two days ago.
Unfortunately, every morning since then the car has had the same problem. Once the transmission has been warmed up it runs flawlessly and I have no problems shifting. I've made sure I am fully depressing the clutch for each shift. The past few days I've been taking the car out on an early morning test run and like clockwork, it has problems on the first shift into second, and it usually works fine after that. I have an appointment next week to leave the car with the dealer overnight. They will test drive it to see if they can reproduce the problem. What might be wrong? I have a workaround solution to avoid grinding the gears. I simply double clutch shift into 2nd for the first few times that I shift after the car has been sitting in the cold for a while. However, this is less than ideal for a brand new car.
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For longer than I'd like to reveal, my Forester has shifted extremely hard. This happens only when the engine is cold and disappears entirely once it heats up. Also, the RPMs go high just before the shift. When it does shift, it feels as if the engine is going to self-destruct from the sound and rough feeling --as if the entire engine or at least some part of it were going to fall to the ground. After it shifts, it feels as if the car shoots forward like a rocket. The Subaru dealer changed the transmission fluid and reset the computer. The problem persists.
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I have a 2006 Subaru Forester automatic with about 40,000 miles on it. When it gets cold out, I notice that when I first start driving the car, it jerks/lurches and makes a loud noise when shifting from first to second and second to third. When the car warms up after driving for awhile, it doesn't do it anymore. It's much colder here (high today of zero), the car is doing this much more often. I brought it to the dealer and they completely flushed the transmission fluid (which they said looked yellow instead of red/orange??), but it is still making the noise and having trouble shifting in the cold. They said need to take the transmission apart, so I've been leary about taking it back. My husband thinks I should just drive it until it dies and then get a new transmission if needed.
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I have about 200k on my forester. Friday when I was leaving work I cranked it up and it made a loud knocking sort of sound. I drove it home (about 15 miles) and on the way the sound lessened. It was louder when the car was idling but she made it home ok. Next day, started the car and it happened again. Not more than 50 feet up the road we stopped at a stop sign and it sounded like a semi was starting up around the corner. Much to my dismay it was not a semi but my own car. Engine shut off. We pushed it back to the house and tried to check it out the next day. This time, we started it, didn't go anywhere, and within 30 seconds it turned off. Same loud knocking sort of sound. The confusing part is that all of this happened within two days. There was no gentle sound leading up to it for a few weeks or even a few days. Knocked on Friday, shut off on Saturday. What could be going on?
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