merogul

I am sure that dealing with these kinds of car issues is much easier in other countries especially in the States. I think that the lemon law is very new in Turkey. Since Turkey wants be a member of European Union, we have some new laws. Only courts can appoint an independent expert in Turkey. This is a small city and the only real car service in Kars is Ford and they do not want to involve in this situation. (there used to be a half Subaru service in my city but they shot it down) I just hope that I will have a smart expert who can conclude that my car does not work in cold weather by seeing that the engine hardly starts in warm weather.

According to the lemon law in Turkey, they have to replace the car or return the customer's money if a car breaks down more than two times in a year as a result of the same mistake and the dealer cannot fix it. The judges appoint an independent expert to determine if the car is working fine or not. My mistake was that I did not ask any papers about the repairs of the car. I will go to court in April. (It is not cold in April and the car might work just fine) Subaru is supposed to be a good car. I also think that I've got a lemon. Thank you. I am still learning to write.

The dealer has all the necessary tools. They always connect some computer stuff to the socket under the wheel. They make a lot of measurements and they say that they are sending them to Japan. They say that there is nothing wrong with the engine and the sensors. The only thing they fixed was that butterfly valve. After that my car worked fine for a month. It does not make any difference if I hold the throttle half, ¼, or all the way down. However, when the weather is not too cold and the engine starts, I need to send some gas as one would do with very old cars. If I do that, engine catches on starts working. When it is very cold and the engine starts, it makes a clink sound while the engine is going to 2000rpm. The subaru mechanic said that that noise is normal. However, if it is too cold, the engine cannot do that clink sound but that clink sound stretches and does not go away. Instead, it makes a constant noise in the engine. When I start the engine at noon, usually that noise goes away. Subaru engine must be very complex and sensitive.

It was 19.4 degree Fahrenheit this morning and the engine started at the third try. When I turned the ignition key the first time, the engine started in 3 seconds and when I released the key, it stopped immediately. It took about 8 seconds the engine to start at my second try with same result. At the third try, the engine started, it waited around 0rpm about 2-3 seconds and it went to 2000rpm. Most people said that it is the coolant sensor. However, the dealer argues that nothing can be wrong with the sensors. They installed wide Spark plugs since they do not get wet easily. Yesterday, It was -5.8 degree Fahrenheit. The engine did not start at my first through fifth tries. the engine started at the sixth try. I had to hold ignition key about 15-20 seconds each time to get engine started. It seemed like the engine would catch on. But it fails as soon as I release the ignition key. I think that new Subaru cars do not like cold weather and mine has some special issue that the dealer do not want to address. Even in summer, the engine starts with difficulty. 3 months ago a subaru mechanic replaced or fixed something they called butterfly valve and my car worked as it was supposed to work for one month. I am just tired of this car. There is no subaru mechanic in my town either. I am using the same gas that everybody use in my city. I do not see any oil leaking on the ground. However, something close the front left tire rubbed against some ice while driving very slowly two days ago. Can this be the cause of noise? The roads are wet and icy in my city. Can this hurt breaks and cause that smell? If it is not dangerous, I do not want to deal with this dealer again. They just talk, they do not give any papers. Either the subaru mechanic cannot fix it or my car is a lemon. Thank you for your reply. Mehmet

Hi, I have a 2007 Subaru Impreza, 1.5 engine, and auto transmission. It has about 14000 miles on it. The car has had burning rubber smell since the beginning of this winter. I have read some of the messages about this problem. I think that mine is different. I thought that winter tires are the reason for that smell. However, it got worse today. A friend of mine said that it is the clutch. My car does not have a clutch. It has made some constant strange noise while I was driving today. The noise does not go away when I change the gear. It seems that the noise is coming from under the car. Noise does not come at low speed (10-20 miles) Since my car has cold start problem that I have written before in this forum, I have sued the dealer. (The engine hardly starts at cold weather) Next month, I will go to court. I will hopefully return this car and get my money back. Can this be an oil leak? There is no Subaru dealer in my town. I had to send my car to another city to get it fixed. Should I just wait or do something about this bad smell and noise. Can it cause traffic accidents? Thank you. Mehmet

Hi, I have a 2007 Subaru Impreza. It does the same thing. The dealer says nothing wrong with my car. They changed the spark plugs (they get oily and wet when I crank it too many times) and installed a new program a couple of times. They also got some computer readings to send to Japan. I have written my problem before in this forum and I was told that the coolant sensor might be bad. However, Subaru mechanic in Turkey said that the engine check light would be on if some sensors were bad. Since it is under warranty, I have just sued the dealer. They have not been able to fix it. This is very frustrating and I am tired of this problem. I hope somebody can solve this problem. It is obvious that Japanese engineers cannot solve this problem. Good luck. Mehmet

Hi, I am not happy with my Subaru. For two years, Subaru dealer in Turkey has not been able to fix my car. They sent a lot data to Japan, they say. Japaneese engineers will write a new program for my car. Mehmet

Hi, A Subaru mechanic has come to my city to fix my car. It was nice. However, they cannot do anything helpful. He certainly said that coolant sensor is not faulty but he can change it if I feel better. He changed the spark plugs and installed another program. The engine started at the third try with new spark plugs (the temperature -19 Celsius = -2.2 Fahrenheit) . This morning, I tried everything I know and the engine started at the fourth try. When it started, the engine could not go to 2000rpm. It stayed at the 200rpm about 6 seconds before slowly going to 2000rpm. He had some computer and gas mixture measurements. He said that they would send them to Japan. I feel like I am a guinea pig. These subaru people in Turkey have sure some strange reasoning. They say that if the car is starting well in the warm weather, there is no major problem with the car. I say that, it is not starting in cold weather, there is a big problem with the car. I am too tired to deal with the Subaru impreza and Subaru mechanics in Turkey. I had better go to court and sue them. I do not like Subaru anymore. Everybody is happy with Ford dealer in my city. If I can get my money back, I will buy a Ford Focus. I think that these boxer engines do like cold weather although I drove Subaru Outback in the USA and it did not have any problems. Mehmet

Hi Dave, Thanks for the tip. This is interesting. This EFI engines are certainly strange. This might have been the reason why this car worked when the butterfly valve malfunctioned and sent a lot of gas to the engine and choked it last summer. When I pushed the gas pedal a couple times, the engine caught on and started back then. I asked the Subaru mechanic why the engine started when I pushed the gas pedal a couple times if the butterfly valve was already sending a lot gas to the engine. He did not answer. If I do this, will it increase the possibility of getting spark plugs wet and oily? If it does, I had better not practice this tip. As you have guessed, I am just learning to deal with my Subaru problem. Mehmet

I am not familiar with these electronic stuff. There are check light on the dashboard. There is no light about coolant though. There is a socket under the wheel. One time, they sent me a tool to connect it and get some reading from my car while starting the engine. (as a result of this readin, they said that they installed a quick start program (whatever it is)) I assume that they also connected my car to their diagnostic tool and run a full check-up last summer. I have been having this problem for two winters. If coolant sensor was bad, their diagnosting computer would have showed it. Right? I am afraid there is something wrong with my 2007 Subaru impreza since I have heard that some people having difficulty with starting the engine in these cars in Turkey. The place where I live is very cold in winters and my Subaru made me very upset so far. I get up in the middle of night and run the engine in freezing weather. Otherwise, it won't start in the morning. Now, I should get some sleep and pray to God that my car works tomorrow morning. I will try get info about the coolant sensor from the Subaru mechanics in Turkey. I hope this will end my winter nightmare. I would like to thank you for your suggestions. Mehmet

I have found some info on the net. This one gives me an idea about how to change it.http://www.lovehorsepower.com/SubaruDocs/CoolantTempSensor.html The place of it might be different in my car. This must be the coolant sensor http://www.subaruparts.com/catalog/?section=1032. It is not expensive either. If I ask Subaru dealer to send me one sensor, I am sure they would do it. However, I am a little mad at them since they have been failing to fix my car for quite some time. I might contact to another dealer in Turkey. I can fix stuff and I love to fix stuff.

It is still under warranty and I did take my car to the Subaru service last summer. Back then, my car was not working even in warm weather. The mechanic told me that the butterfly valve in the engine got dirty and could not close itself. The angle of the valve should be 0º in closed position. However, it was 0.5º in my car. When I had turned the key to start engine, it had sent a lot of gas and choked the engine. ( I do not understand. If it was sending a lot of gas, why the engine started when I pushed the gas pedal several times and sent more gas to the engine while turning the key.) The mechanic changed some part of the valve too. He also said that he cleaned the sensors in the engine. The mechanic told me that he did everything he could do. I think that those lovely sensors are very expensive in Turkey and they just clean them instead of changing them. The problem is that there is no Subaru dealer in my little town and I need to drive many many miles to get to a decent Subaru dealer. I wish it was something that I could fix. I am very tired of calling Subaru help center in Turkey. They could not fix my car for two years. I wish I did not buy this car or I could return it and get my money back. I used Subaru Outback in the USA and I absolutely had no problem with it. Thanks for your prompt replies. Mehmet P.S. Yes, we drive on the right side of the road just like you. By the way, I miss the roads in the USA along with chocolate cake and Brayers icecream.

I have read some of the post but I cannot find any problem that is similar to mine. I have a 2007 Subaru Impreza 1.5 engine, auto transmission. Especially, in winter when I turn the ignition key, the engine starts immediately and dies in 3 seconds. The engine rpm sticks around 200-300 rpm (very close to zero) for about 3 seconds. In these three seconds, battery and oil at temp light flashes like crazy. When I try the second time, it takes 8-10 seconds for engine to start. (If it does not start at the third time, the spark plugs gets wet and oily, I have to get them replaced, and it costs me a lot) If the weather is really cold, I have no luck. I think that the engine takes a lot of gas but the engine cannot go to 2000rpm. For this reason, it chokes itself pretty good. I do not know what to do. A Subaru mechanic in my country (Turkey) suggested me to buy some engine heaters since my car behaves very nicely at warm weather. However, I do not have a garage and I cannot send some electric cables from third floor to across the street. Any solution is greatly appreciated. Mehmet