George Catlin Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Hi! I'm new to the forum, but I think I get the hang of it. I recently purchased a 2005 2.5XT outback, replacing my 1997 Outback that blew a head gasket (I think). Rather than repair the old girl, I decided to donate her to charity and ended up buying a new Outback. I am not disappointed. The 2005 Outback turbo is definitely NOT a 1997 Outback! It leaps down the road. It is a nearly totally redesigned automobile. BUT one bothersome item that I notice with my new Outback is that it tends to hesitate slightly (almost a flutter of sorts) as I steadily accelerate the car. It seems like the car might be misfiring or the turbo boost is sputtering a little. This is very subtle, but noticeable. It is definitely NOT turbo lag. I know all about that. Has anyone else experienced this type of apparent misfire or hesitation in a new turbo? Maybe I just need an engine diagnostic and a look at the spark plugs, eh? Any comments would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I own the 05 OBiLtd. non turbo but no lag noticed. Back to the dealer and let them figure it out. It's too soon to be searching for answers on your own! Drive another one on the lot if they say it is normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas S Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Is the hesitation around 2-2500k rpm? This is an often discussed issue with the new 2.5 turbos (STi, Forester XT, Baja T, OB XT). I've never heard an explanation, but they are variable timing engines so that may have something to do with it... post up if you get a satisfactory explanation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Hi George, I have an 2005 Baja Turbo and sometimes notice the same thing. Texas is right sometimes there is kind of a burp or slight shudder or heasitation at about 2000- 2500 rpm. I aggree it doesn't feel like turbo lag. I must ask you what kind of gas you are using. I had a problem with cheap gas. I used 91 oct. but I used Arco gas which didn't work well with the car. Try Chevron gas. If it keeps up I would take these guys advice and go back to the dealer and talk to the tech, not the sevice advisor. I am working through a different problem and the tech is fixing it for me. Good luck Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Catlin Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 Hi George, I have an 2005 Baja Turbo and sometimes notice the same thing. Texas is right sometimes there is kind of a burp or slight shudder or heasitation at about 2000- 2500 rpm. I aggree it doesn't feel like turbo lag. I must ask you what kind of gas you are using. I had a problem with cheap gas. I used 91 oct. but I used Arco gas which didn't work well with the car. Try Chevron gas. If it keeps up I would take these guys advice and go back to the dealer and talk to the tech, not the sevice advisor. I am working through a different problem and the tech is fixing it for me. Good luck Greg... Thanks Greg (and Texas), Come to think of it, this problem does seem to occur at lower revs. It is very slight, almost makes you think it is a bump (or bumps) in the road, but it isn't. I am due to see the mechanics for installation of an air filter, so I will ask them to do a diagnostic and I will let you know what they discover. It's good to hear that this is apparently not an isolated incident. The mechanics will thus probably know what is going on. Thanks again. Anyone else have this experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Catlin Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 Hi George, I have an 2005 Baja Turbo and sometimes notice the same thing. Texas is right sometimes there is kind of a burp or slight shudder or heasitation at about 2000- 2500 rpm. I aggree it doesn't feel like turbo lag. I must ask you what kind of gas you are using. I had a problem with cheap gas. I used 91 oct. but I used Arco gas which didn't work well with the car. Try Chevron gas. If it keeps up I would take these guys advice and go back to the dealer and talk to the tech, not the sevice advisor. I am working through a different problem and the tech is fixing it for me. Good luck Greg... Ooops, forgot to reply to your question about gas. I am using 93 high octane all the way, usually Mobil or Exxon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballitch Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 arco gas makes every single car ive ever put it in run like S**T, sorry to hijack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimGinCentralNJ Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Hi George! Actually, I just signed-up to use the forum after reading your post, so I guess that makes me even newer than you Re: the hesitation you speak of, as one of the other members below mentioned, this is a well-talked about issue, at least over at the "Subaru Crew 2005: Legacy/OB" message board on edmunds.com (where I usually frequent). There are a couple individuals there who work for Subaru of America (SoA) and are very knowledgable/helpful. The general concensus about this issue is that it's a shortcoming in the ECU code. Here's a quote from one of the big-time posters there which explains it better: (Craig said:) "The stuttering on my XT (5EAT) pretty much went away after I disconnected the battery when installing the sub, and it definitely mellowed out as I put more miles on the car. So I think it's an ECU mapping issue, and the ECU probably sorts itself out in some cases. Still, it will likely take an ECU reprogramming to fully fix the problem. This would not be uncommon for Subaru; the last Outback required a reflash in its first year, as well as the STi. I think Mazda has released 5-6 reflashes for the RX-8 at this point!" So, it sounds as though this has been a fairly common issue over the years on some Subie turbo motors (not to mention other manufacturers), and my assumption is that SoA will have an ECU re-program or "flash" available to correct this at some point. Hope that helps! Tim G. '05 OBXTL-5MT 7300 miles and counting! Hi! I'm new to the forum, but I think I get the hang of it. I recently purchased a 2005 2.5XT outback, replacing my 1997 Outback that blew a head gasket (I think). Rather than repair the old girl, I decided to donate her to charity and ended up buying a new Outback. I am not disappointed. The 2005 Outback turbo is definitely NOT a 1997 Outback! It leaps down the road. It is a nearly totally redesigned automobile. BUT one bothersome item that I notice with my new Outback is that it tends to hesitate slightly (almost a flutter of sorts) as I steadily accelerate the car. It seems like the car might be misfiring or the turbo boost is sputtering a little. This is very subtle, but noticeable. It is definitely NOT turbo lag. I know all about that. Has anyone else experienced this type of apparent misfire or hesitation in a new turbo? Maybe I just need an engine diagnostic and a look at the spark plugs, eh? Any comments would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soobadooba Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 We bought our '04 Forester XT last April and had no driveability issues...until last week when my wife took it in for our 15,000 mile service. I noticed the exact symptoms between 2,000 and 2,500 RPMs when we got it back. I also believe (as Tim G. mentioned) that it has to do with ECU mapping, and I may wait to see if it sorts itself out before I take it back. My wife hasn't even noticed it, but her driving habits are very different from mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForrestB Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Hi! I'm new to the forum, but I think I get the hang of it. I recently purchased a 2005 2.5XT outback, replacing my 1997 Outback that blew a head gasket (I think). Rather than repair the old girl, I decided to donate her to charity and ended up buying a new Outback. I am not disappointed. The 2005 Outback turbo is definitely NOT a 1997 Outback! It leaps down the road. It is a nearly totally redesigned automobile. BUT one bothersome item that I notice with my new Outback is that it tends to hesitate slightly (almost a flutter of sorts) as I steadily accelerate the car. It seems like the car might be misfiring or the turbo boost is sputtering a little. This is very subtle, but noticeable. It is definitely NOT turbo lag. I know all about that. Has anyone else experienced this type of apparent misfire or hesitation in a new turbo? Maybe I just need an engine diagnostic and a look at the spark plugs, eh? Any comments would be appreciated. I think my cruise control surge may be related to your hesitation? It seems as though the throttle mechanism opens and closes too much with low torque and light pedal pressure ... dunno. Hmmm ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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