2006 Forester XT Turbo Manual stuck in place (lots of smoke)

[Subarupusher]

I finally convince my sister to dump her RAV4 and get a Forester with everything. Now she hates the car because of the following problem.

 

Occasionally she will get in and start it up and the car is stuck in place. She has shifted into gear and the RPMs approach 3000 before the car starts to budge. The first time this happened lots of smoke started pouring out from underneath the hood.

 

She says this has happened a few times every month she has had the car (bought it last February). Turning the car off and then restarting seems to solve the sticky situation lately. She has taken the car into the dealer a few times and they keep telling her there is nothing wrong and maybe she does not know how to drive a clutch or use the hill holder.

 

She has never driven an automatic and has 20 years driving experience under her belt and is getting very angry at the dealer treating her like a stereotypical female driver that cannot shift.

 

When I first heard the symptoms my immediate thought was the hill holder was not adjusted correctly. I have noticed the few times that I have driven it that the hill holder catches even when you are backing up on a slight slope. The dealer said that this is normal and it always backs off once you give it some gas. I have had two Subarus in the past with hill holders and have never encountered a hill holder as touchy as hers. I also noticed that they do not include it in my Impreza 2.5i and that makes me wonder if it is a troublesome item for Subaru to include in their cars. It keeps fading in out over the years as models change.

[ericem]

Well the dealer should fix it as it is under warrenty.

[outback_97]

Sounds like it's time to find a different dealer, one that will take her problem seriously and fix it.

 

Steve

[rlsimpso]

That sounds like the same problem I had on a GL when the clutch was replaced. I didn't have any clutch smoke, as the 2BL GL only made about 16 hp. The shop didn't adjust the hill holder properly and it would get stuck on level ground. I took it back, got it adjusted, worked fine for another 100K miles.

 

Go back and complain louder where other people can hear you. I find it works best have the car get stuck blocking the service bay:brow:

[DerFahrer]

If they told you the Hill-Holder will release with some more gas, then you not only need to stop going to that dealer, you need to report them to SOA, because they don't know what they're talking about.

 

The Hill-Holder operates on the position of the clutch pedal and has nothing to do with throttle application.

 

That does indeed sound to be the problem, although I'm surprised it takes that much oomph to get the car to move with the Hill-Holder stuck, unless she is really pushing the brakes hard when she starts the car.

[shaggy ant]

Many many forester hill holders came adjusted too tightly from the factory. It sounds to me like this one may be a bit too tight. for proper adjustment find yourself a small incline and pull part way up it. push in clutch and brake. Let off brake and slowly release clutch. The vehicle should start ot roll back just as the clutch is entering the friction zone. when properly adjusted the clutch friction should take over just as the hill-holder lets go. If it is your first time adjusting may take a while just take the wrenches with you when you go on a test drive for fine tuning.

[Subarupusher]

Thanks for the info.

 

I was hesitant to help her buy the car at this dealer because it is not a long established Subaru dealer in the area and they do not have much volume but had the car she wanted. The small maintenance department seemed like it would get taxed doing an oil change and tire rotation.

 

I will help her get it in to one of the big dealers in the region. I will also print out this thread for back up when I am talking to them.

 

My sister did write a long nasty letter to SOA and we will see if she gets more than the automated response letter.

[Subarupusher]

I finally got my sister to take the Forester in after it got stuck again in a level parking lot.

 

This time she took it to the same dealer I got my Impreza at. Even the secretary there knew the hill holder needed to be adjusted. They adjusted it and also said that it engaging in reverse was not supposed to happen. Nasty letters will be going to the original dealer and SOA.

 

Hopefully this will fix it and my sister will quit regretting that she should have got the new RAV 4.

 

This is the only "major" problem of the ten or so people I have pushed Subaru Forester's on in the last 5 years.

 

I was following a new Forester the other day on my bike and smelled the distinctive burning brake smell so maybe it is turning into a bigger problem.

[DerFahrer]

I'm gonna study up more on the new Hill-Holder system...

 

But as far as the old ones go, throttle application and gear selection have NOTHING to do with the Hill-Holder. It's entirely possible for the Hill-Holder to engage while the transmission is in Reverse. The only thing that comes in contact with the Hill-Holder system directly is the clutch release system.

[zyewdall]

Good for changing dealers. It sounded like classic too tight of hillholder to me from the beginning.

 

I don't know about the new hill-holders either, but the old ones could lock up anytime you hit the brakes and clutch at the same time if they were too tight. I pulled into my driveway once, and locked the front left and right rear wheel so tight that I stalled the engine in reverse and low range the next day trying to leave (going downhill too). And it would go just fine with the parking brake full on, so that gives you an idea how tight the hillholder was holding those brakes after sitting overnight.