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2001 Outback Cold Start Problem


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I just bought my 2001 Outback LL Bean edition in July, and it's been increasingly having a problem first thing in the morning. It will start fine, and I have no problems backing out of my parking space. But then when I give it gas to go forward it barely moves and takes a few seconds to come up to speed. It also occasionally stalls out when the RPM's drop lower than they should, and occassionally does a little hitch in speed as I'm going at constant speed on the freeway.

 

Does anyone have any ideas on this?

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I would disconnect the negative cable from the battery for fifteen minutes to reset the computer. Then see what happens when it relearns everything when reconnected. The computer will take about 30 minutes or so of driving to relearn the sensor parameters. You don't need to make a special trip to "teach" the computer, just your regular driving will do.

 

Could be a dead thermal sensor, or a sticking idle air control valve, or a mass air flow (MAF) (actually NOT a MAF problem since your car uses a manifold air pressure (MAP) sensor).

 

Could also be EGR or evaporative emmision purge, but the computer should show a code.

 

Could also be an oxygen sensor, but again the computer should show a code.

 

Could also be bad gas (water in gas) or a contaiminated fuel filter (because of bad gas). Are you putting in the quality 91 octane fuel that the 2001 H6-3.0 requires?

 

Add some heavy duty fuel injector cleaner to your next tank of gas.

 

Could be a bad spark plug or coil pack, although the computer should detect repetitive misfires and store a code. If you can't find anything else wrong then pull out the spark plugs and note the condition against a spark plug condition chart (in any Haynes auto service manual). The spark plug from a misfiring cylinder should look significantly different than the others.

 

Could the little blip in speed be from the AC compressor coming on? When above 32F the AC is used to dehumidify the air when the defroster setting is used. Could be an improperly tensioned belt, the AC will often cycle on when it detects a reduction in throttle (like when you change from reverse to forward).

 

Is the tire pressure correct in all four tires, somtimes one low tire will cause the transmission to misbehave a bit, which can feel like a engine misfire.

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