[2004 outback, bucking and lurching AFTER expensive garage bill.]

Thanks for all the help folks. I'll do some more checking tomorrow morning. I've used sea foam (or similar products) on bikes in the past. I'll look into it on the car. Any and all suggestions and tips are GREATLY appreciated!

[2004 outback, bucking and lurching AFTER expensive garage bill.]

Thanks for the advice folks, I should mention that since I cleaned the egr valve the car has no problem idling, really now it's just jumpy as hell at low revs. (1-2k)

[2004 outback, bucking and lurching AFTER expensive garage bill.]

I should also add, when I cleaned the erg valve, I noticed a hole in the intake manifold that looks like it is missing something. Can anyone confirm this?

In the pic it is just to the right of the erg valve.

[2004 outback, bucking and lurching AFTER expensive garage bill.]

Hell folks, long time lurker first time poster. Having a heck of a bad week with my much loved outback (2004, 2.5l, Canadian). To keep things clear I will stat at the beginning...

Just before Christmas, the wagon all of a sudden started to stall in neutral, or when I would press the clutch, this seemed to happen randomly when the car was warmed up. The problem went away for about ten days, only to reappear with a vengeance. (Check engine also appeared) so we bit the bullet and took it to a local garage. They said that there were misfire codes and changed the plugs/wires/coils, later in the day they called back and informed me that the problem was still there and that everything associated with the intake was heavily carbonized. So they did and injector cleaning,and cleaned all of the sensors. After that the problem was still present, they said the egr valve was too carbonized and beyond cleaning.

I retrieved the car from them, deciding to find a replacement egr on my own. After removing and cleaning the egr myself (10 min job, was nice and springy after) the car seemed to work perfectly, leading me to believe we had been fleeced...

The next day, leaving the city, everything was fine, until the car warmed up. Now my problem is: around 1-2000 rpm the car kicks and bucks like crazy, once past 2000 rpm the car works fine but a little jerky when giving gas, i re-cleaned the egr thinking maybe it needed further cleaning.

After testing the car again today, same problem, after the engine is good and warm, it struggles and bucks when driving around in first and second gear till you are past 2000 rpm.

After getting a big bill from a garage that didn't fix my problem I am dreading dropping more money at this than I have to. Anyone else have any similar experiences? Or can help me figure out what is going on?

Thx in advance