2001 Forester, Odd Problems

[rmmagow]

Hoping there's something common here.

2001 Forester, 145000 miles. AT.

1. The engine will at times come to a shuddering halt, feels like the lock-up torque converter is not releasing properly. Shifting into neutral before stall will generally keep engine running.

2. Very low idle after warm-up but very very smooth, no skipping or sputtering.

3. Cruise not working. Light comes on but nothing works.

4. in the past, I noticed that if I shifted in neutral while the car was moving at any speed, the engine would maintain a relatively high idle, 1200 +. Now, if I shift into neutral the engine immediately drops to very low idle (see 2).

No codes set, no problems starting. Speedo etc all works normal. No mods, well maintained.

Anything common here? Vacuum leak maybe? Where does cruise control get its signal. I've got the CD manual for the car, but no CC info can be found.

Thanks much.

[curtisbad]

almost sounds like a vacuum leak. iacv maybe. trying checking all your hoses for leaks. if you find no problems try removing and cleaning the iacv, you'll need a new gasket of course if you do that. curtis

[rmmagow]

Will do. I will trace and check all lines I can find. I had the iacv off last summer. I didn't see a gasket, just an o-ring. I did clean everything out as best I could. The iacv did move when the ignition was turned on, I think that is a super basic test. The iacv is bluish green colored, I've seen them on ebay and at the dealer. I'll check the tps too, but a back probe check seemed to test OK. Time to play.

Thanks for the reply