Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

99 Forester Hesitation and Hard Start after fueling.


Recommended Posts

My 99 forester with just shy of 100K miles has a severe hesitation after a cold start, slight to moderate hesitation when warm, little power, poor gas mileage and recently gave a p0743 code. First thing in the morning after starting the car it has trouble moving (forward or reverse), and if you press the gas the engine bogs down, and after a minute runs fine. From a dead stop the car has a very noticeable hesitation and occasionally a hard shift and delayed shift at higher gears. When driving up hill or accelerating the car has to downshift to gain any power and has gotten 17 mpg since i bought it with 88k miles in october. Recently the car gave me a cel for a torque converter cluctch circuit (p0743) with a flashing AT TEMP light, the transmission light went out after restarting the car and the code was erased the next day, unfortunatley i havent been able to recreate the code. Another, posibly unrelated problem is a hard start after refueling, the more fuel put in the tank the harder the start. I realize there is likely more then one issue and any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Common problems associated with hard starting are a bad coolant temp sensor, gunked up Idle control valve, fouled spark plugs can also cause issues with cold starting.

 

The Torque Converter Solenoid circuit code could just be an effect of the poor running condition.

 

When was the last time it had a basic tune-up? Spark plugs, wires, fuel & air filters PCV valve. Any of those not done recently can contribute to problems.

 

Hard starting after a fillup could be due to a leaking Evap Purge control Solenoid. This is easy to test. Find two bright Green plugs under the dash and connect them together. Turn the key to ON and this will put the ECU into Test Mode. It will cycle the fans, several relays, and the various solenoids for the Evap system. The Evap purge solenoid is under the intake runners on the passenger side of the engine. Unhook one of the hoses that leads to it and try to blow through it as it clicks. Airflow should stop completely, then resume, corresponding with the cycling of the solenoid. If airflow does NOT stop the Solenoid is bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could be something as simple as buying a tank of bad gas. Any chance you bought gas after a heavy rain? If so, water run off the drive way, and past a faulty gas station fill pipe will put water in the tank, then water in your tank. If so, adding a can of "dry gas" may help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did a complete tuneup recently, plgs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, and it made no difference. Also it has had the same problem everytime i bought gas since october :(. Tomorrow i will be putting it up on a lift and i will hopefully be able to try everything, especially your suggestions. thank you for the suggestions, i will try to get back to you asap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After taking the transmission pan down and changing the filter we found a loose piece of metal under the internal filter. I have decided to sell the car to somebody with the potential to fix it as i dont have the money at the moment :(. I appreciate all your help and look forward to my next subaru.w

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...