daja Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 Question. Does anyone find their MT subes have a sensitive throttle response? It feels the same as my old car where I had replaced the cam with a race cam along with all other mods, but that was expected. My forester is stock and since day 1 it has been sensitive to the point of literally millimeters on the accelerator pedal. I live with it, but my wife may start driving the car soon and she had (I had) whiplash from the car jerking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 Still working on the solution to this on my Imp. Some suggestions relate to engine mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 Are you talking mainly in first gear, or all the gears? Can you describe exactly what it's doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smpol19 Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 I noticed the same thing when I got my Impreza, I got it used and cleaned out the throtle body and that made it somewhat better but still pretty stiff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 I know that feeling. My mom's outback is kinda hard to get moving without some jerking, and I've felt the same thing some other EJ soobs that I've driven, so I would think that there isn't anything "wrong" with that specific car. I would believe that soft motor/tranny mounts could contribute to this. Not sure what else though. The throttle return spring is about average for tension (significantly stronger than on my car but nothing compared to TBI Chevys), and it doesn't feel like the clutch is grabby. To describe it, at least what I feel, it's just like when you are first learning to drive and are getting used to engaging the clutch. If you're not careful, it's jerky when starting from a stop or accelerating from just a few mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_talk Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 The throttle return spring is about average for tension (significantly stronger than on my car but nothing compared to TBI Chevys) My '97 Suburban with the Vortec 350 has the stiffest off idle pedal I've ever felt, you have to persuade it very gently off a stop, and its an auto. Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 I don't think it's motor mounts because all my drivetrain mounts are sti hardened mounts. I get a little of the jerkiness occasionally. It's usually when I'm not paying as close attention to get the clutch/gas just right. Plus I think it's amplified since I have a LW flywheel now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesbaru Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 My 96 Legacy only started doing that after I had my clutch replaced. Bummer, dude. I'm trying to live with it, because I can't get my old clutch back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 Coming on and off the gas in third or fourth gear and the car engine/trans will shake. Jerking passengers heads, not violently, but enough to make the driver look like a beginner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boilerman Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 heres a suggestion or two. 1/check for mechanical freedom of movement on accelerator pedal/cable/ and butterfly assembly on throttle body. 2/is the engine electronically controlled?i.e ECU? Hydraulic tappets? If it is and there is the slightest of a knock under engine load the knock sensor will pick this noise up and have the ECU alter the ignition timing....Very quickly! To check this .....maintain engine speed over 3000 rpm when you change gear....the ECU holds the required advance for ignition timing above this rpm and gear change/jerking will cease. A new HP oil pump may solve the knock under load that the knock sensor can hear. 3/ New clutch fitted?...Was the fly wheel machined flat again?....was it replaced? if the fly wheel is not dead flat there will be a shudder on take up...nearly every time especially if you upgraded the clutch clamping force ..unless you allow take up with rpm decreasing not increasing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic/se Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Coming on and off the gas in third or fourth gear and the car engine/trans will shake. Jerking passengers heads, not violently, but enough to make the driver look like a beginner. I bieleve it is the disc clutch, all disc clutches have springs around and material sandwiched in the disc to absorb different trotlle inputs.....so probably subaru discs are more like a competition type disc ( less springs and stiffer material) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urabus1995 Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I think I have to agree about it being the clutch, like the others have said. My 95 Legacy has the smoothest throttle control I have ever felt in any car I have had. Never jerky. My old DL 1.8 dual range was almost as good in this dept. , that is until I had the clutch replaced. Then I got the symptoms you describe. I got used to it, but my girlfreind never did, no matter how long she drove it. I just found that by slipping the clutch much more on take off, I could keep it smooth. It was a bit of a pain in the neck having to remember to do that all the time, especially as I was driving several different vehicles in the same week. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Please read my statement again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerFahrer Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 It's a Subaru thing. Nothing to do with the clutch or ECU timing or anything... I've learned to live with it, I just feather the throttle a little more gently and progressively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajavwnsoobnut Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 by brand new OBS does the same thing and it's just a sensitive throttle that's all and I have gotten used to it and in fact in some situations it comes in handy too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daja Posted September 27, 2004 Author Share Posted September 27, 2004 Thanks you for all the suggestions. It is not clutch related. I've gotten use to the Sube organic clutch. It has to do with it being engaged and in gear, especially first gear. It's real bad when air conditioning is on. I step on the gas lightly to compensate and the car is like a wild horse buckling. LOL, it does make me look like my first day driving stick, but that was 25 years ago. The throttle cable is smooth so I don't think anything is sticking. I'll live with it and yes it does come in handy at times It's the annoying comments I hear when my bro-in-law is in the car. I just reply "I do it because I can, afterall it's not a honda lawnmower :)" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 My '03 Impreza MT does it quite badly. Mostly in 1st or 2nd but also a bit in the other gears. It's not a normal "Subaru thing" because it didn't do it when new. It's not the clutch because it does it when the clutch is engaged,(foot off the pedal). I've cleaned the IAC valve twice with sea foam...didn't help. I checked and adjusted the throttle cable. I had all the motor mounts checked for slack. Last week one of the U-joints in the driveshaft broke and I'm thinking it was in part due to the "jerking" of the motor during the throttle on/off. It's gotten to the point where I'm thinking of driving the F%?ng car off a bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Coming on and off the gas in third or fourth gear and the car engine/trans will shake. Jerking passengers heads, not violently, but enough to make the driver look like a beginner. Rear bearing on the upper shaft of the trans is going out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cagranitz Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I have a 2001 OBW with the same problem. I have done most of the things that Chip mentioned above with no improvement. I had read somewhere that it had something to do with poor or noisy ground connections. Taking that idea, I initially added several heavy gauge grounding wires to important points in the engine bay. This did not improve the problem either so I removed them. Instead, I removed, cleaned and tightened all of the existing engine and body ground points. Still no improvement. It is definitely an annoying problem. I have studied the symptoms carefully over time and it almost seems like the engine computer is extremely over sensitive to even the slightest change in the throttle position (I mean even just 1 or 2 millimeters). It seems like as soon as the computer detects the slightest closing of the throttle it immediately cuts or severely limits fuel delivery, causing a sudden jerk. Or in the case of opening the throttle slightly it over boosts fuel delivery, causing a sudden jerk. I'm not sure if this is coming from the throttle position sensor or some other sensor that detects changes in air flow or pressure. But it definitely seems like some type of over reaction by the engine computer to slight throttle position changes. I think my wifes 2001 OBW with an auto trans has the same problem, it's just muted because the torque converter absorbs the sudden jerks. My suspicion is that someone with the ability to reprogram the engine computer could probably tune that behavior out and make it very smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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