I have a 96 Legacy station wagon 2.2 that has a rough idle only when stopped and in Drive. It purrs like a kitten in Park and does fine everywhere else. I've adjusted the idle screw more than once and checked all electrical connections; it only has 70,000 miles. I noticed when I turn on any electrical device in the car at night that the dash board lights dim a little even when driving. I measured the Volts and it is 14.70 in neutral and 14.20 in drive when parked. I'm new to this type of Subaru issue. Any ideas, thoughts and suggestions would be welcome and I'm sure helpful.

Dave

I have had this problem for years on my 97 2.2 and have posted here for help and have not found it yet. Have you changed the drive axle lately? Some people here have claimed the rough idle and drive axles are connected, I have not bought in to this but if you have changed yours they might be something to it. I think it is connected to the idle air valve but they cost so much that I have not tried changing it yet.

I have a 96 Legacy station wagon 2.2 that has a rough idle only when stopped and in Drive. It purrs like a kitten in Park and does fine everywhere else. I've adjusted the idle screw more than once and checked all electrical connections; it only has 70,000 miles. I noticed when I turn on any electrical device in the car at night that the dash board lights dim a little even when driving. I measured the Volts and it is 14.70 in neutral and 14.20 in drive when parked. I'm new to this type of Subaru issue. Any ideas, thoughts and suggestions would be welcome and I'm sure helpful.

Dave

i just bought a '95 legacy with the same problem. a subaru tech told me that there is no idle adjustment but cleaning the throttle body might help.. i will try that soon and post results.

 

gregg

Mine has a similar problem (92 legacy). I always thought it might be a loosening engine or transmission mount.

 

 

 

i just bought a '95 legacy with the same problem. a subaru tech told me that there is no idle adjustment but cleaning the throttle body might help.. i will try that soon and post results.

 

gregg

Thank you for all of your replies and I'll look into all of them. My father in law (Subaru Junky) says I should not worry about it. I'll press on and if I find a solution will let you know. Thank you, Dave

Cleaning the throttle body can help a little bit. I just sprayed carb cleaner at the throttle body while running to blow it out a little. It did change the way the rough idle in gear felt - although it never really made it go away.:-\

 

Now that my entire engine is out of the car, I can really go to town on cleaning the entire intake manifold.

Cleaning the throttle body can help a little bit. I just sprayed carb cleaner at the throttle body while running to blow it out a little. It did change the way the rough idle in gear felt - although it never really made it go away.:-\

 

Now that my entire engine is out of the car, I can really go to town on cleaning the entire intake manifold.

seems a bit extreme doesn't it??? `;~)