Hi, thanks in advance for any advice. Our 2000 Subaru Outback wagon was a fantastic car until about a year ago. The main, recent problem is that it would often have surging RPMs while idling, shifting-almost any time really. The needle by the RPM numbers would fly up from 2 to 4 and bounce between, settle down, then do it again. Yesterday, however, was the worst. The car just had no power at all and the RPMs revved to as far as 5 and 6 while barely managing 30 mph, and forget going up a hill. We managed to get off a highway and just barely to a safe spot to stop before it died. Does anyone know what might be wrong with it?

automatic or manual transmission?

does it do it in all gears? forward and reverse?

does the POWER light ever blink (if it's an automatic).

how many miles?

what kind of work has been done to it, clutch, timing belt, etc?

does the car idle fine and rev fine in neutral?

 

this sounds like a trans or clutch issue, but i don't really have enough info to do on right now.

 

diagnosing over the internet is tricky, but there is enough knowledge/experience here to help with enough details.

Will it start at all now? Has there been any recent maintenance? Have you checked the basics - spark, fuel delivery? I hope you were at least able to get it home.

 

Good luck - keep us posted, I'd like to know what's up with this.

Thanks for getting back to me. To answer your questions:

 

It's a manual transmission.

I think it has surged like that in all gears except reverse.

The car has about 105,000 miles on it.

Very little work has been done to it--until about 8 months ago all it needed were the routine oil changes.

I know it surged while idling, especially during the first start of the day, and since I'm in a cold climate, that means when it was in neutral warming up on a cold morning.

 

Another point to make: In the past few days before it died, we could smell a terrible smell--like burning rubber. And when the car did konk out yesterday that smell was the worst ever.

 

We did not attempt to start the car after it gave out on us. It had been running for about an hour at that point, and it had struggled so much we just didn't expect it to start or run without some mechanical work.

Its kind of hard to tell from your post. it sounded like a blown clutch until you said it stopped. Was the engine still running? I think you need to have someone you trust who knows cars look at it in person if possible.I wonder if you live near anyone on the board?

The description of the smell almost sounds like the timing belt and a siezed idler , tensioner, or water pump, but...

 

Any further clues on this one?

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