I've borrowed my sister's 97 Outback Auto 2.5l, for a couple of days, with a vew to maybe buying it. It's got 140,000 miles on the clock and had the head gaskets replaced about 10,000 miles ago. It's now running sweetly, and pulls like a train. One problem , the idle is RUFF. My sis has had it checked out by her local (trusted- 10yr+ relationship) mechanic, who says "they all do that". We all know the boxer is a bit rough at idle-yForester S-turbo misses the odd beat- but this is something different . When first fired up, it's pretty smooth, hot or cold, but once driven, and sitting in traffic ,it feels like it's firing on 3 pots. Then it will pull away ,smooth as silk.

Anyone got any ideas?

run some sea foam through the pcv valve maybe... ? That stuff is magic you know... got a cracked windshield... seafoam it... bad brakes? seafoam em... clutch burnt out? seafoam it... you get the point

I get the point, but we don't get sea foam here. Is it some form of Xylene-Toluene toxic nasty? If so I'll hunt for something similar, but there ain't anything here with such a fan club!

So i understand from Nipper that seafoam is the duct tape for Mcguyver. But for those outside USA, can you (Nipper) check what is inside the bottle of seafoam. I just got a Haynes manual so i can clean the PCV valve (had to find out how to remove it and clean it).