I have a 2003 Forester XS with a manual transmission.

 

Been have an problem that happend about 50% of the time. When I remove my foot from the accelerator (as in traffic), the engine/drive train winds down smoothly. But half the time, the drive train seems to jerk (drop in rpm) much like an older car with bad universal joints being put into reverse. The problem seems to be getting worse but the dealer has been no help in finding this problem.

 

Has anyone seen this problem before? Any suggestions.

 

Thanks...

can you describe it any better? "it seems to drop in RPM's"...does it actually drop, does your tach do anything, do you feel any vibrations, any other noises? it only does it when it's in gear and decelerating? the clutch is performing just fine, travel is normal?

 

bad ujoints usually are audible and vibrate as well, particularly as they get worse.

In reply to "grossgary"...

 

What happens when I remove my foot from the gas (and not depress the clutch) is that you feel a jerk much like you would feel with gear lash. As I said what normally happens is that the car decelerates smoothly but here I can actually feel what seems to be play in the drive train.

 

It's quite noticeable when in stop and go traffic or on windy country roads where you are freqently taking your foot off the gas when approaching a curve.

 

The problem is that it only does it about half the time.

Universal joints dont go in a sooby untill your way past 100,000 miles. i'm wondering if you have a bad motor mount or suspension bushing someplace. Maybe (longshot) a flaky IAC valve?

 

does it happen uon a cceleration, deceleration or cruising. Does the angle of the road ahve any affect? What condition are your cv joints in?

 

 

nipper