My first foray into this arena...hello! I have read with interest some of the comments/problems folk have been having with MY99 cars. I've done 1,500 miles in mine and still get a very noticeable "hunting" when starting from cold for the first few miles. It's not bad, more of a nuisance - and reminds me of old cars once owned with carbs where fuel flow was a problem. Otherwise, when warm, the car drives well, although I concur with other observations that they do not like having the accelerator floored (though this was less noticeable in my MY95!). I did think the "hunting" was solely due to the newness of the engine, but as it's still there, I'm led to believe that's not the case. Is there any reason I should be worried? Is a trip to the dealer with a furrowed brow in order?

David,
I have a 99 Turbo, it's done 1100 miles and I am not experiencing any of the problems that you seem be. I suggest that you take it to your dealer and get him to check it over.
Regards
Niv

Thanks. That's interesting. I did in fact query the "problem" at its 1,000 mile service and was assured that everything checked out on their systems. I couldn't argue - and it did seem like a "tight engine thing" to my non-mechanical brain. But then I'm not convinced the dealer's that good anyway - their solution to a heat shield noise on my MY95 was to tell me they'd fixed/replaced it, when what they did was remove it! I'm off to Scotland on Sunday for a 700 mile trip. I'll see what it's like after that. Thanks again. Regards, David.

Hi,

I do have the same problem on my 99 turbo, especially when cold. Car has 2500 miles, and was run-in more or less according to the instructions in the handbook.

It also occurs to a lesser degree when the car is warm, accelerating from low RPM, but in high gear (4th or 5th)

It is not the severe 5th gear engine cut-out described in another thread, but just as you say, the engine "hunts" with slightly noticable waves of power, rather than a smooth, linear response.

I am not worried though. Will at the first service ask to have the sparkplugs changed, and those coil thingy checked as well.

Best regards,

Jonas Hedvall

HELLO DAVID

My 99 impreza turbo is a left hand drive model and using 95 unleaded , have only
done 315 km so far , the "hunting" you
describe also occurs in my car when starting from cold ,however it is only minor.
I do hope that it will clear it self by first service.
The question remains as to the reason of such non linear acceleration,is it the octane rating?
should the fuel filter and plugs be replaced
as well??

LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR COMMENTS
HAPPY MOTORING

MY99 500 miles (first week)has the same problem for about the first 2 miles when cold. I'll mention this to my dealler to see what he says.

On the subject of temperatures. Why is there no oil temp gauge? I've just swapped from a 52,000 mile MGF VVC that had an oil temp gauge so you knew when it was OK to start really enjoying yourself. Can anyone reccommend a supplier of an oil temp gauge?

I had the same problem with my car (MY99 about 7500 Km).
When I had my car for service they found some gear-oil leaks.
After fixing it and refilling the missing oil it seems (few days now) that the problem disappeard.

Regarding the oil temperature - it is complicate adding this gauge since there is no oil temperature unit install only oil pressure.
Meanwhile you'll have to use the cooling temperature gauge.

Eran.

I have a WRX MY99 and have just reached 2100 miles in 4 weeks. In the last week I have noticed a slight misfire on starting from cold and occasional hunting until warm.

I'm running SUL so I think that answers one of your questions aziz. It also suffers from this "floored accelerator" problem so its not just UK cars.

Regards

Rob

I'm also having the same "hunting" problem with my new MY99 Standard WRX (2,400 miles), however it only lasts for a minute until the engine is at normal operating temp. Also, does it seem strange that all Australian WRX models have their first service at 12500km's or 7700 miles? And then every 12500km's after that.

At 1000 mile service my dealer said that the've had one other report of this on a MY99, but had not heard of anything from Subaru UK. Nothing logged on the ECU fault memory.

Now with 2000+ miles, the car spent it's first night outside when staying away from home this weekend. Next morning I start the car and driver off nice a calmly as usual and guess what - no hunting or misfire!

Question. Are all cars that appear to hunt/misfire for the first few minutes in the morning safely stored away in a garage overnight?

I've just started to experience this hunting (or at least, just started to notice it http://bbs.sidc.co.uk/smile.gif ) and yes, my car is garaged overnight. Next time it's left out I'll make a point of checking to see if it hunts

MY99 with RamAir & B&C exhaust, by the way.

Yet more interesting observations! I don't think it's anything to with being garaged or not. Either way, I still get that irritating hunting for the first couple of miles. Nor is it the octane - I've tried both with no change. Even long trips (I ended up doing 1,500 miles!) makes no difference. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that it's a quirk of the car. After 3,500 miles, it's just the same. The only thing I can record is that sometimes the hunting is more noticeable, but there's no obvious pattern (weather, fuel, time of day etc etc). The rest of the time the car's superb which is why I'm living with it until a) someone comes up with a definitive answer that's curable; b) it goes in for it's 7.5K service in a couple of months or less. Sounds to me like there are a number of cars suffering the same (minor) fate - local dealers aren't the answer, so Subaru should get on the case. Do they subscribe to SIDC's bulletin board or is a letter in order highlighting the concerns of a number of us?

David

I went to a Dyno run at Power Eng on Saturday and spoke to several people about this problem. Everybody seems to think it could be something to do with the cold running settings possibly being too rich-overchoked which could explain the misfire.

I spoke to David Hendry Cars today and they couldn't offer an explanation but are going to change a sensor on my WRX to see if that does anything. I will let you know what happens.

I don't agree that its a quirk of the car and think you should perhaps have another go at your dealer, try muttering JD Power at him.

Regards

Rob

I have a MY99 and have the same problems as described above.

Bash

Thanks for that Rob. Over-rich cold settings certainly *sounds* feasible. Unfortunately I just don't have time right now to get it booked in for this - it'll have to wait until the service. But I'll certainly flag up that thought then.

Regards

David

Probably irrelevant, but my Lotus Esprit has a similar idle speed boost at low engine temps as the Subaru, and also suffers from the same hunting until warm (my MY99 also does this).

The Esprit's fault is well known - it happens at a particular combination of outside temperature and engine temp, but clears once the engine warms up or the outside temp gets cooler !

Seems like the ECU logic does not have a smooth "ramp" either side of fast idle and so when the temperatures are right on the changeover point the speed varies for a while.

Russ

I do not think you will get any joy from dealers in sorting out the hunting and hesitation problem. I have had Subaru (UK) Technical involved three times on this problem, including them test driving the car (MY97), all without improvement. Even if they agree nicely with you they finish off by saying "no fault found".
Clearly a large number of cars are affected. Its obvious the cause is not a faulty component, but an undesirable built-in characteristic. A number of us need to get together and complain jointly to get some action. The large number of replies on this subject is evidence enough of dissatisfaction. A few years ago Ford had a similar sort of problem with 'drivability' of Escorts. There were enough complaints that they had to modify the ECU program. It solved the problem.

I have had my MY99 for 2 months now & I've covered 2700 miles. Mine is lumpy for the first 2-3 miles & then settles down. It sometimes seems a bit short of power when overtaking etc and occasionally seems to lose boost when driving round town with a steady throttle. Lavender Hill & Lancaster Seven Oaks have not heard of any 99 problems, so they cannot read any threads on this site.

I put it into Ace for the front windows not closing properly, clicking noise from brakes when reversing ( it needed new pads) and the power loss.

I worry about some dealers knowledge as when I picked the car up I was told they reset the ECU. They informed me that the ECU is not reset when the battery is taken off. In my case 6 hours to fit new CD/ Header. It has made no difference & I'm not sure if a rolling road will pick it up as my lack of grunt is when overtaken. It's still quick, but not as fast as the MY98 I tested with 800 miles. It does fly when I launch it from standing with a good few revs.

It has gott better with miles, so I'm hoping things will improve. I also run on NUL.

Not sure what to do now?

We have the only factory Subaru diagnostic ECU tool in the country outside the dealer network. (And we suspect very few dealers have this, as they mostly have a fault code reader). It is astonishing what it will do and records faults in real time so we can play them back. We can also make adjustments within the software.

I cannot promise to sort it but incorrect mapping is a possibility as are a number of other things.

We (POWER ENGINEERING) would be happy to look "inside" the ECU to see if we can improve matters.

A last point, we have experienced some problems of the oil from oil impregnated foam air filters getting on the hot wire air flow sensor and giving confusing outputs to the ECU.

Lou,

When starting from a completely cold engine and then driving off with a pretty light right foot (because the engines cold) if your car is "hunting" i.e. looking for the correct balance of all the necessary settings to keep the engine running smoothly, you will feel this in the car as if you are jabbing at the throttle - the car will make uneven and jerky, or perhaps stuttery a better word, progress as the ECU keeps changing the settings.

I timed how long this went on for yesterday evening after leaving work (where the car is garaged) and was quite surprised to find that it took over 4 minutes to settle down - about the same time that the water temp took to reach its normal operating level.

Julian

thanks for that. I don't seem to have the problem. My car is garaged overnight.

Interestingly, 4 mins for your water to heat up seems slow compared to mine. This morning I took the car out of the garage, left it running whilst I went back into it get the rubbisg for the dustmen, took it back in when I realised that it was the wrong day and by the time I got to the end of the road, the water temperature was up to speed. Took about a minute and a half!

Lou

Sorry if I am being a bit thick, but I'm not too familliar with some motoring jargon. The only hunting I know should be banned.

However, being the proud owner of a MY99 for 1 week I would like to know what I should be looking for. Would someone be kind enough to explain to this poor simpleton what it is exactly.

Lou

4 minutes is about the time that the water temperature adder map works on the fuel map. This means that it multiplies the normal fuel map by a calculation based on water temperature. EG at 10C water add 25% fuel to main fuel map then at 20C add 20% etc.etc. until about 65C no adder is used. This is why a garaged car will be better. If this calculation is not quite correct then it will be too rich which causes hunting.
It is a very difficult thing to find in the software and even more difficult to understand and then even more difficult again to change accurately. I can try to find it in the 1998 mapping and see what I can do and then as we crack the 99 software see if I can combine a new coolant map with the power upgrade which we are working on.

Is it possible that the fuelling is too weak rather than too rich? I could understand if emission requirements meant that Subaru had to limit the required fuel enrichment during the warm-up cycle. But why should it be too rich?

I believe the hunting never completely goes away, even when warm. You can sometimes still just feel it in low gears at about the some engine speed.

It may be so simple as to sound stupid but I have a MY99 and having gone through all the different bits n' bobs with the main dealer he specifically said "When starting don't put your foot on the accelerator, then give it a good few minutes to warm up before driving, at least till the temperature needle is off C".
So I have followed this simple rule to the best of my ability and the only time I had the "Hunting" you refer to was the day I hadn't followed the rules.
I know the car has a self assessing ECU which constantly checks and double checks fuel octain etc which effectively means if you use Super Unleaded instead of Premium, it's not a problem.

I hope that we are on the right track to getting this solved?

MY99 2,800 miles, same problem (or niggle).
Car tends to surge slightly at constant motor way speed (70 to 80) and some times feels hesitant particularly when cold.