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Idle speed too high?

4K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  AndyVt 
#1 ·
I've owned my XT for 8 months now and it has always bothered me that the cold start idle speed is so high. My car idles at 1700 RPM when started first thing in the morning. Even restarts mid-day a few hours after driving it at lunch yield an idle speed up around 1200 RPM.

It does settle down to a normal 600 RPM idle after a short drive.

I've owned many fuel injected cars and none have idled that high when cold. Dealer says it's normal but I'd like more than their word.

Just another "Subaruism" or something I should be pushing them to adjust?

Thanks,

Mark
 
#2 ·
I think my XT is pretty similar. Lately (mornings in the upper 40's) it's been reving to about 1200-1500 RPM for about one minute. If I remember from last winter I think it would stay at around 1500 for a couple of minuted before droping down. I believe this is so that the engine can get warmed up and recirculate the oil.
 
#4 ·
non-turbo with same problem

Hi, I've got a 06 Outback 2.5i (not a turbo) and it does the same thing. Cold Start: Start car, drive 50 feet. Stop. With car in gear and clutch in, idle races to 2000 rpm, sometimes 2500 rpm. Idle drops to 500 rpm if I shift to neutral. As soon as I put the car back into gear, the idle races again. After 3-5 minutes, the car idles at the normal range (~500 rpm).

My dealer claims this is "normal operation." Has anyone had any luck getting a dealer to admit it is a problem and/or find a way to fix it. It can't be good for a cold engine to rev at such a high speed, can it?

Thanks.
Andy
 
#5 ·
Re: non-turbo with same problem

AndyVt said:
Hi, I've got a 06 Outback 2.5i (not a turbo) and it does the same thing. Cold Start: Start car, drive 50 feet. Stop. With car in gear and clutch in, idle races to 2000 rpm, sometimes 2500 rpm. Idle drops to 500 rpm if I shift to neutral. As soon as I put the car back into gear, the idle races again. After 3-5 minutes, the car idles at the normal range (~500 rpm).

My dealer claims this is "normal operation." Has anyone had any luck getting a dealer to admit it is a problem and/or find a way to fix it. It can't be good for a cold engine to rev at such a high speed, can it?

Thanks.
Andy
This is definitely not normal! Keep pushing them or go to the regional rep.
 
#6 ·
ncmark said:
I've owned my XT for 8 months now and it has always bothered me that the cold start idle speed is so high. My car idles at 1700 RPM when started first thing in the morning. Even restarts mid-day a few hours after driving it at lunch yield an idle speed up around 1200 RPM.

It does settle down to a normal 600 RPM idle after a short drive.

I've owned many fuel injected cars and none have idled that high when cold. Dealer says it's normal but I'd like more than their word.

Just another "Subaruism" or something I should be pushing them to adjust?

Thanks,

Mark
normal, my 98 does the same. my 91 honda did it too.
 
#8 ·
Thanks to FastSly and others who responded to my query about a 2500 rpm idle after a cold start on an 06 Outback 2.5i (not a turbo). I brought it to the dealer twice. They called the Subaru tech line both times and after the second time, with some gentle prodding by me to the service manager, I learned that "Yes Subaru has received other complaints about this problem" and there is "no field fix" for this problem. The service manager told me there is nothing they can do at present and that maybe there will be a Service Bulletin some time in the future.

Does anyone have experience reporting problems on new vehicles directly to Subaru? Should I send an email? Call the 800 number? Or just give up and live with it? Thanks!
--AndyVt
 
#10 ·
Hi, There are a few threads on this. If you search for "Phantom Rev" I think you will find the most complete thread. I did get resolution and am happy with my 06 OB Ltd 5 MT performance after they reflashed the ECU. Others have had success after reflashing and a few others haven't, as you will read. Good luck and let us know how you fare. Since our various messages were posted, I believe all Subaru Dealers were forced to buy a laptop that allows them to reflash ECUs at the dealer rather than having to ship them to the factory in Indiana. So you won't have to leave your car for two nights or anything like that, as I did back in March of 2006.
AndyVT
 
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