fjs1229
12-30-2009, 09:04 PM
Hi guys
I posted this on another forum (not a car specific one) and the first reply I got was: "My only advice that I can give ya is that you can check out www.dirtyimpreza.com (http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/../)
Most of these guys have a doctorate on their Subies so im pretty confident that they can help ya"
so here I am.
Anyway:
I'm not really a "car guy" so im going to give you as much info as I can so maybe you can help.
my girlfriend has been having a bit of trouble with her car lately, it's been to a couple different mechanics but the problem isn't fixed. Of course, other things got fixed, but the original issue is still there. FYI the car is a 1997 Subaru Impreza L Wagon AWD F4-2.2L
The car recently had a new clutch installed. Before the first clutch went it had no power up hills, and right before it went the car started doing this thing where it would stutter and buck like it was running out of gas when it had plenty. So she's on the highway, it starts bucking and the clutch pedal drops to the floor. It got fixed. Its an adjustable clutch and the mechanic says it'll need to be adjusted after about 1000 miles. This mechanic is up at our school in Vermont.
The car runs great for a while but sure enough it starts doing that bucking thing again. It's really intermittent, and we can't really pin down when and why it happens, but heres what we've got: It starts when you take your foot off the gas. Not everytime you take your foot off it, but seemingly randomly. Now, that's the stutter. Sometimes when you get back on the gas it'll start actually bucking. Sometimes it isn't too bad, sometimes it's pretty violent. It also seems to be worse on hills, although it's happened on flat roads as well. It's not connected to a specific gear, but sometimes only one gear is tempermantal. On the highway the other day it was doing it in 5th and 4th. The lower gears were fine. Another time it was doing it in 2nd but 3rd was smooth. Once it would NOT stop bucking in 3rd, but drove ok in 2nd.
It drove home to Mass without much problem, a little temperamental but no serious bucking. We brought it to my family's mechanic and said the clutch needed to be adjusted, since it was around 1k miles since it was added. Since the bucking happened right before the clutch went we figured it was related. He drives it and of course has no problems with it, then we talk to him and tell him about the bucking, how it usually starts on hills, etc. He takes it out again and goes up some hills and says everything is fine. Didn't touch a thing (and didn't charge us for his wasted time, thankfully).
We drive it to her house in southern mass. We're near her house when it starts bucking really hard in 5th and 4th. We get right off the highway and it's bucking in 3rd and a little in 2nd. We pull into a parking lot and sit for a while thinking about what to do. We drive it in 1st and 2nd through the parking lot after a while and it's fine, so we go home and it has no issues in 3rd gear (we went through town instead of on the highway, just incase)
We bring it to her mechanic at home. He loosens the wire (or whatever it is) on the clutch a little and does a bunch of front end work (struts, other stuff. Honestly im not really sure, her dad didn't tell us everything that was wrong, but apparently it was "a lot of stuff")
Anyway, the ****ing thing still bucks and we're both really worried about it. The bucking is so violent it seems like it could definitely be doing some damage. We're at my house and we still have to go back down to her house and then back up to vermont for school and really dont want to be broken down on the side of the highway.
Im looking at a "demo" list of TSBs for the car, but I cant access the full bulletin without registering at the site. I was wondering if anyone has access to them and could help out.
These ones caught my eye:
166297 MAY 97 Transfer Clutch - Binding And/Or Bucking On Turns (Im not sure if it happens specifically when the car is turning, but it might?)
TT0101-001 JAN 01 Engine - Oil Pump Replacement vs. Resealing (really not sure)
Does anyone have any other insight? Maybe other parameters to look at next time (and there WILL BE a next time) it starts doing it to get a better idea?
I posted this on another forum (not a car specific one) and the first reply I got was: "My only advice that I can give ya is that you can check out www.dirtyimpreza.com (http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/../)
Most of these guys have a doctorate on their Subies so im pretty confident that they can help ya"
so here I am.
Anyway:
I'm not really a "car guy" so im going to give you as much info as I can so maybe you can help.
my girlfriend has been having a bit of trouble with her car lately, it's been to a couple different mechanics but the problem isn't fixed. Of course, other things got fixed, but the original issue is still there. FYI the car is a 1997 Subaru Impreza L Wagon AWD F4-2.2L
The car recently had a new clutch installed. Before the first clutch went it had no power up hills, and right before it went the car started doing this thing where it would stutter and buck like it was running out of gas when it had plenty. So she's on the highway, it starts bucking and the clutch pedal drops to the floor. It got fixed. Its an adjustable clutch and the mechanic says it'll need to be adjusted after about 1000 miles. This mechanic is up at our school in Vermont.
The car runs great for a while but sure enough it starts doing that bucking thing again. It's really intermittent, and we can't really pin down when and why it happens, but heres what we've got: It starts when you take your foot off the gas. Not everytime you take your foot off it, but seemingly randomly. Now, that's the stutter. Sometimes when you get back on the gas it'll start actually bucking. Sometimes it isn't too bad, sometimes it's pretty violent. It also seems to be worse on hills, although it's happened on flat roads as well. It's not connected to a specific gear, but sometimes only one gear is tempermantal. On the highway the other day it was doing it in 5th and 4th. The lower gears were fine. Another time it was doing it in 2nd but 3rd was smooth. Once it would NOT stop bucking in 3rd, but drove ok in 2nd.
It drove home to Mass without much problem, a little temperamental but no serious bucking. We brought it to my family's mechanic and said the clutch needed to be adjusted, since it was around 1k miles since it was added. Since the bucking happened right before the clutch went we figured it was related. He drives it and of course has no problems with it, then we talk to him and tell him about the bucking, how it usually starts on hills, etc. He takes it out again and goes up some hills and says everything is fine. Didn't touch a thing (and didn't charge us for his wasted time, thankfully).
We drive it to her house in southern mass. We're near her house when it starts bucking really hard in 5th and 4th. We get right off the highway and it's bucking in 3rd and a little in 2nd. We pull into a parking lot and sit for a while thinking about what to do. We drive it in 1st and 2nd through the parking lot after a while and it's fine, so we go home and it has no issues in 3rd gear (we went through town instead of on the highway, just incase)
We bring it to her mechanic at home. He loosens the wire (or whatever it is) on the clutch a little and does a bunch of front end work (struts, other stuff. Honestly im not really sure, her dad didn't tell us everything that was wrong, but apparently it was "a lot of stuff")
Anyway, the ****ing thing still bucks and we're both really worried about it. The bucking is so violent it seems like it could definitely be doing some damage. We're at my house and we still have to go back down to her house and then back up to vermont for school and really dont want to be broken down on the side of the highway.
Im looking at a "demo" list of TSBs for the car, but I cant access the full bulletin without registering at the site. I was wondering if anyone has access to them and could help out.
These ones caught my eye:
166297 MAY 97 Transfer Clutch - Binding And/Or Bucking On Turns (Im not sure if it happens specifically when the car is turning, but it might?)
TT0101-001 JAN 01 Engine - Oil Pump Replacement vs. Resealing (really not sure)
Does anyone have any other insight? Maybe other parameters to look at next time (and there WILL BE a next time) it starts doing it to get a better idea?