UKC

I was changing bulbs that had blown in the car yesterday and once I'd finished it seems to be struggling to keep enough revs to idle when you take it out of gear, hard to think that it's just a coincidence and I wondered if anyone had any ideas.

I changed 4 bulbs, once which involved taking the battery out. Basically the problem is if I'm driving along, pull to a stop and take it out of gear then the revs go really low and the engine judders, sometimes with a bit of belt squeel (it's always squeeled a little bit when taking off doing slow manouvers/parking). I've also noticed that if I take it out of gear and then turn the steering wheel full lock it's more likely to stall than if I just take it out of gear without moving the steering wheel...hopefully that's a clue for someone who knows about these things!

It's a 2005 petrol Subaru outback, any help much appreciated.

In reply to Sharp:

They do that, after a couple of times driving the computer should re-learn the correct idle speed (my Forester does o.k). The older the car the worse the problem as the default settings are further away from the ones an old engine needs.
Or reset the ECU like this ( a copy and paste from elsewhere):-

when you have an hour you can spend doing this when the engine is STONE COLD...
make sure ALL the accessories are OFF....no tunes,.....no AC.....no lights...NOTHING on....EVERYTHING OFF
take the battery NEG off and let the car sit for at LEAST 10 minutes
reconnect battery SECURELY
reach in and put the key in the ignition....DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE PEDAL AT ALL
turn the key to the 'RUN' position for no less than 10 REAL seconds!!!!....that is the last 'click' before the starter starts...DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE PEDAL AT ALL
for MT cars, push the clutch pedal in...for AT cars, push the brake pedal.....DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE PEDAL AT ALL
turn the key and let the car start...this may take longer than usual...DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE PEDAL AT ALL
get out of the car and let the engine idle for AT LEAST 20 MINUTES or until the fans come on....DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE PEDAL AT ALL
turn the car off AND TAKE THE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION for at least 30 seconds.....DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE PEDAL AT ALL
put the key back in and start the car again..... DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE PEDAL AT ALL
drive the car how you normally would......

In reply to Sharp:

This is a very common Subaru problem after battery replacement. Apparently it is the CPU re-learning mixtures etc.. some people say it self fixes, others need dealer help.

In reply to Sharp:

This should help.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2382568

Though why you didn't google it like I did, rather than ask for help on a climbing forum beats me!

In reply to Oceanrower:


Well I learnt something about this car without doing any search just click and read

In reply to all:

Thanks for everyones help. I'll give it a few days and see if it improves. It's strange that I've had the battery out a few times before and it's not had this reaction.

jimtitt, I can't help but wonder...what happens if you push the throttle!

Oceanrower, ukc is full of mechanics! My bacons been saved a few times from people being kind enough to offer advice here and I know I'm not alone in that!

In reply to Sharp:



The computer is searching for suitable settings for idle speed both cold and warm and in between, if you give it a bootfull then it stops that search and looks for a suitable settings for rapid acceleration. It´s fairly important the idle speed is correct particularly with an automatic
You can avoid problems next time either by connecting a small 9V battery across the terminals or you can buy a gadget that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and takes one of those 9V square cells.