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Just could not help it :0)
Vitaly
Greg
BTW - you are very polite.
Within the last week, we started noticing substantial hesitation in the vehicle’s acceleration. I thought it might be something in the fuel line, but never guessed it would be as bad as it is.
The dealership told me (and I went down there because I had to see it for myself) that there is some sort of gray residue built up on the inside of the gas tank, which residue has made its way through the gas tank fuel filter, through the fuel pump, through the fuel lines, through the fuel filter, into the injectors and most likely (although we'd have to take the head off to be sure) into the cylinders. The dealership is saying this isn't a warranted item because it’s a result of bad fuel.
I'm in Pittsburgh, PA. The guy at the dealership said that he sees this in all types of cars fairly often because of the fuel that we get in this part of the country and this part of the state. I think the guy is yanking my chain, but if you know this to be true, please set me straight.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of residue build up in a Subaru or any other car? If so, is it expected with just over 11K mi?
Also, even though this may be caused by the fuel, isn’t the whole point of the gas tank filter and the fuel filter to “filter” out these impurities??? Assuming I’m correct, wouldn’t this then become a warranted problem because the two filters failed to do their job?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Did you actually see the mess for yourself?
The filters will stop any harmful solids or particles, for sure. In fact, they will get clogged up rather than let stuff pass through. About the only thing they can't stop are liquids. Is the gray stuff liquid or solid?
Craig
I did see the goop for myself. The residue on the inside of the tank is like a puddy or clay, and when exposed to the air, it dries out just like puddy or clay. I don't know if it is ever in liquid form, but I presume it has to be or it wouldn't have been able to make it through the filters.
You can clearly see the clay-like substance on the outside of the fuel tank filter, and can also see it built up on the inside of the EGR / gas recirculation filter.
Very strange stuff.
I'm not familiar with the last filter you speak of -- the EGR would recirculate exhaust gasses back into the intake for emissions, but I don't know if Subaru even uses one on the 2.5.
There should be a screen in the gas tank and then a cannister filter in the engine bay, that's it. So I guess the gray goop made it past the engine bay filter??
I'd be tempted to have them clean out the tank, put new filters in, and then see if you can clean everything out with a few tanks of gas. Being careful where you get gas, of course! If that doesn't work, I guess new injectors are in order, and then who knows what.
I think this is probably going to amount to bad luck. Any chance you can go back to the gas stations where you fueled up recently and get some samples to analyze? If anyone is responsible, I would say it's the gas station.
Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
Craig
Good thing I am making progress on the Subaru Buck savings. I still don't see anything in the Subaru lineup that I like better than the Forester. Maybe when the 7 passenger comes out, or the reworked Baja (hint, hint SOA).
John
Vitaly, I'm curious, are Australian Foresters assembled in Japan? How about OBs and Imprezas? Have a nice day too.
'24 Chevy Blazer EV 2LT
I would change out the fuel filter, at a minimum. I'd also use a can of Techron. That may not be enough, to be honest.
As for "bad fuel", well, our Mazda 626's fuel system got clogged up, too. We spent $500 on a full throttle-body service. The engine was hesitating like a dog, but felt like new after the cleaning.
Funny thing? We used premium fuel only, 93 octane exclusively. I was miffed, as you can imagine.
So get the throttle body service, that's more likely to resolve the problem. But also change the fuel filters, I think there are two actually.
-juice
Thanks,
Donn
If the dealer is charging you only $10, you can be sure those are not going to be platinum, you'd probably be paying closer to $30-40 from a dealer for platinum. Subaru was probably trying to cut cost at the expense of more maintenence, but I don't think people would've been happy with paying over $130 for a spark plug change either, even if it was less frequently.
Steve, Host
All Subarus in AUS fully assembled in Japan.
If I did confuse you with my previous post, please ignore it. I was just being silly. Hope other members will be able to help you with your 4AT Gear Changes problem.
Vitaly
Sierratrip
On my 15K service, I changed the oil and filter but told them "to complete the 15K inspection." Bad decision. The bill was $209, but what got to me were things like wiper blades changes that anyone can do, and they did so without checking for wear on them(negligible)or even consulting me as I sat in the waiting room.
As for the platinum tips, I would pay $130 for their changeout as opposed to $90 for the regular plugs if they will last twice longer. But you can bet I'll be removing the side airboxes, etc, at 60K to replace them, this time with a set of platinum tips ready. As they say, "its the labor, stupid!"
There is a list of recommended items for each service interval, and the service writer went through it with me this time (and gave me a copy). I know a dealer needs to make a living, but I felt a little violated on the 15K service.
I am also suffering from a small problem. When I replace my pickup, I want either an XT or a WRX wagon in the rally blue. Any chance that I could get the XT in the rally blue? It is the closest color to my old subaru's color (cosmic blue i believe).
Anyone here have or had any old subarus here. Stories and rememberances are more than welcome. I mean pre-legacy and loyale. I really miss my old soobydo or u-ar-a-bus as some of you may have called them. My wifes forester is a big step in the right direction but I need one for myself to truly be happy. Driving it only on the weekends is making me thirsty for more somewhat like pretzels.
Please forgive the misc. ramblings above. Daydreaming while typing can be dangerous.
Regards,
Kyle
Subaru fan since 1981 and I'm only 30 at that
PS. Does SOA headquarters in Cherry Hill give tours at all? I would like to go and visit sometime since I live only a 1/2 hour away.
don't worry, you didn't put me to confusion. Thanks for the info. I am just curious why FHI can't bring an excellent 2,5 FXT or Legacy 2,5 GT here in Russia, if they assemble the same for Australia and for some other markets.
I suppose it is because of FHI market research results. There are many different factors: Government Duties on import, currency exchange rates, tariff, everage consumer demand....etc.
BTW, believe it or not, New Zealand is one of the first countries to get new Subaru models, like Legacy GT. And it is, as you know, small country with relatevely small market.
Maybe someone else on this board would be able to share their thoughts on this.
Vitaly
The car import system in New Zealand allows "Grey Imports" of cars direct from other countries, not passing through the normal distributors' channels. Shipment time from Japan is a matter of weeks. That means that desirable variants of cars from Japan quickly turn up in New Zealand, sometimes within weeks of their Japanese release. The grey importer reaps a premium price for the cars they import and quickly soaks up the demand for these vehicles. The normal distributor is left with the problem of supplying parts for vehicles they never imported.
To get around this problem, FHI gives the NZ market first chance at the juicy new Subaru models as they come out.
A secondary benefit for FHI is the chance to test product variants in a comparatively small foreign market where stuff-ups in specification will not be too serious, before releasing them onto Subaru's bigger markets. I think, after USA that Australia is Subaru's second biggest market so we see things a bit after Japan and New Zealand. It seems funny to me though when I fly into New Zealand and see variants of the Subarus that never made it to the big Australian market.
Cheers
Graham
The only Rally Blue (OEM) Forester that I've seen is the upcoming JDM Forester STi.
-Dennis
They're a good value, I've seen them for $22k and change. And even though it's not truly fast, it still outruns the Santa Fe V6, Xterra V6, and Liberty V6, so it's no slouch.
-juice
I've asked my dealer/salesman if it will interfere with airflow into the hood scoop. Obviously, the last thing I want to do is burn up the turbo. The salesman said that the hood deflector would not stop air from going into the hood scoop.
I researched this issue on the yahoo forester group site, and saw one member's post that indicated his dealer/salesman told him that the deflector would interfere with air flow into the scoop.
Then, another member in the yahoo group commented that if Subaru makes a deflector for the hood of the XT, the company must have taken the turbo hood scoop into account when it designed the deflector.
So, I've searched the postings on this group site. I saw one earlier post that said a hood deflector was not available for the XT, and a response to that post which said it made sense that there was no deflector for the XT, because it would surely interfere with airflow into the scoop.
But I'm told that there is a deflector made by Subaru for the XT. I went to allsubaru.com and found that the hood deflector for the '04 XT has its own separate item number and is listed separately from the deflectors for other years and trim lines. Does this mean that a special hood deflector has been designed with the hood scoop in mind?
I've only had my XT for 6 days now. I'd like to have the dealer install the deflector before there are any chips in the paint. I wouldn't be so obsessed if there wasn't a risk of burning up the turbo.
And on the paint protection issue -- my dealer offered (for a price, of course) to treat the entire exterior finish of my XT with some kind of teflon coating/protectant. Has anyone heard of or used it? Does it work?
Thanks for the help and patience with such a long posting!
What about a clear protection film like some people use? Seems to give you the protection without cutting air flow to the intercooler.
-juice
-Frank P.
BTW, owing to the fact that we also have "Grey" importers over here, I can see on our streets such beautiful vehicles as Infinity FX 35/45, Acura MDX or Hummer.
Someone has given you misinformation. You could completely block off the XT's hood scoop without increasing the risk of burning up your turbocharger. The turbocharger is not cooled by scoop air to any significant extent; it is liquid-cooled with engine coolant and engine oil. The sole purpose of the hood scoop is to flow air through the intercooler tubes and fins to extract compression heat from induction air before it's ingested by the engine. The intercooler is downstream of the turbocharger. Whether or not the intercooler gets its airflow will have no effect on the turbocharger, one way or the other.
This is not to say that airflow through the scoop to the intercooler isn't important to proper engine operation and to getting maximum performance, but in no way does it affect whether or not the turbocharger would "burn out".
-Brian
This is exactly what they said:
The accessory hood protector (Part number: SOA930P004) was designed with the Forester XT (and the hood scoop) in mind. We are confident that this accessory will not interfere with the airflow or performance of your vehicle.
Thanks for the help.
Thank you for comprehensive info on NZ Market
Vitaly
-Dennis
As I’ve mentioned before there are many factors, why some markets get better deals than the others – it is all driven by profits of the supplier (all though it does not make any sense to consumer).
I’ll give you an example:
In airline industry, airliner may own an aircraft, but not necessarily own an engine (or engines) fitted to it. It is because during maintenance engines are being changed.
Some spare engines are being leased from other companies and countries. When lease is signed, sometime (for one reason or another – I don’t want to go there), there is a close to it – that this particular engine can not fly to certain countries.(We are not talking about hostile countries - in most cases it is not political) If agreement is bridged – airline end up paying huge amount of tax (we are talking 100’s thousands dollars).
The reason I’ve brought this example is to show how weird all this business agreements could be.
I can not say for sure that similar things happening in automotive industry, but I certainly suspect it.
Vitaly
Market forces mean that the only imports that make it onto the grey market in New Zealanad are those "Sexy Beasts" that will attract sufficient price premium to make them economic. That means cars like the Forester GT and Legacy GT that might not otherwise have been imported to New Zealand.
Remember that New Zealand has only three million people (although 80 million sheep) and hence there is limited opportunities for their importer. Somehow,I can't see reliability being sexy enough to tip the buyers decision.
Cheers
Graham
Lots of complimentary adjectives apply to Foresters, but "sexy"?
-juice
Can you give me more details about this? The throttle on my wife's 03 XS is very touchy, and it would be great to get this fixed. The dealer had nothing to suggest on our last visit, so I adjusted the cable myself (which helped some but not a whole lot).
Craig
-juice
and a lot less free time.
Len