Acceleration hesitation on my BE

[Lostagain]

I've got an '01 Limited Outback Sedan. It has 46,000 miles and it is pretty well pristine. I've noticed that sometimes when I make fast and drastic hits on the accelerator pedal I get about a second long flat spot. It doesn't fall on it's face but it's like all the power isn't there for a second and then it shows up. The previous owner kept all of the maintenace records and one of the times she had it at the dealer the report shows she was complaining about a hesitation and it says they flashed the ecu. I'm wondering if that was actually fixed at that time. Anyone else have the same problem. It happens kind of randomly. Hot or cold. Sometimes it does it from a dead stop and some times it will do it when going from quarter to full throttle. I jumped out in front of an oncoming car at a light last week and it did it and I almost got creamed. I'm a little worried about it...

[gefinley]

Is it an AT or an MT?

[Lostagain]

AT. It's not a trans thing if that is what you are getting at. Not slipping or bad shifting. This usually all takes place in 1st gear. I mostly notice it at speeds less than 5 mph but I've noticed it at higher speeds it just doesn't have the impact. By the way, this is not something that happens frequently. I may notice it a few times a week at the most. But then again, I only drive the car about 100 miles or so a week at the most.

[pdawg]

It's a 4eat, thing get use to it. sorry I'm in the same boat.

[gefinley]

Our '06 Forest has an AT and there's a pause before the power comes when accelerating hard from a stop, but it's never felt as long as a second. I've haven't liked any AT I've driven because of things like this, Subaru or otherwise.

[Lostagain]

Thanks for the replies. I still think it is more engine than trans. Feels like the engine goes lean for a second. My Impreza with the same trans didn't do anything like this. It had it's own set of problems...lol. I understand the weird shifts, low stall speed of the converter and the tall 1st gear that kind of makes the AT suck on most Subarus but overall I like them a lot more than most brands' ATs. I really liked the AT that was in my '93 Legacy. It had the true manual mode that worked great.

[_RM_]

My car does the same thing when starting from a stop or merging onto a highway whether the car is cold or not. When I full throttle, there is always a bit of lag between when my foot goes down and when the power gets delivered. Sometimes it's a result of the automatic transmission downshifting to give more power (especially merging onto highways) and when it's starting from a stop, giving it full throttle has a slight delay as well. It's a widespread issue I reckon but I think that's just how the 4EAT was designed (for more fuel economy, I'm thinking).

[sansMYSTi]

I get the same pause - it is an inherant 4EAT issue from what I understand.

[SPR]

the 01's arent drive by wire correct? other wise thats your problem lol. drive by wire sucks for so many reasons.

[deadlydave]

the 01's arent drive by wire correct? other wise thats your problem lol. drive by wire sucks for so many reasons.

'tis not that bad on mine. I didn't even know it was DBW until I opened the hood at the dealership.

Wouldn't mashing the gas spray fuel in and make the engine run rich for a split second, until enough air made its way into the engine?

[SPR]

the 01's arent drive by wire correct? other wise thats your problem lol. drive by wire sucks for so many reasons.

'tis not that bad on mine. I didn't even know it was DBW until I opened the hood at the dealership.

Wouldn't mashing the gas spray fuel in and make the engine run rich for a split second, until enough air made its way into the engine?

naa they arent always that bad, but some times bad enough, when i can slam my foot to the floor and release and the motor doesnt even twitch untill the peddle is all the way back out... thats bad enough for me. i like responsiveness lol.

[deadlydave]

...when i can slam my foot to the floor and release and the motor doesnt even twitch untill the peddle is all the way back out... thats bad enough for me. i like responsiveness lol.

Wow, that IS bad. Point taken. :smile:

[Mr. Sociable]

I get the same pause - it is an inherant 4EAT issue from what I understand.

Yup, my 4eat does it too.



Curses.

[rougeben83]

the 01's arent drive by wire correct? other wise thats your problem lol. drive by wire sucks for so many reasons.

Yeah, I think the DBW ones are in the 05+ Legacy's...the 2.5i's I know for sure, not sure about the LGT's. The 05"s maybe still throttle, but after that SI-drive thing got introduced Im pretty sure all of the LGT's became DBW as well.

[Lostagain]

the 01's arent drive by wire correct? other wise thats your problem lol. drive by wire sucks for so many reasons.

Nope, it's a cable thank God. My wife's Yota is DBW. I HATE it. The delay sucks and the ECU changes the throttle percent for the trans and the valve timing. It is always adjusting. I wouldn't care if it wasn't noticeable. I guess cable throttles will be a thing of the past too before long. It's a shame. I've had 2 DBW cars and didn't like either one.

[Lostagain]

the 01's arent drive by wire correct? other wise thats your problem lol. drive by wire sucks for so many reasons.

'tis not that bad on mine. I didn't even know it was DBW until I opened the hood at the dealership.

Wouldn't mashing the gas spray fuel in and make the engine run rich for a split second, until enough air made its way into the engine?

naa they arent always that bad, but some times bad enough, when i can slam my foot to the floor and release and the motor doesnt even twitch untill the peddle is all the way back out... thats bad enough for me. i like responsiveness lol.

LOL. I do that all the time in my wife's Toyota. If you are fast enough nothing happens at all. I can stomp it to the floor and release it real fast and it won't even budge. The part I hate the most is having to push the pedal like a 1/2 inch before anything happens and then it just jumps out whenever you get it down to a certain point. You won't get that from a cable. You can feel the slack coming out of the cable and you know when it is going to start going...