hey mate,

is it kinda like bunny-hopping but not (if you know what i mean)
for example, in fourth gear and the revs are at roughly 1500 - 1800 and you hit the accelerator? i get it in mine if i try and accelerate too fast when the revs are low, feels like it is struggling but shouldn't be?
my liberty struggles in 4th doing 50km when previous cars, non subaru, could do that easily......


same problem?

McDakk wrote:

Has anyone heard of this kind of thing & have any advice as to what it could be? Am I explaining this properly!?

Has the car had a decent service since you bought it? New spark plugs, air filter, some upper engine cleaner might make it a bit smoother.

beeg;130960 wrote:

my liberty struggles in 4th doing 50km when previous cars, non subaru, could do that easily......

Should have bought a 2.5 :grin:

Auto/Manual??

I'd take it for a burn after the service, if its due soon it may well be related. Maybe mention it at the time, but it'd be interesting to see if it goes away after the service.

beeg;130966 wrote:

mine is manual, so when it happens, i just drop it down a gear

i just annoys me

What RPM does this happen at?

beeg wrote:

Xon,
previous cars have been 1.8L and done nothing like this

its due for a service in roughly 1000k's, so il let them know bout it


if anyone has any ideas feel free to let us know..

That really surprises me because the Liberty is the first 4 cylinder car I've ever driven that is anything other than completely useless below 2,000 rpm, and I don't think the torque difference between the 2.5 and 2.2 is THAT big.
Is yours an automatic? Because the automatic loses a LOT more grunt through the drivetrain than an auto...

ok this is my 2c with no mechanical experience, but sounds like it could be an issue with not getting enough fuel, as you said it's happening when you push the engine under heavy load.

someone up there said plugs, filters, etc and you might find it goes away

Wow! Go to lunch & see what happens!

Mine's the 2.5 Manual & has the problem mainly in 2nd, 3rd & 4th. When I first got around to trying something to fix it I put Shell Helix Ultra (Ultimate?) oil, new oil filter & new air filter... This made the car a lot smoother generally, but didn't take away the 'bumpy ride'. It's not like a mis-fire or an engine-smoothness issue to me - it's like the diff is slipping or something in the drive-train(s) isn't right.

Probably a real tricky thing to explain too!

Another thing - when it's doing it - it sometimes feels like it's kinda 'surging'... Like the gear is engaging 'properly' & the car leaps forward. It might sound far worse than it actually is, but it's a damn annoying problem & something I'm sure any of you guys would notice if you were behind the wheel.

My wife? Doesn't know what I'm talking about when she drives it & I'm sitting there going "See!? Feel THAT!?" - all I get is "I think you're nuts!"

AshR;130977 wrote:

I know that feeling,

it's like the little "click" when you engage the cruse control, my GF can't notice it... girls hey?

Yup! She likes the colour though!


:man_in_lo

As above, does it happen at all rpm, or just low rpm?

CRUISN;131089 wrote:

My 2.2 manual does the same. I put it down to low revs and too much awd drive system drag on the motor.

Only happens at low speeds in a tall gear, eg if you put the foot down doing 50 kms/h in 5th.

I just change down, afew more revs and she's off.

Welcome to OzLiberty too.

Thanks Cruisn!

Nope - mine does it at low revs & up to about 4 or 5k... It's particularly noticeable going uphill through 2nd & 3rd gear anywhere in the rev range & anywhere between 10km/hr & 100km/hr.

Sitting in 4th at 60k's on more-or-less flat road also does it, but not as noticeably. (At 60k's in 4th the RPM is usually about 2500-2800 - is that normal?)

Cheers guys!

WhiteRX;131131 wrote:

I'm not sure why focus has not been drawn to a slipping clutch?

My money says that your clutch is on it's way out.

From your descriptions and my experience, they are classic worn clutch symptoms... Unless this is some weird GENII characteristic!

Thanks RX...

I did actually think of that, but have driven cars with a slipping clutch & gradually the travel of the clutch pedal gets less & less until you have nothing.... This isn't doing that at all - the clutch *feels* the same today as it did 4 months ago. The previous owner (had the Subie for sale on OZLiberty, actually!) told me the clutch had been replaced at 150k, so I'm hoping that's not what it is!

It's definitely something I'll be looking into when I can afford a decent service, though!

XoN;131178 wrote:

The gen2 has a hydraulic clutch setup that I *think* is self adjusting, which is why you won't notice the clutch pedal dropping any.
Also because of the AWD, if the previous owner did a lot of launches (traffic light grand prix or the drags) the clutch can burn out reaaalll fast!

Thanks for the info, XoN... I'll look into that.

Not sure if the previous owner was too hard on the car (can never really tell unless there's obviious signs I guess), but I'd be surprised if there was any traffic light grand prix - the thing gets beaten off the mark by my mum's 1.8 stock Corolla!

McDakk;136739 wrote:

Ladies & gents I think I've solved it!!!

After many weeks of reading & researching on OzLiberty & the 'net in general, I decided it was likely the AFM needing a clean.

What clicked for me was the fact that the previous owner had a K&N air filter, which I'd replaced a couple of weeks back anyway. I didn't put two-and-two together until late last week that the K&N was probably causing the AFM probe to be coated with oil.


AFM cleaned with electronic contact cleaner & swooooiiiitt!

:beach:

lol makes sense, good thing it was a simple fix