Official Turbo Stutter Complaint Petition

[reido]

Anything specific to ask the dealer about...such as a reference number for the reflash? Just because my dealer told me nothing was available as of December 07.

 

And I know I'm in a bit of the wrong place, but I'm assuming this works for the Outback Turbo, right?

[Richard B.]

Oh, one other thing....about dbrunone's post above-

I've never had 30 mpg on the highway! The BEST I've ever done is 26, and that's when I was on the spare tire not going more than 55 mph or flooring it.

 

 

my gf got 26.1 doing 70+ with cobb stage 1 map.

[dr_sharp]

my gf got 26.1 doing 70+ with cobb stage 1 map.

downhill.

[jp233]

I'll be signing the petition later tonight when I can get the VIN, I don’t have it in front of me. My 06 LGT has the stutter / bucking in varying degrees of annoyance. Most prominently when it's cold, and this is exacerbated by the fact that I live at the bottom of a steep, long hill so when the car is cold, have to give it extra gas to get up the hill.

 

The car went back to the dealer last week and they said "there is no re-flash available for the 2006 model". I think/know this is BS, and I even drove with a tech around the block to show him what it was doing. It is noticeable at WFO/WOT and also just feeding in gas in 2nd/3rd gears from 2000-3000 rpm. The stutter wasn't "terrible" with the tech in the car, but either way I expect better out of a 100% stock vehicle, with only 24,000 miles on the clock.

 

I sure as hell do not believe I should have to buy a $600-700 AccessPort just to try and cure this and make the car more driveable.

 

I'll try to get a case # but I bet the local stealership doesn't give a rats azz.

[nasiocks]

I'm begining to think the stutter I've been noticing is different that what this thread is about. Before I had the AP it would "buck" under 1/2 throttle when the car was cold (meaning just started, not winter cold). But that's gone now.

 

But the issue that I'm noticing now is when I'm cruising at a constant speed and the car jerks like I quickly tapped the brakes. It used to happen like once every other month. But just in the past week or so it's beeing doing it multiple times a day. Seems to happen more when it's really cold out, like 20's and lower.

 

I recently had a misfire on cyclinder 2 CEL and replaced the Fuel Injector. There are no Cels now.

 

Is the stutter I'm experiencing now bad for my car or just a nuisance?

[stewartg]

I'm begining to think the stutter I've been noticing is different that what this thread is about. Before I had the AP it would "buck" under 1/2 throttle when the car was cold (meaning just started, not winter cold). But that's gone now.

 

But the issue that I'm noticing now is when I'm cruising at a constant speed and the car jerks like I quickly tapped the brakes. It used to happen like once every other month. But just in the past week or so it's beeing doing it multiple times a day. Seems to happen more when it's really cold out, like 20's and lower.

 

I recently had a misfire on cyclinder 2 CEL and replaced the Fuel Injector. There are no Cels now.

 

Is the stutter I'm experiencing now bad for my car or just a nuisance?

Sounds like a bad MAF sensor or something, I'd have a mechanic check it out.

 

I experienced the same thing in my impreza when wiring in ecu piggbybacks. (Fun to try and repair at 3AM, outside, while visiting LA, with nothing more than a mini flashlight in your mouth, some electrical tape and scissors. Looking back, if a gang doesnt mug or shoot you/ the lapd will)

[Richard B.]

downhill.

 

 

from mukilteo to the seatac airport.

[07miata]

so yesterday, i went ahead and traded for a more practical sports car, 08 spec b. Dealer was trying to liquidate, so they paid bought out my mx5 lease, and i purchased a spec b qsm for 27.6 with a short shifter, tint, 1 years car wash, 2 years maintenance thrown in for good measure.

 

now onto the drive. Since the car's been on the lot since fred flintstone learned to drive, it had about 450 miles on the clock...and i figure it's "broken in" with test drives from many different texans over the last year. Anyway, WOT was met with hiccups and stutters at the aforementioned RPMs in this thread. My friend and I figured, the dealer probably gassed it up with 87 octane, but even after topping off with 93 from texas, it still has the problem. after a simple google search, it now looks like this is endemic in LGTs...

 

sigh...

[smokinduc]

I'm curious, could the stutter be caused by the unequal length headers/manifold? When you try to visualize the flow of exhaust it seems to make sense. Anybody have experience with equal length? I know you lose the rumble but no stutter is good too.

 

 

My opinion is the stutter is a lean surge. Since manufactures are concerned with MPG, the ECU is probaby calibrated a bit to the lean side, so under heavy acceleration the lean condition exacerbates itself. I had my ECU reflashed by the dealer. It did clear up the stutter, but seat of the pants tells me I lost performance. I think the best correction would be the Cobb AP. Thats the way I will go this spring after I replace my downpipe and mid section exhaust.

[schwartzki]

Well I cant add myself to the list since I have an 05 OBXT with 68k on the clock all stock, but since its outside warranty, the dealer wants 90 to flash it, and some reading here has shown me that it doesn't always fix the problem. Or does it?

 

But my shuddering starts at idle and can be felt in lower rpm pulls, but sometimes it always feels like it goes lean in one gear after pulling hard in another. Its annoying, and highway mpg is dismal, 5MT and I get 19.8 on the highway, its rated for 24, i would assume I would get better mileage.

[08specbsubie]

I just added mine to the list as today the service manage @ Subaru City told me "hmmm thats strange I've never had anyone complain about that and its probably my driving style" "and can you somehow reproduce this as our tech didnt notice anything on his test drive"

[YVRspecB]

Just FYI guys, the latest flash to fix this stutter problem was only released this year. My Stutter is completely gone and I have way more power and use less gas. Problem is actually caused by an overly rich fuel mixture. The new flash has basically uses the optimized JDM/European factory MAP. We can only speculate why the Northamerican flash was intentionally RICH, but problem is solved and with side benefits of better fuel economy and more power. Make sure to use 91 or 92 Octane, not higher. For some reason when I was using Chevron 94 the car would misfire quite a lot, experimented with all the different grades and brands; Shell or Esso 91/92 yielded the best results. Dunno if the fix is only for manual transmission LGT/SpecB. I know the Automatics still have a lot of stutter complaints. Good luck.

Just for reference, I get on avg 12.5/100km in the city and 8.2l/100km on the hwy, and I drive pretty spirited. Shell or Esso 91. My specB doesn't like Chevron for whatever reason. Reflashed at 10,445km and now at 14,880 without any stutter.

[stewartg]

Hmm, I wonder if US dealers will apply that flash or not. Since I totaled my Impreza last night I am going to need to take the Legacy in for a new battery, oil change, and the warranty issue with the oil feed. I will check with them as well about the new flash you mentioned. Do you have a reference number... Either work order or flash number.

 

I figure all that can be taken care of while im talking to my sales person about a new WRX.

[Siper2]

Sorry about the Impreza, stewartg.

 

 

YVRspecB, I guess I'll check My.Subaru.com to see if the recall is listed. I haven't read all through this thread yet. Bought my '05 a few months ago and I'm trying to get caught up on everything!

 

EDIT: Hmm nope, not listed, only one on the page for my car is #WVB12 for a radiator cooling fan relay, replaced 4/17/07.

[kenzo]

My mid-RPM stutter under hard acceleration was almost entirely fixed by the dealer reflash. It's barely detectable now.

[Siper2]

I apologize for re-hashing this, but the thread's pretty long...

 

Is it a slight to moderate hesitation/stutter under acceleration? Because I do notice something sometimes, say accelerating at low rpm in 3rd or 4th gear...

[jp233]

It's more noticeable at lower RPM on my 06 LGT, from 2-3K rpm. Yes, normally in 3rd gear but it'll happen in 2nd and even 1st if I'm gently enough with the throttle.

 

Dealer still says there "is no reflash available for the 2006". Maybe I'll get a different answer in a week or 3 whenever they replace the rear glass to try to fix the shitty radio interference.

[YVRspecB]

Hello all, I'm attaching the pdf file for the bulletin. This is a Subaru USA bulletin, for those in Canada, you can show the dealership this bulletin and it WILL crossreference to a Canadian bulletin for the same fix.

 

The Date of this bulletin is Sept 02, 2008.

 

From everything I've read on here, this is the only reflash that actually works and properly fixes the problem. It seems like before , all they were doing was reflashing the ECU with the original map.

This fix actually has a completely different fuel map; optimal AFR for the whole rev range, unlike the original that went super rich when boost increased.

 

See bulletin attached..they even specify a different file name to overwrite the original one.

 

I will find the invoice for my reflash tomorrow and post the Canadian ref number for the reflash.

Hope this helps.

Reprogramming Files for Hesitation.pdf

[07miata]

^ sweet! i'm so excited. i'll probably take my car in to get reflashed on MLK day...thanks for the PDF!

 

siper2, mine's so pronounced, that it feels like someone else has a clutch pedal and is trying to upshift before i'm ready...

[Richard B.]

it's learned imo.

 

you all will argue day and night and say it's barely noticeable after a while but it's not there at all after a clear ecu.

 

 

imo...it's getting into boost and then half way through the driver is deciding they don't need that much and then let off. do it enough and the ecu learns it.

 

buhahaha...and the 5eat isn't listed??

[stewartg]

Nice job yvrspecb. I got my battery charged up and drove the legacy for 2 days before needing a new tranny. When I had the car towed to the shop, I also said I wanted to do the oil line recall and reflash. This is the same shop that flashed me before and he didn't know what I was referring to. I'll take this in and make sure it gets done.

 

As it sounds like this is a real fix, are there any objections to taking down the petition and just posting a link to the pdf? I will host the file on my server.

[FSRBIKER]

I wouldn't take down the petition at all, just keep tallying the people who have the problem. I skimmed through the thread but is there a reflash like the one that was just posted for 05/06 GT's/Xt's?

 

Nice job yvrspecb. I got my battery charged up and drove the legacy for 2 days before needing a new tranny. When I had the car towed to the shop, I also said I wanted to do the oil line recall and reflash. This is the same shop that flashed me before and he didn't know what I was referring to. I'll take this in and make sure it gets done.

 

As it sounds like this is a real fix, are there any objections to taking down the petition and just posting a link to the pdf? I will host the file on my server.

[Siper2]

Hello all, I'm attaching the pdf file for the bulletin. This is a Subaru USA bulletin, for those in Canada, you can show the dealership this bulletin and it WILL crossreference to a Canadian bulletin for the same fix.

 

The Date of this bulletin is Sept 02, 2008.

 

From everything I've read on here, this is the only reflash that actually works and properly fixes the problem. It seems like before , all they were doing was reflashing the ECU with the original map.

This fix actually has a completely different fuel map; optimal AFR for the whole rev range, unlike the original that went super rich when boost increased.

 

See bulletin attached..they even specify a different file name to overwrite the original one.

 

I will find the invoice for my reflash tomorrow and post the Canadian ref number for the reflash.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for posting this. Looks like it's MY2007-08 only, though. Do you or anyone else have one for MY2005?

 

 

siper2, mine's so pronounced, that it feels like someone else has a clutch pedal and is trying to upshift before i'm ready...

 

Hmm, yeah I guess mine feels a bit like that. I typically notice it when I'm coming around one corner in particular, on my morning commute. I guess that's the best spot, though, since it most closely matches the conditions described in the bulletin above.

[inSANe DIEGO]

Maybe I missed it, but I haven't seen anything about the 2007 5eat. Anyone? My car has started ping and backfire at times along with the stuttering accel. It's at the dealership now and they say they've never heard of such a problem on ANY of the cars. Obviously they are blind or lying. Now I need proof as I've been chasing this problem since 15,000 miles and my odo reads 39,000 so the waranty is supposedly out. Should I just drive the piss out of the car and get it to ping as much as possible so I punch some holes in pistons? Should I hook the battery up backwards and fry the ecu???? I'm tired of this *&%#! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Crave35]

i have an 06 spec b with a stutter how do i fix