seeking advise on shudder problem new 5EAT in a 2011 OBW

[lfdal]

Just got a 2011 3.6R Ltd Outback and am having a shudder problem. So far it happens several times a day, only just not the one time the dealer took it for his 10 minute non-instrumented ride.

 

Here's the info I gave him, all of which was ignored:

 

Anytime the car has to upshift, and or downshift with the tach in the low 1000's i.e. 1100-1500 rpm regardless of road speed, the transmission can shudder.

 

Here's all the details I can think of, probably too much information.

 

A couple of typical cases:

When driving in traffic, and slowly accelerating up through 1400-1800 rpm the car may (about 50% of the time depending upon traffic conditions) briefly shudder as it upshifts. If I can tap the accelerator the shuddering stops.

 

When driving from 0 to 35 mph and coasting back down if I switch to manual mode I can see the transmission is still in 4th (or sometimes 5th) as low as 20 mph. In any event, if it coasts all the way down to 0 mph, no problems. If I let it coast down until the rpms are in the 1100-1400 rpm range, very light acceleration will frequently induce the shudder. Same cure, tap the gas, hopefully without ramming the guy in front of you.

 

Next is a slightly different scenario but one I was able to replicate a lot on last Tuesday:

Accelerate to 40 mph. Ease off accelrator until rpms down around 1100. Very lightly accelerate holding the rpms between 1100-1200. At this point, as the transmission was shuddering, I could watch the tach cycle up and down from 1100-1200-1100-1200 etc. As long as I kept it in that range, the shuddering continued. I could replicate that every time I tried. Tapping the gas felt like it forced the downshift then the car smoothly upshifted again shortly thereafter.

 

Have had it happen as fast as 60 mph, but the circumstances were the same - rpms dropped to 1000 or so, then light acceleration caused a shudder.

 

Under firm or hard acceleration, there's never been a problem. Also, if I drive in traffic with the paddles, no problems.

 

Everything's still true except the last statement - I felt it a couple of times when driving with the paddles this weekend, once in second, once in 3rd, so it doesn't seem like a shifting issue.

 

I've only got 1000 miles on this car and if this keeps up, I won't see 2000 with it. For a $35k vehicle this seems like a problem that shouldn't exist.

 

Anyone got any adice on where I can start with this? Looks like the dealer is going to be no help at all. Going to open a case with Subaru this morning.

 

Please tell me this isn't a known "feature" of the 5EAT........

 

Thanks for the read, and all advice is welcome.

[RIPjeep2002]

Do a little more reading. the 2011 don't have a 5EAT. It is a CVT.

[RabidWombat]

What engine is in your Outback? The 2.5i has a CVT transmission, while the 3.6R has a 5EAT.

 

If its the 5EAT, the torque converter is possibly a good place to look. There was a TSB for bad torque converters in 2008-2009 MY cars.

 

You're going to have to work with a dealer on this one, if you've found a way to reliably cause it to happen you've got a good start. You can try an alternative Subaru dealership if there's one relatively close. If all else fails, many states have lemon laws that you can take advantage of.

[lfdal]

Do a little more reading. the 2011 don't have a 5EAT. It is a CVT.

 

Should have added in the post its the 2011 3.6R Ltd.

 

I did the little more reading before I did the owning. .... In the 3.6R's they've kept the 5 speed. I specifically wanted to avoid the CVT's.

[lfdal]

What engine is in your Outback? The 2.5i has a CVT transmission, while the 3.6R has a 5EAT.

 

If its the 5EAT, the torque converter is possibly a good place to look. There was a TSB for bad torque converters in 2008-2009 MY cars.

 

You're going to have to work with a dealer on this one, if you've found a way to reliably cause it to happen you've got a good start. You can try an alternative Subaru dealership if there's one relatively close. If all else fails, many states have lemon laws that you can take advantage of.

 

Amended my OP to add the 3.6R Ltd. Missed it when I did the post.

 

I still need to get it to be more (as in absolutley) reproducable as the dealership is in a state of denial. God knows how long that's going to take. In the meanwhile its no fun to drive, at least in traffic.

 

Looking into the details of the MA lemon law now. Funny thing is I wasn't worried about the 5spd at all, more concerned with the steering wheel issue that my car doesn't have. Joke's on me.