Idle issue?

[Jayde]

Don't know if any of you are getting a chirping sound at idle, but here's a video of what mine sounds like:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK_4uZz-oQo"]BRZ Chirping - YouTube[/ame]

Also, are any of you having the idler pulley on the left side move back and forth a little bit?

[davisk6]

Originally Posted by Jayde

Here's a vid I took of it at an idle. If you notice, when the RPMs are around 600 and are there for say longer then 10 seconds, as I give it gas, my iPod would shake a bit and the RPMs would drop to 500/400 then go up.

Is it me, or shouldn't the idle be a little higher? I always thought it should be around 750.

100% normal. Have you ever owned a Subaru (Subaru Boxer Motor) car before? This is exactly how they all work. The slight "shake" you are feeling is from the boxer motor at idle. Every Subaru I've had does this.

[Jayde]

Originally Posted by davisk6

100% normal. Have you ever owned a Subaru (Subaru Boxer Motor) car before? This is exactly how they all work. The slight "shake" you are feeling is from the boxer motor at idle. Every Subaru I've had does this.

I haven't owned a Subaru before, let alone an opposed motor. But is it normal for the whole car to shake?

[stateless]

Originally Posted by Jayde

I haven't owned a Subaru before, let alone an opposed motor. But is it normal for the whole car to shake?

It was normal in my WRX. My car before it (NX2000) had bad spark plugs and would do the same thing right before it would stall, so I found it disconcerting in the WRX but got used to it.

Sometimes in my WRX the idle would drop suddenly when coasting to a stop with clutch in or just sitting idling, and then it would run low and rough for a while. It did this from time to time over the five years I had it, but never seemed to become an issue. I would just give it some gas when it would happen and it would seem to clear up after a bit of rough idling. It never stalled though. Seems common from what I read among other WRX owners.

[Thunderchicken]

to me it sounds normal, but for your piece of mind take it back to the dealer and ask if this is normal. But my STi is load and stumbles and the car rocks back and forth

[davisk6]

Originally Posted by Jayde

I haven't owned a Subaru before, let alone an opposed motor. But is it normal for the whole car to shake?

Yes and No. Subaru has done a better job of isolating the vibrations with different pitch stop mounts and liquid filled engine mounts. Now, when you say the "whole car shakes" are we talking simple vibrations or full on "OMG Earthquake!"? The motor will cause what appear to be random small shakes to the car. They will be intermittent and may feel like the car is rocking back and forth slightly when it does.

Now, if the car is shaking and your RPM's are fluctuating between 300 and 500, that's a stumble, usually caused by bad fuel or a vacuum leak. If this is what you are experiencing, a trip to dealer is in order. That should not happen on a brand new car.

[Stu L Tissimus]

Brought my BRZ in for the idle issue and an unpredictable check engine light, and the head mechanic at the dealer gave Subaru of America a ring; he said SOA was getting involved and that they were flying in engineers to their HQ today or something. This is a real issue.

He mentioned something about the camshaft not being in sync with the rest of the engine, and that it may be a problem with a third party supplier.

(Mine's an MT BRZ Limited.)

[Jayde]

Originally Posted by Stu L Tissimus

Brought my BRZ in for the idle issue and an unpredictable check engine light, and the head mechanic at the dealer gave Subaru of America a ring; he said SOA was getting involved and that they were flying in engineers to their HQ today or something. This is a real issue.

He mentioned something about the camshaft not being in sync with the rest of the engine, and that it may be a problem with a third party supplier.

(Mine's an MT BRZ Limited.)

Keep us posted. Mine hasn't thrown a CEL yet, but I am curious to hear what they'll say about this and if there is going to be a recall.

[Jayde]

Originally Posted by davisk6

Yes and No. Subaru has done a better job of isolating the vibrations with different pitch stop mounts and liquid filled engine mounts. Now, when you say the "whole car shakes" are we talking simple vibrations or full on "OMG Earthquake!"? The motor will cause what appear to be random small shakes to the car. They will be intermittent and may feel like the car is rocking back and forth slightly when it does.

Now, if the car is shaking and your RPM's are fluctuating between 300 and 500, that's a stumble, usually caused by bad fuel or a vacuum leak. If this is what you are experiencing, a trip to dealer is in order. That should not happen on a brand new car.

It's just a small vibration. Nothing real major. RPMs don't fluctuate, they stay nice and steady at ~650 RPMs. There's only that weird drop to 500 when I give it gas. Doesn't appear to happen when I put it in gear with the clutch in to move though.

[motofan]

Originally Posted by Stu L Tissimus

He mentioned something about the camshaft not being in sync with the rest of the engine, and that it may be a problem with a third party supplier.

(Mine's an MT BRZ Limited.)

That sounds scary. I'll stay tuned.

[yayforaddison]

Originally Posted by Stu L Tissimus

Brought my BRZ in for the idle issue and an unpredictable check engine light, and the head mechanic at the dealer gave Subaru of America a ring; he said SOA was getting involved and that they were flying in engineers to their HQ today or something. This is a real issue.

He mentioned something about the camshaft not being in sync with the rest of the engine, and that it may be a problem with a third party supplier.

(Mine's an MT BRZ Limited.)

Wow I'm sorry to hearths bad news. That makes you the second person with the idle issue possibly being related to the camshaft.

It's looking highly likely that there is an issue with the camshaft for us with the idle issue

[shadoquad]

I tested an FRS last weekend and it had this issue. I asked the salesman if he heard it, and if it was normal. He had no idea.

[TheChopShop]

Went in after calling a friend at Scion in Torrance. Friend (pretty high up, vp of operations I think, but vp of something nonetheless) told me that it is not normal. It will be handled quickly and correctly. This car is their new baby and they will do everything possible to make sure they are 100%. Being investigated now.
Scion dealership I took mine to has noted my issue and set an appointment for Tuesday. If anything happens before then it has been noted.
If you are having these issues, call your dealership and have them note it. If nothing more happens, be happy. If something does happen, well now you're covered.

[davisk6]

Originally Posted by Jayde

It's just a small vibration. Nothing real major. RPMs don't fluctuate, they stay nice and steady at ~650 RPMs. There's only that weird drop to 500 when I give it gas. Doesn't appear to happen when I put it in gear with the clutch in to move though.

Exactly. That's normal for these motors. As for the chirping, I heard that today in my car. From what I can tell, it's coming from the DI component area of the engine. It doesn't do it all the time, only at idle after driving the car for a while. I can speculate that it is the system bleeding off pressure but since I am not a DI expert, I would take that as the answer.

The other guys with CEL's and really low idle, that sucks. If you experience that situation, bring it to the dealer asap. That is a serious problem.