2008 Forester - Difficulty With First Cold Start

[BHopkins]

A friend of mine has a 2008 Subaru Forester that has recently been giving he and his wife difficulty. It is very difficult to start when it the first cold start of the morning. Once it has run and the engine is warm, they have no problem restarting it during the day. They took it to a local shop that is managed by a local common friend, but they weren't able to find anything wrong.

Has anyone else had this problem, or have heard of it? Any suggestions on what I could recommend to them to try?

 

[Blinker]

A cold start difficulty is almost always a vacuum leak.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Or tired battery
Or bad starter
Or dirty injectors
Or worn spark plugs
Or tired fuel pump

Or any, or combination of any, normal maintenance items

 

[gathermewool]

Need more information:

Firstly, are there any codes/CEL?

1. Mileage on the vehicle
2. Battery age
3. How long does it need to sit for this to occur? Are we talking five minutes, cold engine, weeks?
4. Is the engine cranking noticeably slowly? If so, does it crank faster if you, say, shut the engine down after running for a while and then try again soon after shutting it down?
4.a How old is the battery?
5. Does turning the key to the ON position (don’t start the car) then off and then ON again before trying to start help?
5.a Are there any unusual noises coming from the fuel pump? You’d want to listen near the rear seats, passenger side.
6. How old are the spark plugs?
7. Has anything, including any of the above been replaced recently? Which, what brand, and by whom?

Let’s start there and move on if nothing comes of the above...

 

[kr_bitog]

Subaru engine tends to burn oil and running rich in fuel, so if the spark plug is not good cold start problem is expected. So reading ECU fuel trim and remove plugs to check condition will be one the easiest way to start problem elimination

 

[CourierDriver]

Ok,,no mileage was listed so on the average a 13 year on ride most likely has..........about 200k to 300k miles , old engines can be cantankerous ,like an old body, your feet hit the floor and nothing wants to work right for a few minutes, like balance,walking ,and breathing,,lol

 

[BHopkins]

Thanks for all the replies. This is what I know and have been told second hand.

The Forester is their main car. It is a daily driver. Daily runs in town, and weekly 60-70 mile round trips to a neighboring town.

After finally getting the initial start, the subsequent starts may be a few minutes later after running to a store, or they may be a couple hours later in the day. Don't know the mileage on the car for sure, but my best guess would be somewhere in the 200k mile range. Can't speak as to the car burning oil, but my friend has never mentioned it. The only problems he has ever mentioned having with the car would be unrelated (steering rack and p/s pump).

Our friend who manages the local Big O was excited to try to fix it, as they have recently updated their diagnostic computer, and was anxious to use it to diagnose the problem. Second hand info here, but I'm told it was unable to find any codes that would explain the problem.

I'm going over today to try to help. You've all given me some great suggestions. I'll discuss them with my friend and see what he can tell me. I can check a few of these myself. Perhaps we can identify the problem, but at the very least we can narrow it down.

 

[supton]

Weak battery, old plugs or a fuel pump that won't hold pressure overnight come to mind.

 

[BHopkins]

My friend's daughter, who is also a Forester driver, recommended a local shop that is rumored to be very experienced with repairing Subaru cars. So they have taken their Forester to the shop. I'll report back what they find.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Thought this was going to be a thread about starting at -30F with 20W-50.

 

[BHopkins]

Thought this was going to be a thread about starting at -30F with 20W-50.

Wiseguy!

Yea, that would be a first here.

 

[BHopkins]

My friends got their Forester back. It was a weak ignition coil. Made perfect sense when I heard it, but somehow that idea totally escaped me.

 

[AutoMechanic]

That would make sense heck that makes it difficult to start at any temperature. The first thing I always check in those situations is fuel pump that’s what the most common thing is from my findings.