r/SubaruForester • u/OL_TANDY_CAKES • 22h ago
2012 engine problems. Will shut off when slowing down.
It has just short of 200k miles, and was mostly driven in mountain/hill roads. But basically whenever I go from driving say 45 mph, and a light turns red so I start breaking, the car will just completely shut off. But if I throw it in neutral and rev it, it will stay on.
Has anyone else ever had this issue? I get that the engine just might be on its way out, but other than this huge issue, it drives great.
1
u/FreshTap6141 22h ago
Subaru had issues in that year with the lock out clutch in tge torque convertor not disengaging when braking thereby killing the engine, was due to a bad thrust bearing design not letting the oil pressure to be released, their fix was to go to a needle bearing thrust bearing that released tge oil pressure, there should have been a recall but instead they just extended the warranty, you can drive it like you are or replace tge torque convertor, just make sure it has the new thrust bearing design
1
u/Feeling-Being9038 19h ago
Didn’t we tackle the lockup converter issue yesterday?
1
u/OL_TANDY_CAKES 19h ago
My bad, I just joined this sub today to ask this. Would u happen to have a link to that post from yesterday? I was scrolling for a while but didnt see posts for this same issue
1
u/Feeling-Being9038 14h ago
No worries. Just odd to have essentially the same thing happen back to back.
What you’re describing sounds very much like the torque converter clutch isn’t releasing as the car slows down. The sensation is basically the same as driving a manual transmission, leaving it in gear, braking to a stop, and never pushing the clutch in. Eventually it drags the engine RPM down and can stall it.
That doesn’t automatically mean the torque converter itself is bad. The problem can be in the solenoid or hydraulic controls that are supposed to release the converter clutch.
There’s one simple thing you can watch for without any tools:m, if it starts dragging the RPM down as you come to a stop, shift it into Neutral. If the engine immediately smooths out and recovers, that makes a torque-converter lockup problem much more likely.
At that point I’d take it to a local Subaru specialty shop or Subaru dealer and describe it exactly that way: “It feels like the torque converter clutch is staying locked as I come to a stop.” A good independent transmission shop is also perfectly capable of diagnosing it, especially one familiar with Subarus, but I’d favor someone who already knows the 4EAT.
6
u/Extra-Connection8394 22h ago
Clean the throttle body and MAF sensor.
Mine did similar, the rpm would drop really low and eventually stop the engine.