2005 Subaru Legacy GT: Rough Idle, Low Power, Poor Acceleration. No Codes. Flying Blind Here! 

For those interested in the smoke machine I used, you can find it at this link. Used it for about 3 years now and has been great. amzn.to/3cRy7d6

I’ve been saying this for a while. The best “mod” a turbo Subaru can get is a vacuum hose clamp kit. I have a 2010 WRX with 137k miles on the original engine, and I live in Florida. Good thing is the hoses aren’t too dry. Bad news is, the hoses do become loose around the fittings, and there are a lot of vacuum hoses. Each loose fitting means unmetered air is getting in to the intake system. Though small in concept, multiple hoses being loose can cause poor idling, decreased fuel economy, hesitation, etc. Clamping all of these hoses made a massive difference in the performance of my car. It drives nearly as good as a brand new WRX now. The factory Intercooler is also a very weak point, known to leak where the plastic end tanks meet the aluminum core, much like a radiator. Obviously, I have other stuff done to mine, but sealing up the vacuum system made a huge difference.

Watching this makes me feel a bit better of having a little less power on my very reliable N/A 2010 Legacy MT 6speed.

I think this is how a lot of home mechanics wind up fixing their own stuff when they don’t have the equipment like a smoke machine. Just doing what you did with logical guesses and then running it for a while after swapping something and then re-diagnose if the symptoms persist. Thanks for a video that “goes” how it goes for us shade tree-ers most of the time

The vehicle is a 2005 with 180,000+ miles. It’s could be a few other things. It will need a tune up, a new throttle body, new injectors, spark plugs, spark plug wires, clean the gas tank, clean gas pump & the subbie will drive properly. I seen this man’s videos & know he can fix it.😇

Thank you for "keeping it real" by including those stories which don't have a neat, clean ending.

Got excited when I saw this video notification. Chasing a very similar issue on my 05 LGT with 5MT. Surging/hesitating on acceleration with rough idle at times, no codes. Have replaced spark plugs, MAF, and air/fuel sensor with OEM parts to no avail.

Had some of the same issues on my 2004 Baja Turbo (175K miles). The Intercooler was OK but filthy. Soaked it inside and out in a strong Simple Green solution and couldn't believe the amount of crap that came out of it. Also, OEM hoses, coolant lines, vacuum lines, all that,, are either ridiculously expensive or not available for these mid-2000s turbos. Could have spent over $1000 on Subaru rubber and still come up short. Scoured Ebay for after-market silicone stuff. Ended up ordering several "complete" kits, new vacuum lines in assorted sizes, a new after-market turbo inlet pipe (big thing that goes under the intake manifold) which I had to modify a little. After a HUGE amount of work, I replaced every air intake, vacuum, fuel, and coolant line on the engine. JEEZ! In my case, I had the engine out for reseal and new valves, rings, etc.. In the end, my cost for all of that rubber was about $300. The alternative would have been a constant game of wack-a-mole as things failed. ALL of the rubber was in bad shape. I found "complete" generic silicone coolant kits for a 2004 Forester XT and 2005 WRX. Ordered both. The hardest stuff to find was rubber for the PCV/breather systems. Has to be oil resistant. I also replaced the PCV valve assembly with a new OEM. In Short, this engine is now running great,, but DAYUM! No telling what all of that DIY labor would have cost. Max turbo boost is at about 11.5 PSI. Good metric to measure when fooling with the boost system. Can't believe this car didn't push a CEL. Must have still had a little boost but they generally will lose vacuum at idle or low RPM when there's a leak upstream of the Throttle body. BTW: I use a cheapish OBDII Bluetooth dongle (BASF chip-based) and Torque Pro on my phone to get realtime output on all engine parameters like vacuum/boost, temps, etc.... Poor man's solution that works great. Thanks again for your channel!

From California!, we Love your show! I take my Outback to Tahoe frequently!!

Wish we had someone like you in Sydney, Australia!

If i had a Turbo engine in my Subaru with a leak on the intercooler I'd sure as heck get a new replacement right away & not be cheap about it.

Been there taking off vacuum hoses that are brittle,break upon removal being careful doing it.Another test is a back pressure test if the catalytic converter is plugged

🥰 I 💕 it.🏎 My 1st Subie,I bought the same car brand new & same color Subaru legacy GT Limited, had no issues with it except for the ball bearings.. fantastic car survived many nor’easter snowstorms.. kept it until 2012 95,000 miles, sold it no major issues... it is one of the top three cars I’ve ever owned, i’m now on my third Subaru, 2018 outback touring edition!

These ones are always my favorite and it starts just like a show it's always interesting

Just cleaned my thottle body on my 3.6, this time no straw....( last time straw wanted to be one with the intake manifold) lol but the cleaning really makes a difference, better thottle response and better Trans shifting. ..

Both you and sma dropping similar videos.. This is interesting on the business side to teach the value of letting things be.

Love the vids mate, i feel your frustration. I had similar problem with mine and after many many hours of process and eliminating I found it was the 02 sensor that I replaced with Non genuine. I unplugged the sensor and it ran almost fine with engine light on until I replaced with genuine and now perfect. Hardest part was that there was no codes at all and car was virtually underivable. Cheers

Thanks great video. I'm working on my 2011 Subaru outback exhaust changing all the bolts and header bolts. Also cv boots.

I broke a vacuum line in my 08 LGT and brought the pieces of line to dealer parts dept. it took 6 techs 20 minutes to figure out what it even was.

Thank you for the spark plug guide it helped me a lot I just didn’t the 1/8 extension to help me with the rear plugs it was pain. I know in the future for Subarus

Yeah those throttle body to intercooler hose is notorious for leaking. I just put a mishimoto silicone hose on my 2010 wrx. I think my intercooler might be leaking too. I need a smoke tester. It might need new spark plugs.

I got the same year car in the Outback XT turbo model. 212K miles! and still going, currently working on an overheating issue which should be resolved soon. I went ahead and replaced all vacuum hoses with oem ones. Should be back on the road soon!

I have one of the (now much fewer than) 300 limited run Liberty/Legacy GTB tuned by STI with the EJ2.0t (2005 pre-facelift) and I would love to have someone like you check her over and see what/if she needs anything to stay in beautiful condition. In my 3 years of ownership I’ve only had to replace CV joints/boots due to taking her camping, and replace brake components. I don’t flog her often but give her a go every now and then. She’s stock standard with some added body kit only and replaced head unit. Unfortunately my regular service guys left the bottom brake calliper bolt out when they changed it so I’m paranoid about what else could be an issue.

In my opinion: perhaps worth checking on the fuel injectors. Otherwise since a Turbo had already failed, then perhaps a foreign object got way in there and wreck havoc, enough. BTW, I own a MT 08 Legacy GT. I am experiencing a few chug chug moments, but I can tell that it is due to oil starvation on the turbo. My turbo hasn't failed yet.

Parrallel pliers will usually recrimp the aluminium on to the intercooler endtanks.

Sometimes a mixture of little things come together and gotta just do sorta what you did; I would have checked plugs and cleaned MAF too just to see if worn/dirty and likely swap it all anyways, cheap insurance on those turbo EJ’s… intercooler definitely not up to par! 👍🏻

Kind of glad cars rust away befor I hit that milage. Gfs 2014 at 70k is rusted bad on the welds. See how long it takes my 2021 xt to get that bad. My exhaust is all ready pitted and rusted at 10k. The fund of living in a snow state with local gravel roads. But the 2.4 is a dang rocket lol

I have an 05 Outback XT 178K, it had a very similar issue, the cat in my up-pipe was loose, you can check easily through the EGT sensor hole in the up-pipe, EGT may be damaged or bent as well :) Once I took it off and flipped it over, I heard the cat drop. Put in a cat-less with a bung for the EGT sensor, NO CEL. Hope that helps ;)

In the computer/networking world where I "live" it's similar to diagnosing an intermittent issue that you can't recreate or repeat. So you did the equivalent in the computer/networking world...reboot the equipment (computer, controller, switch, whatever). Frustrating as all get-out! (and also works about 80% of the time).

The number of subscribers you have now is almost the same as the mileage on your subarus!

The problem is the transmission. Manual swap will fix it

This is exactly how mine feels. Also read on some forums about fuel pressure regulators being an issue. After so many heat cycles I doubt the plastic on the tmic is doing excellent

I got 219k on 04 forester x 2.5l n going strong. N not yet yelling into video. Spark plugs n throttle body cleaning up next putting iridium in this time to ladt longer.

I'm really surprised it didn't throw a codes wow

Currently dealing with a very similar issue on my 05 OBXT. Starts up and idles perfect. No power no boost above 2000rpm. Replaced coils, plugs, checked MAF, checked o2 sensors. Thought clogged cat, removed downpipe and exhaust was QUIET. Did a smoke test and fixed turbo inlet leak but made no change. I’m thinking issue is something to do with the AVCS system. I look forward to you finding a solution!

Ahh! Automatic transmission. Well there's you power loss right there! LOL!

My 05 Outback XT was doing the exact same thing with exactly 180k miles on it as well. Sadly mine was a giant combo of the turbo, vacuum lines, intercooler, and intake boot leaking but even after getting everything sorted it still idles a bit crappy. Didn't replace the intercooler but squeezed and tightened all the aluminum tabs to try and make it last a bit longer but I figure I'll need to replace the intercooler sooner than I would like. Car runs so much better after everything done but just wish the idle was a bit smoother...of course the Group N motor mounts don't help much in that department though 😂

Spark plug maybe! Interesting!

I had something very similar .. it turned out after two mechanics had a crack at it, to be a coil.. I end up fixing it myself.. no codes then either

So I saw this video yesterday and already knew I would have the same issue I did a smoke test today and discovered a leak in the same exact spot of the IC as you have... I'm at 170000

I’d still be driving my ‘08 LGT if it wasn’t for the ATX failing

Glad my forester is a standard 2.5l x

do you remember if the short term fuel trim was all over the place/subtracting?

Had the same leaks on my Forester S Edition (same powertrain). No such symptoms, just blow-by oil smell and an odd whistle. What about the crank sensor, knock sensor (wrong orientation, pulling timing) faulty MAF..

My subaru is doing this too, the gas pedal a couple of times now acts like it doesn't work hardly at all and goes so slow, then it goes back to working normal after shutting off the car and turning it back on

Have you ever shown your smoke machine? Curious if you use a DIY priced one or pro style.

Have the same problem with my 2005 gt....changed coils, plugs etc.....will check into this....boost is iffy and hesitates on acceleration.

Surprised that boot didn't sound like a turkey call. Most of them do! My default to check with high mileage is intake leaks and damn oil control valves

Missed my 08GT...

I have the same problem In my 06 gt it's rough on when at the read light

What about the same problem but in a subaru impreza 2013?

I have same exacts car sometimes I can smell burn oil and smoke coming out of the engine might give it a check

hi! Thanks for your videos. I learn a lot. Usually my MIL bulb "check engine" did lit on and always went off after starting the engine. This morning my 1998 Forester didn't light up the MIL "check engine" bulb at key on ignition on. Never ever light up. Simultaneously, the starter cranks but the engine does not start up. What could it be? Burned ECU?😢

subaru outback 2005 Sruggles to get going in the morning but runs well once engine temp is up. any ideas?

Did anyone figure out the problem?

I have the manual version and it does the same thing. Was there ever a solution for this?

Well where aluminum n plastic meet theres a leak definately

is the reason we so many used Subaru cars for sale with 124k miles or around because the turbo is about to die ?

So, funny story, I think I actually just bought this car from a guy in SC. (Same exact backstory) The car is still exhibiting the same rough idle in gear symptoms as in the video. The intercooler is still obviously leaking pretty significantly. Could this be causing the issue? Or would that be mainly under a heavier load and not so much at idle?

High ground clearance Subarus cost $5,000 more than low. For northern drivers the clearance is useful in deep snow. Is it possible to raise a new or used passenger Subaru?

i just changed my clutch kit and now my car runs rough as fuck throwing codes for misfires for all cylinders i checked the weight of my old flywheel (exedy clutch kit) and it was 12.7lbs and the new one (act heavy duty performance street clutch kit) is 14.2 lbs and the new pressure plate weights more than the old one, could my new clutch be causing the misfire and rough acceleration also the throwout bearing that came with the act kit had too much play is that normal?

hey thats my car

Did you make a video about which is better, 2.5 or 3.6? Been looking for it forever.

Hard to chase ghost.

hi i have a subaru legacey 1990 EJ 20 runs on 3 cylinders i replaced the spark plugs and the coils that go on them was good for a few minutes after that but back to it,s old run on 3 cylinders again what would be doing this can you advise thankyou

👍 👍 👍 👍

will a boost leak cause a lean situation?

if he can't afford an inter-cooler, he probably can't afford to put the right gas in it either... what a sad life for that GT. Let us know when it's up for sale!

Fuel? Using regular unleaded instead of high octane?

Did you figure this out? My 05 lgt at freeway speeds going up slight grades just starts to bog down. Checking for vacuum leaks tomorrow.

Should I buy a Subaru with the codes p0011 p0022 and the turbo replaced ???

Can you point me to a link for the smoke machine you used?

How many miles can these ihi turbos run for? Where is the best place to get a chra?

I have a 07 forester xt auto, Have u ever addressed a p0700 p1718 code no info on forums

Fuel pres?

Can’t win em all!

Spark Plugs?

Sound like Subaru turbos r not real good. For long time use.

Saludos desde México

EGR valve or plugs

Which smoke machine do you use?

The number of subscribers you have now is almost the same as the mileage on your subarus!