stop start SUBARU OUTBACK 2008 4.G Owner's Guide

7-28Starting and operating
selector lever or the paddle shift switch
behind the steering wheel (if equipped).
!Using the selector lever
Shift to the next-higher gear by briefly
pushing the selector lever toward the “+ ”
end of the manual gate.
Shift to the next-lower gear by briefly
pulling the selector lever toward the “ ”
end of the manual gate. !
Using the paddle shift (if equipped)Pull the “+ ” of the paddle shift to upshift
one level. Also pull the “ ” of the paddle
shift to downshift one level.
To deselect the manual mode, return the
selector lever to the “D ”position from the
manual gate.
While driving, if you change gears by
paddle shifting, the gear position indicator
light comes on and shows the current gear
condition. At this time, the normal mode
temporarily changes to the manual mode,
and after driving for a short period of time,
the transmission mode returns to the
normal mode. (The timing of the gear
change and return is different, depending
on driving conditions existing when paddleshifting.) Also, if you subsequently ease off the
accelerator pedal and then accelerate
again, the transmission will automatically
switch back from manual mode to normalmode.
CAUTION
Do not place or hang anything on
the paddle shift levers. Doing so
may result in accidential gear shift-ing.
NOTE
Please read the following points care-
fully and bear them in mind when using
the manual mode. . If you attempt to shift down when
the engine speed is too high, i.e., when
a downshift would push the tachometer
needle beyond the red zone, beeps will
be emitted to warn you that the down-
shift is not possible.. If you attempt to shift up when the
vehicle speed is too low, the transmis-
sion will not respond.. You can perform a skip-shift (for
example, from 4th to 2nd) by operating
the selector lever or a paddle switch
twice in rapid succession.. The transmission automatically se-
lects 1st gear when the vehicle stops

moving. .If the temperature of the automatic
transmission fluid becomes too high,the “AT OIL TEMP ”warning light will
come on. Immediately stop the vehicle
in a safe place and let the engine idle
until the warning light goes off.
& Maximum speeds
WARNING
When down shifting, ensure that the
vehicle is not travelling at a speed
exceeding the Maximum Allowable
Speed for the gear which is about to
be selected. Failure to observe this
precaution can lead to engine over-
revving and this in turn can result in
engine damage.
In addition, sudden application of
engine braking caused by down
shifting when the vehicle is travel-
ling on a slippery surface can lead
to wheel locking; as a consequence,
control of the vehicle may be lost
and the risk of an accident in-creased.
The following tables show the maximum
speeds that are possible with each differ-
ent gear. When down shifting, it is important to
confirm that the current vehicle speed is
not in excess of the Maximum Allowable
Speed of the gear which is about to beselected.
Legacy mph (km/h)
Position 2.5-liter turbo
models 3.0-liter models
1 25 (40) 27 (43)
2 53 (85) 51 (82)
3 85 (137) 84 (135)
OUTBACK mph (km/h)
Position 2.5-liter turbo
models 3.0-liter models
1 25 (40) 28 (44)
2 53 (85) 52 (84)
3 86 (138) 87 (139)
Never exceed posted speed limits. & Driving tips
. On a road surface where there is a risk
of wheelspin (for example, a snow- or
gravel-covered road), you can pull away
from a standstill safely and easily by first
selecting the 2nd gear of the manualmode. . Always apply the foot or parking brake when the vehicle is stopped in the
“D ”or
“ R ”position.
. Always set the parking brake when
parking your vehicle. Do not hold the
vehicle with only the transmission. . Do not keep the vehicle in a stationary
position on an uphill grade by using the “ D ”position. Use the brake instead.
. The engine may, on rare occasions,
knock when the vehicle rapidly acceler-
ates or rapidly pulls away from a standstill.
This phenomenon does not indicate afault. . A slight reduction in output torque may
occur in the models with a 3.0-liter or 2.5-
liter turbo engine before the engine warms up. & Shift lock release
If the selector lever does not move from the “P ” position with the brake pedal
depressed and the ignition switch in the“ ON ”position, perform the following steps:
To override the shift lock:
1. Set the parking brake and stop the engine.
2. Take out the screwdriver from the tool bucket. Starting and operating
7-29
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NOTE
While driving in Sport Sharp (S#) mode,
when you push the switch, it changes
to the former mode before Sport Sharp
(S#) mode.Rear viscous limited slip dif-
ferential (LSD) (if equipped)
CAUTION
. Never start the engine while a tire
on one side is jacked up, as the
vehicle may move.
. If one rear tire is spinning in mud,
avoid continued spinning at high
speed as this could adversely
affect the LSD.
. If a different size rear tire is
temporarily used (as in an emer-
gency), it will adversely affect the
LSD. Always replace it with a
regularsizetireassoonaspossible.
The LSD provides optimum distribution of
power according to the difference in
revolutions between the right and left rear
wheels that may be caused by certain
driving conditions, thereby improving driv-
ing stability on snow-covered, muddy or
other slippery roads. Power steering
CAUTION
Do not hold the steering wheel at the
fully locked position left or right for
more than 5 seconds. This may
damage the power steering pump.
The power steering system operates only
when the engine is running.
If you lose power steering assist because
the engine stops or the system fails to
function, you can steer but it will take
much more effort. NOTE
Right after the engine has been started
and before it has warmed up, you may
hear a noise coming from areas adja-
cent to the power steering pump which
is located at the right-front area of the
engine compartment. This noise is
normal. It does not indicate power
steering system trouble. Starting and operating
7-33

7-34Starting and operating
Braking &Braking tips
WARNING
Never rest your foot on the brake
pedal while driving. This can cause
dangerous overheating of the
brakes and needless wear on the
brake pads and linings.
! When the brakes get wet
When driving in rain or after washing the
vehicle, the brakes may get wet. As a
result, brake stopping distance will be
longer. To dry the brakes, drive the vehicle
at a safe speed while lightly depressing
the brake pedal to heat up the brakes. ! Use of engine braking
Remember to make use of engine braking
in addition to foot braking. When descend-
ing a grade, if only the foot brake is used,
the brakes may start working improperly
because of brake fluid overheating,
caused by overheated brake pads. To
help prevent this, shift into a lower gear to
get stronger engine braking. ! Braking when a tire is punctured
Do not depress the brake pedal suddenly
when a tire is punctured. This could cause a loss of control of the vehicle. Keep
driving straight ahead while gradually
reducing speed. Then slowly pull off the
road to a safe place.
& Brake system
! Two separate circuits
Your vehicle has a dual circuit brake
system. Each circuit works diagonally
across the vehicle. If one circuit of the
brake system should fail, the other half of
the system still works. If one circuit fails,
the brake pedal will go down much closer
to the floor than usual and you will need to
press it down much harder. And a much
longer distance will be needed to stop thevehicle. ! Brake booster
The brake booster uses engine manifold
vacuum to assist braking force. Do not
turn off the engine while driving because
that will turn off the brake booster, result-
ing in poor braking power.
The brakes will continue to work even
when the brake booster completely stops
functioning. If this happens, however, you
will have to push the pedal much harder
than normal and the braking distance willincrease. &
Disc brake pad wear warning indicators
The disc brake pad wear warning indica-
tors on the disc brakes give a warning
noise when the brake pads are worn.
If a squeaking or scraping noise is heard
from the disc brakes while braking, im-
mediately have your vehicle inspected by
the nearest SUBARU dealer.

ABS (Anti-lock Brake Sys- tem)
WARNING
Always use the utmost care in driving –overconfidence because
youaredrivingwithanABS
equipped vehicle could easily lead
to a serious accident.
CAUTION
. The ABS system does not always
decrease stopping distance. You
should always maintain a safe
following distance from othervehicles.
. When driving on badly surfaced
roads, gravel roads, icy road, or
over deep newly fallen snow,
stopping distances may be long-
er for a vehicle with the ABS
system than one without. When
driving under these conditions,
therefore, reduce your speed and
leave ample distance from othervehicles.
. When you feel the ABS system
operating, you should maintain constant brake pedal pressure.
Do not pump the brake pedal
since doing so may defeat the
operation of the ABS system.
The ABS system prevents the lock-up of
wheels which may occur during sudden
braking or braking on slippery road sur-
faces. This helps prevent the loss of
steering control and directional stability
caused by wheel lock-up.
When the ABS system is operating, you
may hear a chattering noise or feel a slight
vibration in the brake pedal. This is normal
when the ABS operates.
The ABS system will not operate when the
vehicle speed is below approximately 6
mph (10 km/h).
& ABS system self-check
You may feel a slight shock in the brake
pedal and hear the operating sound of
ABS from the engine compartment just
after the vehicle is started. This is caused
by an automatic functional test of the ABS
system being carried out and does not
indicate any abnormal condition. &
ABS warning light
Vehicle with SI-DRIVE
Vehicle without SI-DRIVE
The ABS warning light comes on when the
ignition switch is turned to the “ON ”
Starting and operating
7-35
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7-36Starting and operating
position and goes out after approximately
2 seconds.
This is an indication that the ABS system
is working properly.
CAUTION
If the warning light behaves as
follows, the ABS system may not
be working properly.
When the warning light is on, the
ABS function shuts down; however,
the conventional brake system con-
tinues to operate normally. . The warning light does not come
on when the ignition switch is
turned to the “ON ”position.
. The warning light comes on when
the ignition switch is turned to the “ON ”position, but it does not
go out even when the vehicle
speed exceeds approximately 8
mph (12 km/h).
. The warning light comes on dur-
ing driving.
If these occur, have the ABS system
repaired at the first available oppor-
tunity by your SUBARU dealer. NOTE
If the warning light behavior is as
described in the following, the ABS
system may be considered normal. .
The warning light comes on right
after the engine is started but goes out
immediately, remaining off.. The warning light remains on after
the engine has been started, but it goes
out when the vehicle speed reaches
approximately 8 mph (12 km/h).. The warning light comes on during
driving, but it goes out immediately and
remains off.
When driving with an insufficient battery
voltage such as when the engine is jump
started, the ABS warning light may come
on. This is due to the low battery voltage
and does not indicate a malfunction.
When the battery becomes fully charged,
the light will go out. Electronic Brake Force Dis-
tribution (EBD) system
The EBD system maximizes the effective-
ness of the brakes by allowing the rear
brakes to supply a greater proportion of
the braking force. It functions by adjusting
the distribution of braking force to the rear
wheels in accordance with the vehicle
’s
loading condition and speed.
The EBD system is an integral part of the
ABS system and uses some of the ABSsystem ’s components to perform its func-
tion of optimizing the distribution of brak-
ing force. If any of the ABS components
used by the EBD function fails, the EBD
system also stops working.
When the EBD system is operating, you
may hear a chattering noise or feel a slight
vibration in the brake pedal. This is normal
and does not indicate a malfunction.

&Steps to take if EBD system fails
Vehicle with SI-DRIVE
Vehicle without SI-DRIVE
If a malfunction occurs in the EBD system, the system stops working and the brake
system warning light and ABS warning
light come on simultaneously.
The EBD system may be faulty if the
brake system warning light and ABS
warning light illuminate simultaneously
during driving.
Even if the EBD system fails, the conven-
tional braking system will still function.
However, the rear wheels will be more
prone to locking when the brakes are
applied harder than usual and the vehi-cle
’s motion may therefore become some-
what harder to control.
If the brake system warning light and ABS
warning light illuminate simultaneously,
take the following steps:
1. Stop the vehicle in the nearest safe,
flat place.
2. Shut down the engine, then restart it.
3. Release the parking brake. If both
warning lights go out, the EBD system
may be faulty.
Drive carefully to the nearest SUBARU
dealer and have the system inspected.
4. If both warning lights come on again
and stay illuminated after the engine has
been restarted, shut down the engine
again, apply the parking brake, and check
the brake fluid level.
5. If the brake fluid level is not below the “
MIN ”mark, the EBD system may be
faulty. Drive carefully to the nearest
SUBARU dealer and have the systeminspected.
6. If the brake fluid level is below the “ MIN ”mark, DO NOT drive the vehicle.
Instead, have the vehicle towed to the
nearest SUBARU dealer for repair.
WARNING
. Driving with the brake system
warning light on is dangerous.
This indicates your brake system
may not be working properly. If
the light remains on, have the
brakes inspected by a SUBARU
dealer immediately.
. If at all in doubt about whether
the brakes are operating prop-
erly, do not drive the vehicle.
Have your vehicle towed to the
nearest SUBARU dealer for re-
pair. Starting and operating
7-37

Control system; if any should occur, have
an authorized SUBARU dealer carry out
an inspection of the system at the first
available opportunity. .The warning light does not turn on
when the ignition switch is turned to the
ON position. . The warning light turns on while the
vehicle is being driven.. When a malfunction has occurred in
the Vehicle Dynamics Control electrical
system, only the warning light will turn on.
In such an event, the ABS will still be
operating normally. . The warning light will also turn on when
a problem occurs with the ABS or Vehicle
Dynamics Control electronic control sys- tems.
Because the Vehicle Dynamics Control
system controls each brake through the
ABS, whenever the ABS stops operating
due to a malfunction in that electrical
system, the Vehicle Dynamics Control will
also become unable to control all four
brakes. Thus Vehicle Dynamics Control
system operation halts and the warning
light turns on. Although both the Vehicle
Dynamics Control system and the ABS
will be inoperable in this situation, it will
still be possible to stop the vehicle using
normal braking. The Vehicle Dynamics Control system and the ABS do not
adversely affect operation of the vehicle
in any way when they are inoperable;
however should such a situation occur,
drive with care and have an authorized
SUBARU dealer carry out an inspection of
those systems at the first available oppor-
tunity.
NOTE
When the warning light turns on and off
in the following way, it indicates that
the Vehicle Dynamics Control system
is operating normally. . Although turning on after the engine
has been started, the warning light
quickly turns off and stays off.. The warning light turns on when the
vehicle is being driven; it then turns off
and stays off. ! Vehicle Dynamics Control OFF in-
dicator light
This light comes on to indicate that the
Vehicle Dynamics Control system is in
non-operation mode. This does not con-
stitute failure of the Vehicle Dynamics
Control system. NOTE . The indicator light may stay on for a
while after the engine has been started, especially in cold weather. This occurs
because the engine has not yet
warmed up and is completely normal.
The light will turn off when the engine
has reached a suitable operating tem-perature..
When an engine problem occurs
and the CHECK ENGINE warning light/
malfunction indicator lamp turns on,
the indicator light will also come on.
The following two situations could indicate
malfunction of the Vehicle Dynamics
Control system; if either should occur,
have an authorized SUBARU dealer carry
out an inspection of that system at the first
available opportunity. . The indicator light does not turn on
when the ignition switch is turned to the
ON position. . The indicator light fails to turn off after
the engine is started, even when several
minutes have passed to allow the engine
to heat up sufficiently. Starting and operating
7-41
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7-44Starting and operating
four road wheels. Contact your
SUBARU dealer as soon as possible
for tire and sensor replacement and/
or system resetting.
Do not inject any tire liquid or
aerosol tire sealant into the tires,
as this may cause a malfunction of
the tire pressure sensors. If the light
illuminates steadily after blinking for
approximately one minute, promptly
contact a SUBARU dealer to have
the system inspected.
CAUTION
Do not place metal film or any metal
parts under the driver ’s seat. This
may cause poor reception of the
signals from the tire pressure sen-
sors, and the tire pressure monitor-
ing system will not function prop-
erly.
NOTE
This device complies with Part 15 of
the FCC Rules and with RSS-210 of
Industry Canada. Operation is subject
to the following two conditions: (1) This
device may not cause harmful inter-
ference, and (2) this device must
accept any interference received, in- cluding interference that may cause
undesired operation.
Changes or modifications not ex-
pressly approved by the party respon-
sible for compliance could void theuser
’s authority to operate the equip-
ment. Parking your vehicle
WARNING
. Never leave unattended children
or pets in the vehicle. They could
accidentally injure themselves or
others through inadvertent op-
eration of the vehicle. Also, on
hot or sunny days, the tempera-
ture in a closed vehicle could
quickly become high enough to
cause severe or possibly fatal
injuries to them.
. Do not park the vehicle over
flammable materials such as dry
grass, waste paper or rags, as
they may burn easily if they come
near hot engine or exhaust sys-
tem parts.
. Be sure to stop the engine if you
take a nap in the vehicle. If
engine exhaust gas enters the
passenger compartment, occu-
pants in the vehicle could die
from carbon monoxide (CO) con-
tained in the exhaust gas.

7-48Starting and operating
& To turn off the cruise control
There are two ways to turn off the cruise control: . Push the “CRUISE ”main switch button
again.. Turn the ignition switch to the “Acc ”or
“ LOCK ”position (but only when the
vehicle is completely stopped). & To change the cruising speed
! To increase the speed (by button)
Push the “RES/ACC ”button and hold it
until the vehicle reaches the desired
speed. Then, release the button. The
vehicle speed at that moment will be
memorized and treated as the new setspeed. When the difference between the actual
vehicle speed and the set speed is less
than 4 mph (6.8 km/h), the set speed can
be increased 1 mph (1.6 km/h) each time
by pressing the
“RES/ACC ”button quickly.
! To increase the speed (by accel-
erator pedal)
1. Depress the accelerator pedal to
accelerate the vehicle to the desiredspeed.
2. Push the “SET/COAST ”button once.
Now the desired speed is set and the
vehicle will keep running at that speed
without depressing the accelerator pedal.
NOTE
If the difference between the actual
vehiclespeedwhenthebuttonis
pushed and the speed last time you
set is less than 4 mph (6.8 km/h), the
vehicle speed will be lowered by 1 mph
(1.6 km/h). This occurs because the
cruise control system unit regards this
operation as that intended to decrease
the vehicle speed. !
To decrease the speed (by button)
Push the “SET/COAST ”button and hold it
until the vehicle reaches the desired
speed. Then, release the button. The
vehicle speed at that moment will be
memorized and treated as the new setspeed.
When the difference between the actual
vehicle speed and the set speed is less
than 4 mph (6.8 km/h), the set speed can
be lowered 1 mph (1.6 km/h) each time by
pressing the “SET/COAST ”button quickly.
! To decrease the speed (by brakepedal)
1. Depress the brake pedal to release
cruise control temporarily.
2. When the speed decreases to the