2000 SUBARU OUTBACK engine

7-4suffic ient q uantities of the p rop er c osolvents and
c orrosion inhib itors
req uired to p revent d amag e to the fuel system. Do n ot use fuel c on-
taining methanol EXCEPT und er these c ond itions.
If und esirab le d riveab ility p rob lems are exp erienc e d and you sus-
p ec t they may b e fuel related , try a d ifferent b ran d of g asoline b efore
seeking servic e at your SUBARU d ealer. Fuel system d amag e or d riveab ility p rob lems whic h r esult from the
use of imp rop er fuel are not c overed und er the SUBA RU Limited War-
ranty.
Fuel filler lid and cap Refueling
WARNING
Gasoline vapor is highly flammable. Before refueling, always
first stop the engine and make sure that there are no lighted ciga- rettes, open flames or electrical sparks in the adjacent area. When opening the cap, do not remove the cap quickly. Fuel
may be under pressure and spray out of the fuel filler neck espe-
cially in hot weather, which may cause injury.
CAUTION
Never add any cleaning agents to the fuel tank. The addition of
a cleaning agent may cause damage to the fuel system. Make sure that the cap is tightened until it clicks to prevent
fuel spillage in the event of an accident. Do not let fuel spill on the exterior surfaces of the vehicle.
Fuels may cause paint damage, which is not covered under the
SUBARU Limited Warranty. Always use a genuine SUBARU fuel filler cap. If you use the
wrong cap, it may not fit or have proper venting, and your fueltank and emission control system might be damaged.

7-63. Stop filling the tank after the fuel filler p ump
automatic ally c lic ks off.
Do not ad d any more fuel.
4. Put the c ap b ac k on, turn it c loc kwise until you hear a c lic king
noise. Be c ertain not to c atc h the tether und er the c ap while tig hten-
ing .
5. Close the fuel filler lid c omp letely.
If you sp ill any fuel on the p ainted surfac e, rinse it off immed iately.
Otherwise, the p ainted surfac e c ould b e d amag ed . NOTE If the fuel filler cap is not tightened until it clicks or if the tether is caught under the cap, the CHECK ENGINE warning light maycome on. Refer to the “Warning and indicator lights ” section lo-
cated in chapter 3.
State emission testing (U.S. only)
WARNING
Testing of an All-Wheel Drive vehicle must NEVER be performed
on a single two-wheel dynamometer. Attempting to do so willresult in uncontrolled vehicle movement and may cause an acci-
dent or injuries to persons nearby.
CAUTION
Resultant vehicle damage due to improper testing is not covered
under the SUBARU Limited Warranty and is the responsibility ofthe state inspection program or its contractors or licensees.
At state inspection time, remember to tell your inspection or service
station in advance not to place your Subaru AWD vehicle on a two-
wheel dynamometer. Otherwise, serious transmission damage willresult.
Some states have started using d ynamometers in thei r state insp ec tion
p rog rams in ord er to meet their ob lig ation und er fe d eral law to imp lement

7-8
7. Fasten your seatb elt. Chec k that your p asseng ers
have fastened their
seatb elts.
8. Chec k the op eration of the warning and ind ic ator lig hts when the ig ni-
tion switc h is turned to the “ON ” p osition.
9. Chec k the g aug es, ind ic ator and warning lig hts af ter starting the en-
g ine. NOTE Engine oil, engine coolant, brake fluid, washer fluid and other fluid
levels should be checked daily, weekly or at fuel stops.
Starting the engine
CAUTION
Do not operate the starter motor continuously for more than ten
seconds. If the engine fails to start after operating the starter forfive to ten seconds, wait for ten seconds or more before tryingagain.
Starting the engine for a manual transmission vehicle
1. Ap p ly the p arking b rake.
2. Turn off unnec essary lig hts and ac c essories.
3. Press the c lutc h p ed al to the floor and shift the shift lever into neutral.
Hold the c lutc h p ed al to the floor while starting t he eng ine. The starter
motor will only op erate when the c lutc h p ed al is p r essed fully to the floor.
4. Turn the ig nition switc h to the “ON ” p osition and c hec k the op eration
of the warning and ind ic ator lig hts. Refer to the “Warning and ind ic ator
lig ht ” sec tion (c hap ter 3).
5. Turn the ig nition switc h to the “START ” p osition without d ep ressing
the ac c elerator p ed al. Release the key immed iately after the eng ine has
started .
If the eng ine d oes not start within ten sec ond s, wa it a while and then turn
the ig nition switc h to the “START ” p osition ag ain while d ep ressing the ac -
c elerator p ed al half way d own.

Starting and operating7-9
–
CONTINUED –
6. Confirm that all warning and ind ic ator lig hts hav
e g one off after the
eng ine has started . The fuel injec tion system autom atic ally lowers the
id le sp eed as the eng ine warms up . Starting the engine for an automatic transmission ve- hicle
CAUTION
If you restart the engine while the vehicle is moving, shift the se- lector lever into the “N” position. Do not attempt to place the se-
lector lever of a moving vehicle into the “P” position.
1. Ap p ly the p arking b rake.
2. Turn off unnec essary lig hts and ac c essories.
3. Shift the selec tor lever to the “P ” or “N ” p osition (p referab ly “P ” p osi-
tion). The starter will only op erate when the selec t lever is at the “P ” or
“ N ” p osition.
4. Turn the ig nition switc h to the “ON ” p osition and c hec k the op eration
of the warning and ind ic ator lig hts. Refer to the “Warning and ind ic ator
lig hts ” sec tion (c hap ter 3).
5. Turn the ig nition switc h to the “START ” p osition without d ep ressing
the ac c elerator p ed al. Release the key immed iately after the eng ine has
started .
If the eng ine d oes not start within ten sec ond s, wa it a while and then turn
the ig nition switc h to the “START ” p osition ag ain while d ep ressing the ac -
c elerator p ed al half way d own.
6. Confirm that all warning and ind ic ator lig hts hav e g one out after the
eng ine has started . The fuel injec tion system autom atic ally lowers the
id le sp eed as the eng ine warms up .
While the eng ine is warming up , make sure that the selec tor lever is at
the “P ” or “N ” p osition and that the p arking b rake is ap p lied .

7-10
Starting the engine during cold weather below –4F
(–20 C)
If the eng ine is d iffic ult to start using the norma l method (without d e-
p ressing the ac c elerator p ed al), turn the ig nition switc h to the “START ”
p osition while slig htly d ep ressing the ac c elerator p ed al.
Starting a flooded engine
If the eng ine d oes not start, it may b e flood ed (ex c essive fuel in the en-
g ine).
In c ase of a flood ed eng ine, turn the starter motor for five sec ond s with
the ac c elerator p ed al fully d ep ressed . Rep eat this two or three times until
the eng ine starts. Release the ig nition switc h and ac c elerator p ed al as
soon as the eng ine starts.
Stopping the engine
WARNING
Do not stop the engine when the vehicle is moving. This will
cause loss of power to the power steering and the brake booster,making steering and braking more difficult. It could also result in
accidental activation of the “LOCK” position on the ignition
switch, causing the steering wheel to lock.
The ig nition switc h should b e turned off only when the eng ine is id ling .

Starting and operating7-11
–
CONTINUED –
Manual transmission
WARNING
Do not drive the vehicle with the clutch disengaged (i.e., when the clutch pedal is depressed) or with the shift lever in the neutralposition. Engine braking has no effect in either of these condi-tions and the risk of an accident is consequently increased.
CAUTION
Shift into reverse ONLY when the vehicle has completelystopped. It may cause damage to the transmission to try shiftinginto reverse when the vehicle is moving.
The manual transmission is a fully sync hromeshed 5- forward and 1-re-
verse sp eed transmission.
OM-H2241
The shift p attern is shown on the shift lever knob . When shifting from 5th
g ear to reverse g ear, first return the shift lever to the neutral p osition then
shift into reverse g ear.
To c hang e g ears, fully d ep ress the c lutc h p ed al, mo ve the shift lever,
and g rad ually let up on the c lutc h p ed al.
If it is d iffic ult to shift into g ear, p ut the tran smission in neutral, release the
c lutc h p ed al momentarily, and then try ag ain.

7-12
Shifting speeds
n Recommended shifting speeds
The b est c omp romise b etween fuel ec onomy and vehic l e p erfor-
manc e d uring normal d riving is ensured b y shifting up at the sp eed s
listed in the following tab le.
Shift up
mp h (km/h)
1st to 2nd15 (24)
2nd to 3rd25 (40)
3rd to 4th40 (65)
4th to 5th45 (73)
nMaximum allowable speeds
WARNING
When shifting down a gear, ensure that the vehicle is not travel- ling at a speed exceeding the Maximum Allowable Speed for thegear which is about to be selected. Failure to observe this pre-caution can lead to engine over-revving and this in turn canresult in engine damage.In addition, sudden application of engine brakes when the vehicleis travelling on a slippery surface can lead to wheel locking; as a
consequence, control of the vehicle may be lost and the risk ofan accident increased.
The following tab le shows the maximum sp eed s that a re p ossib le with
eac h d ifferent g ear.
Never exc eed the sp eed limit b elow for eac h g ear p o sition exc ep t for
b rief ac c eleration in an emerg enc y. The tac hometer ’s need le (if so
eq uip p ed ) will enter the red area if these sp eed s a re exc eed ed . Fail-
ure to ob seve this p rec aution c an lead to exc essive eng ine wear and
p oor fuel ec onomy.

7-14Automatic transmission
WARNING
Do not shift from the “P” or “N” position into the “D”, “3”, “2”,
“1” or “R” position while depressing the accelerator pedal. This
may cause the vehicle to jump forward or backward.
CAUTION
Shift into the “P” or “R” position only after the vehicle is com-
pletely stopped. Shifting while the vehicle is moving may cause
damage to the transmission. Do not race the engine for more than five seconds in any posi-
tion except the “N” or “P” position when the brake is set or the
tires are on blocks. This may cause the automatic transmissionfluid to overheat. Avoid shifting from one of the forward driving positions into
the “R” position or vice versa until the vehicle has completely
stopped. Such shifting may cause damage to the transmission.
The automatic transmission is elec tronic ally c ontro lled with 4-forward
sp eed s and 1-reverse sp eed .
NOTE
Immediately after a disconnected battery is reconnected or ATF (au- tomatic transmission fluid) is replaced, you may feel that the auto-matic transmission operation is somewhat unusual.This results from erasure or invalidation of data the on-board com-puter has collected and stored in memory to allow the transmissionto shift at the most appropriate times for the current condition ofyour vehicle. Optimized shifting will be restored as the vehicle con-tinues to be driven for a while.