7-8Starting and operating
started. The fuel injection system auto-
matically lowers the idle speed as the
engine warms up.
While the engine is warming up, make
sure that the select lever is at the “P ” or
“ N ”position and that the parking brake is
applied. NOTE . The engine may be difficult to start
when the battery has been discon-
nected and reconnected (for mainte-
nance or other purposes). This diffi-
culty is caused by the electronically
controlled throttle ’s self-diagnosis
function. To overcome it, keep the
ignition switch in the “ON ”position
for approximately 10 seconds before
starting the engine.. To protect the engine while the
select lever is in the “P ” or “N ”
position, the engine is controlled so
that the engine speed may not become
too high even if the accelerator pedal is
depressed hard. 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 steer-
ing and braking more difficult. It
could also result in accidental acti-
vation of the “LOCK ”position on the
ignition switch, causing the steering
wheel to lock.
The ignition switch should be turned off
only when the vehicle is stopped and the
engine is idling. Remote engine start system
(dealer option)
WARNING
. Do not start the engine using the
remote start system in an en-
closed environment (e.g. closed
garage). Prolonged operation of
a motor vehicle in an enclosed
environment can cause a harmful
build-up of Carbon Monoxide.
Carbon Monoxide is harmful to
your health. Exposure to high
levels of Carbon Monoxide can
cause headaches, dizziness or in
extreme cases unconsciousness
and/or death.
. Before performing any servicing
of the vehicle, temporarily place
the remote engine start system in
service mode to prevent the
system from unexpectedly start-
ing the engine.
&Starting your vehicle
The remote engine start system is acti-
vated by pressing the “
”button twice
within 3 seconds on your remote engine
start transmitter. The system will check
certain pre-conditions before starting, and
if all safety parameters are correct, the
engine will start within 5 seconds. While
the vehicle is operating via remote engine
start, the vehicle ’s power window features
will be disabled. Also, the system has a
timer and will shut down after 15 minutes if
you do not operate the vehicle. Press and
hold the “
”button for 2 seconds again to
turn the vehicle off. If the vehicle ’s starter
cranks but does not start or starts and
stalls, the remote engine start system will
power off then attempt to start the vehicle an additional four times. If the vehicle fails
to start after the additional attempts, the
remote engine start system will abort and
return to a non activated state.
& Remote start safety features
For safety and security reasons, the
system will fail to start and beep the horn
twice or shut down the engine during
remote start operation if any of the
following occur: . The brake pedal is depressed before
the vehicle ignition switch is turned “on ”
. The key was already in the ignition
switch. The engine hood is opened
. The vehicle ’s engine idle speed has
reached a level over 3,000 RPM. The alarm is triggered by opening any
of the doors or the rear gate.
NOTE . The security indicator light on the
dashboard will stop flashing while
under remote engine start operation,
but the vehicle is still protected.. If the vehicle is entered during
remote engine start operation, the
system will not record entry in the
alarm history. &
Entering the vehicle while it
is running via remote start
1. Unlock the vehicle doors using the
remote keyless entry system. If the vehi-cle ’s doors are unlocked manually using
the key, the vehicle ’s alarm system will
trigger and the remote engine start system
will turn off. Inserting the key into the
ignition switch and turning it to the “ON ”
position or pressing the unlock button “
”
on the remote keyless entry transmitter
will disarm the alarm system. Refer to“ Alarm system ”F 2-16.
2. Enter the vehicle. Do not depress the
brake pedal.
3. Insert the key into the ignition switch
and turn to the “ON ”position. If the ignition
switch is accidentally turned to the“ START ”position, the system ’s “starter
anti-grind ”feature will prevent the starter
from re-cranking.
4. Depress the brake pedal. The remote
starter disengages, the vehicle ’s power
window features are re-enabled and the
vehicle will operate normally.
& Entering the vehicle follow-
ing remote engine start shut-down
An alarm trigger may occur if the vehicle is
opened by the remote keyless entry Starting and operating
7-9
– CONTINUED –
sing the brake pedal repeatedly will toggle
the feature ON or OFF each time.
7. To exit the remote transmitter and
feature programming mode, turn the igni-
tion switch to the“LOCK ”position, remove
the key from the ignition switch and test
operation of the remote transmitter(s) and
horn confirmation feature. & System maintenance
! Changing the batteries
CAUTION
. Do not let dust, oil or water get on
or in the remote engine start
transmitter when replacing the
battery.
. Be careful not to damage the
printed circuit board in the re-
mote engine start transmitter
when replacing the battery.
. Be careful not to allow children to
touch the battery and any re-
moved parts; children could
swallow them.
. There is a danger of explosion if
an incorrect replacement battery
is used. Replace only with the
same or equivalent type of bat-
tery. .
Batteries should not be exposed
to excessive heat such as sun-
shine, fire or the like.
The two 3-volt lithium batteries (modelCR-1220 ) supplied in your remote engine
start transmitter should last approximately
three years, depending on usage. When
the batteries begin to weaken, you will
notice a decrease in range (distance from
the vehicle that your remote engine start
system operates). Follow the instructions
below to change the remote controlbatteries.1. Carefully pry the remote engine start
transmitter halves apart using a small flat-
head screwdriver.
Starting and operating 7-11
– CONTINUED –
“R ” position or vice versa until
the vehicle has completely
stopped. Such shifting may
cause damage to the transmis-sion.
. When parking the vehicle, first
securely apply the parking brake
and then place the select lever inthe “P ” position. Avoid parking
for a long time with the select
lever in any other position as
doing so could result in a dead
battery.
NOTE . When the engine coolant tempera-
ture is still low, the automatic transmis-
sion will upshift to higher engine
speeds than when the coolant tempera-
ture is sufficiently high in order to
shorten the warm-up time and improve
driveability. The gearshift timing will
automatically shift to the normal timing
after the engine has warmed up.. Immediately after ATF (automatic
transmission fluid) is replaced, you
may feel that the automatic transmis-
sion operation is somewhat unusual.
This results from invalidation of data
which the on-board computer has
collected and stored in memory to allow the transmission to shift at the
most appropriate times for the current
condition of your vehicle. Optimized
shifting will be restored as the vehicle
continues to be driven for a while.
& Select lever
: With the brake pedal depressed, shift
while pressing the button in.
: Shift while pressing the button in.: Shift without pressing the button.
The select lever has four positions, “P ”,
“ R ”, “N ”, “D ”and also has manual gate for
using “SPORT ”mode or manual mode.
1) Select lever button
! P (Park)
This position is for parking the vehicle and
starting the engine.
In this position, the transmission is me-
chanically locked to prevent the vehicle
from rolling freely.
When you park the vehicle, first set the
parking brake fully, then shift into the “P ”
position. Do not hold the vehicle with only
the transmission.
To shift the select lever from the “P ”to any
other position, you have to depress the
brake pedal fully then push the select
lever button on the lever knob when the
ignition switch is in the “ON ”position. This
prevents the vehicle from lurching when it Starting and operating
7-13
– CONTINUED –
7-14Starting and operating
is started.
If the select lever does not move from the “P ” position with the brake pedal de-
pressed, the select lever button pushed
in, and the ignition switch in the ON
position, refer to “Shift lock function ”F 7-
14. ! R (Reverse)
This position is for backing the vehicle.
To shift from the “N ” to “R ”position, stop
the vehicle completely then move the
lever to the “R ” position while pushing
the select lever button. ! N (Neutral)
This position is for restarting a stalled engine.
In this position the wheels and transmis-
sion are not locked. In this position, the
transmission is neutral; the vehicle will roll
freely, even on the slightest incline unless
the parking brake or foot brake is applied.
Avoid coasting with the transmission neutral.
During coasting, there is no engine brak-
ing effect.
NOTE
When the ignition switch has been
turned to the “LOCK ”position, move-
ment of the select lever from the “N ” position to the
“R ” position is possible
for a limited time period by depressing
the brake pedal and then becomes
impossible. If the select lever becomes
impossible to be moved after a limited
time period, turn the ignition switch tothe “ON ”position. You will then be able
to move the select lever to the “P ”
position.
WARNING
Do not drive the vehicle with the
select lever in the “N ” (Neutral)
position. Engine braking has no
effect in this condition and the risk
of an accident is consequently in-creased.
! D (Drive)
This position is for normal driving.
The transmission automatically shifts into
a suitable gear from 1st to 5th according to
the vehicle speed and the acceleration
you require.
When more acceleration is required in this
position, depress the accelerator pedal
fully to the floor and hold that position. The
transmission will automatically downshift
to 4th, 3rd, 2nd or 1st gear. When you
release the pedal, the transmission will return to the original gear position.
To use the SPORT mode, move the lever
from this position into the manual gate.
To use the manual mode, move the lever
from this position into the manual gate
then move it toward the
“+ ” and “ ” ends.
! While climbing a grade
When driving up a hill, undesired upshift to
4th or 5th gear is prevented from taking
place when the accelerator is released.
This minimizes the chance of subsequent
downshifting to a lower gear when accel-
erating again. This prevents repeated
upshifting and downshifting resulting in a
smoother operation of the vehicle.
NOTE
The transmission may downshift to 2nd
or 1st gear, depending on the way the
accelerator pedal is depressed to ac-
celerate the vehicle again. & Shift lock function
The shift lock function helps prevent the
improper operation of the select lever. . The select lever cannot be operated
unless the ignition switch is turned to the “ ON ”position and the brake pedal is
depressed. . The select lever cannot be moved from
the“P ” position to any other position
before the brake pedal is depressed.
Depress the brake pedal first, and then
operate the select lever. . Only the “P ”position allows you to turn
the key from the “Acc ”position to the
“ LOCK ”position and remove the key from
the ignition key cylinder.. If the ignition switch is turned to the
“ LOCK ”position while the select lever is in
the “N ”position, the select lever may not
be moved to the “P ”position after a period
of time. Therefore, move the select lever
to the “P ” position with the brake pedal
depressed soon after the ignition switch is
turned to the “LOCK ”position.
! Shift lock release
If the select lever cannot be operated, turn
the ignition switch back to the “ON ”
position then move the select lever to the“ P ” position with the select lever button
pressed and brake pedal depressed.
If the select lever does not move after
performing the above procedure, perform
the following steps. . When the select lever cannot be
shifted from “P ” to “N ”:
Refer to “Shift lock release using the shift
lock release button ”F 7-15. .
When the select lever cannot be
shifted from “N ” to “R ” or “P ”:
Within 60 seconds after placing the igni-
tion switch in the “Acc ”position, move the
select lever to the “R ”or “P ”position with
the select lever button pressed and brake
pedal depressed.
If you must perform the above procedure,
the shift lock system (or the vehicle control
system) may be malfunctioning. Contact a
SUBARU dealer for an inspection as soon
as possible.
If the select lever does not move after
performing the above procedure, refer to“ Shift lock release using the shift lock
release button ”F 7-15.
! Shift lock release using the shift
lock release button
Perform the following procedure to release
the shift lock.
1. Apply the parking brake and stop the engine.
2. Remove the cover by prying on the
edge with a flat-head screwdriver. NOTE
To prevent damage to the cover, wrap
the tip of the flat-head screwdriver with
vinyl tape or a cloth before removing
the cover. Starting and operating
7-15
– CONTINUED –
7-16Starting and operating
1) Shift lock release button
2) Select lever button
3. Move the select lever while performing
the following operations. .Depressing the brake pedal
. Pushing the shift lock release button
using a screwdriver . Pushing the select lever button
If the select lever does not move after
performing the above procedure, the shift
lock system may be malfunctioning. Con-
tact a SUBARU dealer for an inspection
as soon as possible. &
Selection of manual mode
With the vehicle either moving or station-
ary, move the select lever from the “D ”
position to the manual gate then move it tothe “+ ” end or “ ” end of the manual gate
to select manual mode.
1) Upshift indicator
2) Downshift indicator
3) Gear position indicator
When the manual mode is selected, the
gear position indicator and upshift indica-
tor and/or downshift indicator in the
tachometer illuminate. The gear position
indicator shows the currently selected
gear in the 1st-to-5th-gear range. The
upshift and downshift indicators show
when a gearshift is possible. When the
upshift indicator “
”is illuminated, up-
shifting is possible. When the downshift indicator “
”is illuminated, downshifting
is possible. When both indicators are
illuminated, upshifting and downshifting
are both possible. When the vehicle stops
(for example, at traffic signals), the down-
shift indicator turns off.
7-18Starting and operating
&SPORT mode
SPORT mode is used when power is
needed for rapid acceleration or for uphill
driving. To select this mode, move the
select lever from the “D ” position to the
manual gate.
When selected, the SPORT mode indica-
tor light on the combination meter willilluminate.
To deselect SPORT mode, move the
select lever to the “D ” position or select
manual mode. To subsequently reselect
SPORT mode, move the select lever tothe “D ” position and from there to the
manual gate.
In this mode, the transmission shifts up at
higher vehicle speeds and shifts down
more responsively than in normal mode. 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.