general problems of the 2003 Subaru Forester

This past week, with the temperatures here in new jersey dipping into the teens, I smelled the distinct odor of gasoline in my 2003 Subaru Forester in my driveway before I hit the road. The smell was so strong, I had to turn back home as my children were not feeling well from the smell. This had happened before, but never to this degree. I went to the Subaru service department and was told that they had received many calls about this same issue. He indicated that the cold weather caused the lines to contract and allowed gasoline to leak onto the engine. He said that the as the weather warmed up, the lines would expand again, thus minimizing the problem. However, he said that the only way to correct the problem was to have the lines changed. When I asked if it was a hazard to continue driving the vehicle until I could have the lines replaced, he suggested that I limit my driving since gasoline dripping onto a hot engine was dangerous. I asked if there was a recall for the lines, and he stated no. Since this is a dangerous situation and not evident in later models of Subaru, I think that other owners should be made aware.

While driving vehicle in extremely cold weather notice strong fuel smell coming in car.

Very strong odor of gasoline in the cabin right after startup and throughout short trips, especially with heater on. Seems to happen most often when outside temperatures are near or below the freezing mark. Did not experience before this winter, now occurs daily. Please investigate this problem before someone gets hurt or killed! if Subaru knows that there is a safety problem with the fuel system, owners should not have to pay for repairs.

When starting my car in very cold temperature there is a very strong raw gasoline smell in the cabin. After driving the car to a doctor's appointment my husband checked under the hood and saw smoke. It is currently parked. This has happened for three days in our current cold weather.

In below freezing cold weather my 2003 Subaru Forester smells like gasoline inside the cabin.

2003 Forester has heavy smells of fuel when starting in cold weather only. This was prevent last winter and has returned this winter. Fuel vapors are very dangerous. Subaru should issue a recall and address the issue.

My 2003 Forester has recently been experiencing extremely strong smells of fuel when driving in the cold weather. Inhaling fuel vapors are very dangerous, here are side effects associated with inhalation of fumes: inhaling gasoline fumes brings concentrated hydrocarbons into your lungs and bloodstream. Some of the ingredients in gasoline are extremely toxic and are mutagens. Liver damage and permanent brain damage are possibilities. The side effects caused by the inhalation of gasoline can range from central nervous system (cns) depression, which can include: eye and throat irritation, mild or pronounced dizziness, headache, lack of appetite, drowsiness and in-coordination. In more serious circumstances, it can cause unconsciousness, pulmonary edema, and death. Subaru should issue a recall and address the issue!!.

2003 Forester has extremely strong aromas of fuel when starting & driving in cold weather. Fuel vapors are very dangerous, here are side effects of inhalation: inhaling gasoline fumes brings concentrated hydrocarbons into your lungs and bloodstream. Some of the ingredients in gasoline are extremely toxic and are mutagens. Liver damage and permanent brain damage are possibilities. The side effects caused by the inhalation of gasoline can range from central nervous system (cns) depression, which can include: eye and throat irritation, mild or pronounced dizziness, headache, lack of appetite, drowsiness and in-coordination. In more serious circumstances, it can cause unconsciousness, pulmonary edema, and death. Subaru should issue a recall and address the issue, because they installed a defective product!.

There's a noxious smell of gasoline entering the cabin during cold weather. It dissipates when driving, but comes right back when idle. This went away during the summer, but has returned for the winter of 2013/14.

The previous night was -17, I didnt drive the car all day. At 6:30 pm I drove the car for 1/2hour, all was well. 2 hours later (-3 degrees) I got in the car and drove 15 min at which time I came to a stop sign and turned right onto another road and the smell of gas inside the car began. I looked up the symptoms online and found I'm not the only one. No action has been taken.

My 2003 Subaru Forester has a fuel leak smell that enters the car interior. . It's not a rich fuel mixture exhaust smell, it's the smell of raw fuel inside the cabin. It comes and goes. I see online others are having this problem. Subaru should be held accountable and forced to have a recall to fix the problem once and for all.

Today, I started my 2003 Subaru forested, and let the car run with the heat on for about 15 minutes while I scraped the frost off of my windows. When I opened the door to get in, the cabin wreaked of gas fumes. This is the third time this has happened. Once each in Jan 2006 and Jan 2007 I reported this to the dealership. In 2006 they attempted to replace the clamps, in '07 they replaced some hoses. Apparently these fixes are still not sufficient to solve the problem. The only current solution to the problem is to operate the car at warm temperatures or let it warm up before driving. The gas fumes are still getting in to the cabin when it idles, though.

The contact owns a 2003 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle in cold weather temperatures, the vehicle would exhibit an unusually overpowering gasoline fuel odor from the interior. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis yet they were unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not under recall and was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.

I recently had an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous incident with my 2003 Forester, at, of all places, the local Toyota dealership. I had stopped to discuss a service appointment. Upon leaving, my Forester would not start, but exhibited symptoms of initially fuel starvation, and then poor ignition; it ran for 1/2-1 minute, missing frequently and then would die; within a few minutes, it would not run at all, suggesting either complete fuel or ignition failure. The Toyota service department closed at 6, and their suggestion was to tow the Forester to the nearly Subaru dealership, one block away. And suggest that next time I get a rav4. The Subaru service department closed at 5:30, of course, and there were only salespeople present. Their suggestion was to also tow the car to the service department. Finally, the sales manager suggested that it might be the security system. Of course, my Forester did not have that option, but he said that he understood most of the circuitry existed, and that certain combinations of locking/unlocking the door with the key, or the door switch, could activate the ignition cutoff. He told me to shut all the doors and then lock/unlock the doors twice with the remote. I walked back, did that, and the Forester started. After driving back and thanking him, I carefully read both the owner's manual and the separate manual for the remote/security system. There is no mention of this potential problem. Luckily, this happened in daylight, within walking distance of the Subaru dealer, and there also happened to be someone there who could suggest a cure. 1) is this a known fault in the system? 2) if known (and the manager said he had heard of several cases) why is there not some description of the problem and the simple solution.