Hello,
I have a '97 Impreza L 2.2L engine. This morning when starting up in very cold temperatures (-20*F) the engine immediately climbed to 3000rpms then shortly thereafter (5-10 seconds) dropped to a normal 750. It scared the hell out of me:eek: and I almost switched off the ignition while it was over-revving. I can only assume that this is not normal...should only climb to 1500 max I would think. Any ideas on what is wrong?...it started up normally later on in the day when outside temperatures were less frigid, around 20*F.

Strange things happen when it's too cold to open the hood and have a look.

Hopefully just a fluke......

Jay

My car revved up high when I first started it these past few days, around 2k (temps in the teens or colder), but then dropped back down to 1500ish.

basically normal. if you tap the gas pedal it should drop immediately

Prolly stuck accel cable from the cold , cold contract heat expand

actually this is normal, my 2.5i does it. it's part of the warm up cycle for the engine.

actually this is normal, my 2.5i does it. it's part of the warm up cycle for the engine.

i was under the impression that fuel injected engines do not require a warmup cycle?

most cars should do this, its because the air coming into the intake is extremely cold and dense and the air fuel ratio will be a little off until the engine bay warms up and then the idle should drop down to normal.

most cars should do this, its because the air coming into the intake is extremely cold and dense and the air fuel ratio will be a little off until the engine bay warms up and then the idle should drop down to normal.

Makes sense, and my car normally does this(to 1500-2000)...but revving to 3000 at initial start-up just freaked me out. Hopefully some oil remains topside in these Boxer engines and not all in the sump...otherwise, I can imagine the wear and tear that happens during these extreme cold starts.
Started up this morning back to normal...I guess it was a fluke.
Thanks guys for all the ideas, H.

ive had my car do this before when its cold out even after its semi warm like if i come to a stop sign the rpm with rise up to about 1500 and then come back down and then you feel like a dumbass cause it sounds like you cant drive from everybody around you haha but anyways i know my old ford ranger did it all the time in the cold.. its almost like the throttle kinda sticks but idk why it does this

It could also be getting the oil pumping to where it's needed?

EFI cars equipped with a catalytic converter idle high when cold to light off the cat quickly. The cat cannot do its job efficiently unless the catalyst material, usually platinum, is very hot.