# "Kick" with acceleration **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** forester, subaru\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kick-with-acceleration/46759 "2010-03-28T18:01:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silvrshdw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@silvrshdw](https://community.cartalk.com/u/silvrshdw)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kick-with-acceleration/46759/1 "2010-03-28T18:01:27Z")
My '03 Subaru Forester is at about 85k miles, and has been beautiful. I’ve recently noticed that when I try to accelerate quickly on the highway (eg: passing), the car stays the same speed for a second then “kicks” and speeds up. It feels like I’ve been rear-ended. I just got a free check-up on the car that saw cracked drive belts, dirty air filter, and slight head gasket leak; it also said “not a major concern at this time”. Is my acceleration issue related to one of these things, or is it something completely different? Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/kick-with-acceleration/46759/2 "2010-03-28T18:25:16Z")
Did you have the air filter replaced? Has it ever been replaced? How about the fuel filter? I would start with those things, esp. the fuel filter. And I’m not actually a mechanic, but I don’t think that any kind of head gasket leak, “slight” or not shouldn’t be seen as a major concern. Maybe given the way it is leaking it doesn’t need immediate attention - as in today - but it isn’t the kind of thing that I would just drive on with. Certain years and models of Subaru are known for head gasket problems. I don’t know about the '03 Forester but there are several Subaru guys around who can provide info. Internet searches would also easily turn up info about it.