Subaru Repair: Forester revving at stop, and notchy transmission, throttle position sensor, oxygen sensor

Question
I have a '99 Forester with 180k miles on it. It's been working perfectly, then suddenly the other day these two things started happening:

Thing 1: The engine revs at stops (in "drive" with my foot on the brake), as well as in "neutral" and "park". It revs between 200 and 1200 RPM. Up and down, up and down. This is at almost every stop light. About 1 in 10 stoplights, it behaves normally.

Thing 2: The transmission is not shifting properly: it doesn''t want to shift up when it should. Eventually, it *does* shift up, but much later than it should. And it often shifts down when it should not. When the engine "revs" at stop lights, the transmission tries to pull the car once it's over, say, 700rpm (that may be the desired behavior for all I know).

The repair place is not sure what the problem is: they''ve already swapped out the oxygen sensor to no avail.

Any ideas? Thanks *very* much in advance!

Answer
Hard to say, without some more information.  Is the check engine light on? There are a few possibilities such as the throttle position sensor or the ISC both of which are tested fairly easily if you know how to test them.  I would look for a better suited repair shop in your area.  sorry I cant be more help but that not that typical a symptom for a Subaru.

Justin
All Wheel Drive Auto