[Jchuakh]

Hi Jeremy, is your car manual or auto?

I am facing the same problem since yesterday and my mileage is only 7000km.

 

[Dabom007]

My first post in the forums. Go easy :smile2:

At 1001 mi all my warning lights lit (ever single one) ! I was close to home and took it to the closest dealer (not the favorite dealer I buy and service from) due to convenience. I live 40 mi from this dealer, but work close to them. They spend 2 hours and said they needed more time. It was diagnosed with code of waste gate solenoid. They said they believed I have a crossed wire in a wire harness and wanted to open the wiring harness. I thought no way and waited until I had time to take it to my dealer.

A few days of easy on the go pedal driving and I got it to my dealer. Turned the 2016 FXT with CVT over and my mechanic got the same code. Said the Subaru service computer could not clear the computer because the waste gate circuit was open. He tracked the wire and saw that the last dealer had unhooked the waste gate solenoid and never reconnected it before I left. He reconnected it and still saw an open circuit. Being the excellent mechanic he is, he looked at the wiring diagram, traced it to another portion under the intercooler. He found that one wire on a 16 pin connector had backed out. He cleaned, pushed the wire in until it was secure, and reconnected the connector. Cleared the codes successfully and it was fixed.

Results FIXED! No wiring harnesses opened.

The dealers write up:
"CUSTOMER STATES THAT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON
SCANNED SYSTEM; FOUND FAULT P0245 TURBO CHARGER WASTEGATE SOLENOID "A" LOW; TESTED AND INSPECTED SYSTEM; FOUND SOLENOID VALVE NOT OPERATING PROPERLY; CHECKED SYSTEM PER FLOWCHART; FOUND NO POWER AT SOLENOID VALVE; CHECKED FOR POWER AT B22 PIN4 R/W WIRE; FOUND POWER AT CONNECTOR; FOUND WIRE NOT SEATED IN CONNECTOR PROPERLY REINSTALLED CONNECTOR WIRE; RESECURED; RECHECKED;
CLEARED SYSTEM; ROAD TESTED VEHICLE; RECHECKED; NO
FAULT CODES FOUND AT THIS TIME"

This happened over the Labor Day weekend and drove me crazy having to wait, being that it was a new 16'. I've had a total of 4 Subaru's. 2 being WRX's (05' and 14' wagon), and one 09' Impreza Sport wagon. This 16' FXT is by far my favorite one! I change my own oil with synthetic every 5K. Its the first time I have ever had a problem requiring a warranty fix. Hope this helps anyone else having problems.

 

[gbaldwin191]

same issue

all three warning lights come on.. and at start will not allow you to put the car in drive... i noticed that you can NOT use the cruise control when the warning lights are on...
Had the dealership check it at normal maintenance in july they found nothing...
actually made a video of the messages this time

 

[Hamster143]

Same issue showed up here. I have the package with EyeSight, so, in addition to lighting up ABS and hill assist, it lights up EyeSight malfunction lights. Sometimes it would trigger at speed (fortunately, with no apparent ill effects), sometimes it would happen when trying to turn on the car (in which case the car would refuse to start - start button would turn it and and off, but wouldn't fire the engine.)

Hooked up the OBD2 scanner. It found no error codes.

Following advice above, I found the brake light switch (it's a small plastic thingy above the brake pedal, with a wire harness running to it), pulled it out (it's not even screwed in, you just turn it 45 degrees and it comes out), unplugged from the wire harness, and opened it using a small flat screwdriver. It's a simple construction, with a spring and two flexible contacts. Contacts were covered with a thin layer of grime. Wiped the grime off and reassembled everything. The problem seems to be gone now (it's been several days).

 

[jxcomet]

Just hit the same issue on my 2015 forester limited. Will go to the dealer after 3 days. And show this thread to the service guy, hope they can fix this issue quickly.

 

[Anchorend]

Mine was that they needed to adjust the brake light switch. first time it was replaced but not adjusted/installed correctly so they needed to do it again(they kept the car for 3 days to figure this out). all done under warranty of course. Hope this helps anyone else dealing with this weird issue.

 

[mikeforrest]

My Manual 2.0D Forester MY11 has hill holder light I have never seen on except in error.

It came on together with a blue and red flashing temp light and the abs light.

My a/c cruise control and radio presets all lost.

Dealer fixed the problem so he said but problem back after 100km.

Last Subaru for me!

Dealers don't know what they are doing and product is unreliable

 

[SubaruBAM]

Thanks everyone for the input and the updates on fixes.

My 2015 XT just had the same thing happen this past week. I have an appointment setup and will show them this thread so they can correct the issue.

Hopefully the lights will be on when I take the vehicle into the dealership.

Thanks again.

 

[ntotrr]

I've got the same issue today with my '14 Forester with the three lights coming on. I also couldn't shift the car out of park after arriving home and then attempting to drive it to the dealership to drop off. I managed to finally get it out of park by trying multiple times. My wife followed me to the dealership and told me that the brake lights on my Forester were working intermittently.

 

[ntotrr]

I got a call early this morning from the service adviser at my dealership that the issue was a faulty brake light switch, just as described by others in this thread.

 

[toonchew]

i have a 2016 with 116xx miles. i got the same issues starting last week. the technician at the dealership said the code (P0172) indicated i was running too rich. i let him know that the forester owners here on the forum had the issue resolved by replacing the brake light switch or bad ECM. then today he told me he turned the car on and all the lights were gone and cruise control/sports mode were available to use again.

he said it might be due to "bad gas", and that the car systems were trying to warn me, and it eventually corrected itself over the next couple of days thus turning the lights off by itself.

i guess im not too concerned since the car is under warranty for a while. did anyone get the same answer from the dealership? or did i just get fed with some bullcrap?

 

[toonchew]

well, perhaps it was ********. the lights came back on and i brought it back to the dealership that same day (5/31). the car stalled the morning before, i made a note of that to the subaru technician, as well as reminding him of the brake light switch or bad ECM as an answer to the problem. i got an update yesterday, saying the P0172 code (running rich) showed up again and with the stalling issue, he wants to start by replacing the fuel injectors, which has been ordered and awaiting arrival. i will post update when i hear something from them.

 

[Shora]

Count me as another one with this issue. All 3 lights on the dash just started showing up. Happened on and off for a week or so on a cross-country trip. Turning car off/on would reset them. But at some point the lights would not go off. This causes a problem. The transmission will not go into gear with the lights on. You will be stuck in park. Turning the car off/on multiple times would eventually allow me to shift into gear. Once in gear, everything seems to be fine with the lights on, except the cruise control won't work.

Got the forester to a dealer. Mechanic told me it was a faulty brake switch part. He claimed it was a cheap $15 part that he has already replaced multiple times on other new foresters. They could not get the part for days and he told me it was safe to drive. Also, the mechanic showed me how to reset the transmission lock. You may have noticed a small circular hole next to the gear shifter. Remove the small circular cover and push a pen or screwdriver down into it to reset the switch.

Drove another 300 miles with lights on to another dealership. (no cruise control) Other dealership had part and was a quick fix. Part number # 83311FJ000 for the switch. That dealer also claimed that the brake lights would not be working with the warning lights on. I did not actually check the lights and have no idea if I drove 300 miles without them on…..

In summary, newer foresters have a cheap $15 brake switch part that may very well go out on you. My forester is 2 years old with 45,000 miles. And the mechanic I talked to sounded like it was a common problem. Also, it's good to know what that small circular hole next to the shifter is for.

Thank you all for this thread. I had the said 3 lights come on 4 times this week. Always while driving on the highway and would always go out after shut down. No codes via OBD reader either.

Bought the replacement switch and can't figure out if I need to turn it left or right to loosen. It is not held on by nuts.

Usually, when I buy Subaru parts, they state Made in Japan. This replacement switch, bought at my local Subie Dealer, states Made in China.

Also, once I opened it, I noticed that it's Blue and states Nissan.

 

[GeoJosh]

Bought the replacement switch and can't figure out if I need to turn it left or right to loosen. It is not held on by nuts.

Service manual states that it should be turned counterclockwise to remove.

 

[Shora]

Thanks very much Josh. It was on so tight that I was going to attempt to turn in clockwise if you didn't look it up for me.

Since the lights only turned on for me 4 times and always while driving, decided to attempt to clean it as another member suggested in this thread. I have the new one on hand in case the cleaning doesn't work.

I knew that the OE switch was gray before removing it, that's why I mentioned that the new one is blue, but only upon removal did I notice that the OE switch is also stamped Nissan.

I took the OE switch apart and it looked perfectly clean. Didn't notice any grime or dirt but sprayed it with Mass Air Flow Sensor Cleaner since it's safe for sensitive metals and plastics and put it back in.

Will update this thread if it fails again and then I"ll install the new Blue switch.

 

[Anchorend]

This wonderful problem has revisited me, 13 months after repair (i assume they have a 12 month parts and labor warranty), Wondering if anyonme happpens to have the TSB that talks about how to adjust this "Correctly"? I was just going to shell out the 13 bucks and get the switch, and do it myself. The TSB thats listed is 06-46-14. Or has anyone else had this repaired and had the issue return? Are these switches just garbage and have to be replaced every 12k miles?

 

[coreyb]

2015 Limited with 14k miles : the check engine, hill assist, and vehicle dynamics warnings came on while driving on the highway... then the car started to violently shudder and we had to get towed. I haven't seen anyone mention hard shuddering in this thread but am wondering what could be wrong and if there's any connection.

 

[thornrag]

I can reliably reproduce this problem by starting the car cold and doing nothing else, sitting at idle for a few minutes. It happens more quickly if it's a hot day. It doesn't seem to happen when I'm moving... so if I start it up and get moving pretty quickly, I seem to avoid this problem.

I can also reliably clear all the codes just by starting up and shutting down the engine three times.

So the automatic reset thing tells me this is a transient sensor condition that throws a code, but that the code clears after three clean starts.

The sitting at idle thing makes me wonder if exhaust gases are floating around the car after a cold start and re-entering the intake system and faking out the sensors.

I can't rule out the brake switch, but I can't imagine how it's involved in what I'm seeing. As a habit, I apply the brake while starting, and I know I've seen this when I would have been applying the brake, but maybe I don't have my foot on the brake when I think I do.

I also didn't have any of this trouble until it started getting hot here in Texas. I do wonder whether the heat does something to the fuel/air mixture or emissions systems putting extra sulfur or carbon in the exhaust or something, or whether maybe the A/C being on full blast at start-up is overloading the electrical system and causing erratic behavior in the sensors.

I also wonder about the summer fuel blend putting something out of tolerances. I'm putting 93 in my turbo. I haven't been tracking the origin of the fuel, though I stick to what I would think are reputable Shell or Chevron branded stations… no discount stuff.

In other words, I'm wondering whether it is an actual fuel/emissions systems problem, perhaps a transient one, or whether it's touchy instrumentation.

 

[Anchorend]

So I went and purchased a new BLS. The guy at subaru knew exactly what I wanted and why based on the first couple of numbers from the part number. He had the box of them under the counter so he didnt have to go to the back to get them, because "subaru engineers dont know how to make a BLS"... interesting! I was able to politely ask him to print me Service Bulletin 06-55-16R, Posted 6/15/16 and revised 6/24/16 regarding this issue on 2014-2016 foresters, and a few other models. They have again changed the design of the brake light switch, From the grey to the blue, and the newest ones are blue and have a greenish paint mark/dot applied to it. I took the (old) switch apart just like Shora did out of curiosity, and noticed the contacts were covered in some kind of a grease or similar. I didnt open up the new one, but wonder if this is the issue at hand. I guess time till tell! switched it out and so far so good, though I think i might have the adjustment set for the brake lights to turn on a tad early, i think i like the idea of people knowing to stop sooner!

 

[mtbski]

This happened to me two hours from home. The vehicle ran fine but I also had a blinking check engine light and a blinking cruise light on. This was due to being overdue for the 30,000 mile service interval that my dealer didn't think to tell me about. My was easily cleared as hasn't been back on since then. You could be something similar in combination with a loose wire. Something to consider.