[Pappadan]

Hello,
My 2019 Forester Touring has roughly 2,000 miles since new. The power liftgate opened by itself sometime during the night. This morning the car would not start due to a drained battery. The car was locked tight last evening. A google search yielded this problem happening to other Subaru models of recent vintage. This problem occurred last week also. The dealer could not find any problems. Does anyone have any advice on this problem? BTW, my electronic battery charger would not work on the Forester with 2.4 residual volts showing on a multimeter. Thanks

 

[PearlWhite]

I found our 2019 forester unlocked one morning when leaving the hotel. I assumed I must have mistakenly pressed the unlock button from our room. Hasn't happened since. Good luck.

P. S. It's crazy this vehicle isn't smart enough not to leave the cargo light on draining the battery. Come on Subaru.

 

[Pappadan]

@PearlWhite Thanks for the feedback. I learned the hard way that you cannot leave the spare FOB inside the car thinking that the car is locked. Went downtown and intentionally left the wife's purse in the car covered with a blanket. Someone entered the car and took a few dollars in quarters. The good news is that they did not see the purse and did not steal the car. LOL

 

[Osceolakidt00!]

Had my sister use my Fozzi and back gate opened on her. IMO, the back gate should be a two step process to open it.

 

[GuusV]

I know that I'm not helping with the tailgate opening by itself issue but... On all of my Subarus (I have 3 foresters now), I have replaced all interior bulbs with LEDs. They consume much less energy that the incandescent versions. So, even though your tail-gate would have still opened, your battery would not have been dead.
My 2 cents...

 

[Mk2rocco]

Mine seemed to open at some point last night... I think I must have held the button on my fob without realizing it when I put my keys down.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[Naomi]

We have a 2019 Forester Touring and twice we have found the rear hatch open in the morning. Once it drained the battery. We turned the rear cargo area light to OFF. So this time the battery was okay, but it’s still a mystery as to how the rear gets open.

 

[boureesub]

@Naomi FYI
Even with the light off, there is still a power draw for those of us with 2019 power lift gates, and it‘s a good deal more than a single bulb. The car turns the light off for you after about 20 minutes.

 

[moriartyf]

The liftgate on my 2019 Forester Sport (bought new October 2018) has twice opened on it's own. The first time was a week ago. I thought it was something I did, but it just did it again. Luckily it was in my driveway both times.

 

[rattletrap]

Happened to me once too. Found the trunk to be wide open and I had my personal belongings in there along with my MacBook . Luckily it happened in a safe neighborhood and I also parked backwards, but still this was very concerning.

Since then I try not to leave any valuables in the car, but also pay more attention to where the key fob is. I had my wallet and other stuff in a pocket along with the key, so maybe I pressed on it by accident without realizing it.

 

[eps105]

If you keep your keys in your pocket, it is highly likely that the buttons are getting unintentionally depressed on your keyfob either from bending over or from something else in your pocket pushed against it. I notice this frequently when I am in my mudroom and bend over to put on my shoes, I'll sometimes hear the beeps of the doors locking or unlocking or liftgate opening in my adjacent garage.The liftgate requires the button to be held for about 1-2 seconds so that has only actually opened on my once or twice in the last year.

 

[JohnCNA]

I never had the lift gate open, but I had lots of instances of it unlocking 'by itself'. This was due to 'pocket dialing' with the fob in my pocket and not a defect in the car. I bought a set of rubber covers for the car fob and it hasn't happened since.

Amazon.com: Fontic Set of 2 Black Rubber Silicone Smart Key Fob Remote Cover Case Holder Protectors for 2016 2017 Subaru Forester Sti 2017 Outback 2015 2016 XV Crosstrek Impreza 2014-2017 BRZ 2016 WRX: Car Electronics

Amazon.com: Fontic Set of 2 Black Rubber Silicone Smart Key Fob Remote Cover Case Holder Protectors for 2016 2017 Subaru Forester Sti 2017 Outback 2015 2016 XV Crosstrek Impreza 2014-2017 BRZ 2016 WRX: Car Electronics

www.amazon.com

 

[rattletrap]

Oh nice! Going to buy it too just to be safe.

 

[vtdog]

I had the liftgate on my '19 Touring repaired this week. A new (updated?) door module was installed. The only goofy thing that happened was that the TPMS system reverted to kilopascal (kPa) (which is factory default) after fix. All other settings were unchanged. Quick return to PSI solved issue.

 

[pgh]

I had the liftgate on my '19 Touring repaired this week. A new (updated?) door module was installed. The only goofy thing that happened was that the TPMS system reverted to kilopascal (kPa) (which is factory default) after fix. All other settings were unchanged. Quick return to PSI solved issue.

The module for TPMS and the lift gate are the same

 

[rattletrap]

@vtdog, wondering what was broken that they had to replace the module?

 

[vtdog]

@rattletrap The lift gate was not opening, opening only part way, opened once overnight for no reason, would work from fob, not dash switch, or vice versa, etc. In short, it was screwed up. There is a TSB about replacing door module so they knew what the issue was.

 

[Montana Guy]

I have the same problem with a 2016 Subaru power gate. It's stranded me twice so far with a dead battery.
I'd love to hear a solution.

Until then, I wanted to share this: try disconnecting one of the battery terminals to recharge it. The failure mode leaves a motor solenoid operating (you can hear it rattle)... which overloads chargers.

I hope Subaru is listening. This is an inexcusable design fail.

 

[PISubaru]

I know that I'm not helping with the tailgate opening by itself issue but... On all of my Subarus (I have 3 foresters now), I have replaced all interior bulbs with LEDs. They consume much less energy that the incandescent versions. So, even though your tail-gate would have still opened, your battery would not have been dead.
My 2 cents...

I agree that the replacement of the stock bulbs with LEDs is a great idea. My interior bulbs are all LED. There have been two incidents where the tail-gate was left ajar. Both required a service call for a battery jump due to the drained battery issue.

 

[Tim63]

@rattletrap The lift gate was not opening, opening only part way, opened once overnight for no reason, would work from fob, not dash switch, or vice versa, etc. In short, it was screwed up. There is a TSB about replacing door module so they knew what the issue was.

I had to argue with my dealer, but they ordered this module for my 2019 Forester. I had all of those problems too. Just imagine your liftgate opening anytime, anywhere it is parked, killing your battery dead.