2017 Subaru Forester – Boo Hiss!
Just for fun, I surfed the internet this morning for mentions about Subaru Foresters and their batteries. (If you read yesterday’s Oysterville Daybook entry, you know that we are having battery problems with our car. Again.) Wow!
- Even More Dead Batteries: New Subaru Lawsuit Claims at Least Five Models Come With Defective Batteries
- A New Lawsuit Is Filed Against Subaru – More Dead Batteries
- Subaru Class Action Alleges Battery Defect
- Defects in the Subaru’s Electrical System Constantly Drain the Underpowered Batteries
2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser – Four Thumbs Up!
And on and on it went. The best explanation I found went like this: The batteries are draining due to issues with the vehicle’s controller area network (CAN). A CAN system helps all the electrical units, microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators communicate with each other.
The system is adequately powered while the vehicle is running, but should enter a sleep mode when the vehicle is turned off. But according to multiple class-action lawsuits, the system either doesn’t have a proper sleep mode or has software errors that prevent it from properly conserving power.
Instead, the system continues to draw power from the battery which is known as a parasitic drain. By the time an owner gets back to their car, there’s not enough power to crank the engine.
1974 Volkswagen Super Beetle – Two Thumbs Up!
Subaru has allegedly known about this issue since 2014. To their credit, Subaru has offered to replace some dead batteries under warranty. But the batteries aren’t defective, they just don’t have the necessary capacity and aren’t designed to continually be drained down to low volumes of power. As the parasitic drain continues, the batteries lifespan is shortened. And there’s only so many times it can be jumped before it just gives out altogether.
So replacing the OEM battery with another that has the same cold cranking amps, reserve capacity, and amperage hours, just won’t work in the long term.
The following vehicles have all had complaints about drained batteries, although the Ascent and Outback appear to have the most issues overall. 2019-2020 Ascent; 2015-2020 Forester; 2015-2020 Legacy; 2015-2020 Outback; 2015-2020 WRX
2013 Toyota Prius C – Two Thumbs Up!
When our friend Dale Weber called this afternoon to offer commiseration and advice, we had already made up our minds. We will keep next Thursday’s appointment at Box K, but I’m not fooling around with any diagnosis of the problem. I’m getting a new battery (for the second time) and then Nyel and I are going car shopping. If not immediately, soon.
And, no suggestions desired, thank you. “Once burned, twice shy,” as they say.
0 Comments