Wanted-Subaru expert, re: electrical (N. Shore)

[dontpanic]

Okay, NES brain trust: Who do you know that knows Subarus, and their electrics in particular?

Background:
In 2012, we bought an Impreza Premium hatchback. It lived outside and got little use. We gave it to our son two years ago with 9,000 miles on it (not a typo). Even now it has less than 31,000.

Symptoms:
1. Lights
Twice when we owned it, and three times under our son’s ownership it has lit its dash up like a Christmas tree with (almost) all the idiot lights illuminated. It will start and run, but the lights are worrisome. (See photos. Also note that the cruise control light comes on, too, and the oil-temp indicator starts flashing once underway.)

2. Driving
My son reports that it will sometimes hesitate badly when the accellerator is pressed, actually losing speed for several seconds, and then driving normally.

3. Codes
I had a cheap code reader and it would only reference a PRNDL sensor. Given that, I chose to continue to drive it and the lights would extinguish in about a week. (I didn’t experience the driving issues that my son does, so I didn’t see it as a safety issue at the time. It’s now a safety issue and needs to be fixed.)

Miscellaneous
The battery is less than two years old. It has been to IRA Subaru for recalls related to valve springs and a brake-light switch. It has had its steering rack replaced after the original cracked and lost fluid on one side.

My guess:
I’m thinking this could be a bad ground somewhere that’s causing a funky signal to go to the ECU, which is responding with the light show. However, I know my diagnostic skills are weak, and it’s time to consult a pro.

My request:
Please let me know where the experts on the North Shore hang out. We need to have this addressed by a pro.

Please feel free to let me know your ideas, too, though I don’t have immediate access to the car to test out ideas, otherwise I would certainly do so!!

Many thanks,

dontpanic

P.S. You’ll see this cross-posted on NESR, as well.

[golden chicken]

Difficult thing to diagnose with it being an intermittent problem. Offhand thoughts could be mouse damage or water damage, but I'm not familiar enough to point you to specific places to look.

Any smells in the interior, musty or animal type? Ever pop the hood to look for nests or acorns and things?

[butcher bergs]

Check/ clean battery terminals.

I just went through a similar set of events where the entire dash was lighting and a bunch of other weird electrical stuff.

In the end, there was corrosion between the terminal and the post. I scrubbed everything and all is well

[RandyO]

On my V-strom, a bunch of electric issues traced back to one corroded terminal on the ECU

[snwbrdr435]

This have a CVT trans?

[PurplePackage]

You need to provide a lot more info here. Next time, write down what you were doing when it happened. Science 101.
Do you know if it happened in rain, fog, cold, or hot weather?
How many days did you let it sit? How long until it went back to normal? Seconds or minutes?
Plug in one of those cigarette voltage monitors, find your nearest highway, and go wide open throttle a half dozen times, write down the voltages during WOT, and report back.

https://smile.amazon.com/Charger-Ada.../dp/B08N4WKJMT

[Garandman]

Peabody Sunoco did all the work on five of our Subarus.

There is a specialist garage in Salem called Boxer Motor Works.

I’ve had some pesky electrical gremlins fixed by an auto sound shop.

[TheIglu]

Our old Impreza had bad grounds. I made a good ground out of some heavy gauge wire and went from a bolt on the engine to the chassis. It helped, but didn't fix everything.

[G21forme]

No clue, but on both my foresters the check engine light comes on the cruise light will blink as well.

[Stoneman]

3. Codes
I had a cheap code reader and it would only reference a PRNDL sensor. Given that, I chose to continue to drive it and the lights would extinguish in about a week. (I didn’t experience the driving issues that my son does, so I didn’t see it as a safety issue at the time. It’s now a safety issue and needs to be fixed.)

Did you ever actually look into replacing said sensor?

[dontpanic]

Thanks, everyone.

Answers, in order (sorta):
No evidence of animals that I can see or smell.
Battery terminals and connections were thoroughly cleaned when the battery was installed 18 months ago (not two years as I wrote earlier); no change.
Yes, it has a CVT.
I'll ask my son to start a logbook to gather more data.
The car is due for an oil change and he's going to have the shop check the grounding strap(s) and replace if needed.
No, I was a dummy and never replaced the PRNDL sensor.

Thanks for suggesting Peabody Sunoco and Boxer Motor Works. We'll definitely check them out.

Great stuff, guys. Thanks again.

[obsolete]

Being an idiot with electrical stuff (and a lot of other things actually) I learned to get good grounds before anything else. Even if it doesn't fix the problem you've eliminated it as an issue and fixed it for future issues that could happen.

[butcher bergs]

Grounds are certainly a good idea. I would still remove the terminals and clean.

I put a new battery in my Tundra 2 or so years ago and the truck started going bonkers a few weeks ago. Brown outs, dash lights, poor engine performance, intermittent no start. Thought I was replacing the starter at one point. Turns out a very light brown dust coated both connections between the terminal and post.

[FriskyDingo]

It appears you have your "answer", so this is just more of an FYI to at least remove the terminal corrosion issue in the future, started using this a few years ago:

[tls25rs]

It appears you have your "answer", so this is just more of an FYI to at least remove the terminal corrosion issue in the future, started using this a few years ago:

Agreed that it does help delaying if not preventing the issues being discussed however it makes your under hood area look less than aesthetically pleasing. Big red splotch on your battery that likes to attract and capture dirt particles.

[e30addict]

Agreed that it does help delaying if not preventing the issues being discussed however it makes your under hood area look less than aesthetically pleasing. Big red splotch on your battery that likes to attract and capture dirt particles.

I've always just used a petroleum jelly on the posts.

[Garandman]

We use Dielectric Grease. Available at any auto parts store.

My Triumph had it in every connector.

[RandyO]

We use Dielectric Grease. Available at any auto parts store.

My Triumph had it in every connector.

on battery terminals and ground connections (both ends) I use Deoxit conductive grease


when you check cables, check both ends, the battery and where it bolts to the body, frame, or engine, same with positive, check the batter solenoid connection, fuse block connection

[dontpanic]

I talked with my son today. The shop found a code referencing a transmission sensor and recommended TransMedic in Windham. They said the drivability issue was the ECU's fail-safe mode. He hasn't decided yet whether to go there or to check out Boxer Motor Works, but we've got a diagnosis and a plan to address the issue.

BTW, I used to coat the outside of battery connections with a thin coating of regular wheel-bearing grease on the recommendation of my buddy the mechanic. (I switched to dielectric grease a while back.)

[PurplePackage]

Do yourself a favor and get a Bluetooth OBDII and CAN reader. It will tell you what's going on and can capture data for analysis:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NLQAHS

[snwbrdr435]

Im guessing its the valve body in the transmission. How many miles are on the car? Had to send our forester in to get that replaced but it was covered under a warranty.... Sold the thing soon after.