Automatic Transmission Cooler Problems of Subaru Forester

Was driving about 20 mph on a 2 lane secondary road when an approaching vehicle's driver got my attention and said my car was on fire. I found a place to safely pull off the road and directed my spouse to quickly get out, move away from our car and call 911. There was smoke coming from under the hood so I opened it carefully and saw a wall of flame, just above the catalytic converter, and approximately the width of the radiator and about 6 inches in height. I had a bottle of water with me which I used to douse the flames before the fire department arrived. I had the car towed to my local repair shop where our mechanic found a burst transmission fluid cooling line which had sprayed fluid into the lower engine compartment and onto the hot catalytic converter which ignited the fluid. Just before I pulled off the road the transmission stopped operating effectively as I now know the fluid would have been low. At a higher speed the vehicle operation would have been dramatically hampered and the potential for a more explosive situation would have occurred if the flames had been forced further under the vehicle.

See all problems of the 2009 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Transmission oil cooling piping rusted through causing significant loss of transmission fluid within minutes resulting in a tow to the service garage. This is a known issue to Subaru as they issued a technical service bulletin - sb-10056871-1025 - on sept. 2, 2014 (#16-92-14). Fortunately, this happened within about 5 minutes of my home while driving <25 mph and I saw the puddle in my driveway and a stream of fluid on the road leading to my driveway. The result was a lot of spilled fluid and nearly a $500 repair bill to replace the cooling lines. My concern, however, is that this issue is not detectable while driving and would likely result in not only loss of the entire transmission, but I suspect could lead to an accident and potentially loss of life. If this is a known issue to Subaru and results in a complete loss of transmission fluid within probably minutes and could lead to not only massive transmission damage but also an accident and potentially loss of life, why isn't there a recall for this?.

See all problems of the 2010 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Transmission/computer malfunction. Initially driving through mountains, using sport # mode in low speed curves on old road. Had one 'surprise' episode where in a straight section of highway, transmission dowshifted suddenly, with rpms racing up to nearly 5000rpm, although I didn't touch the paddles, and didn't even have my hands on them. After reaching a normal straight highway out of the mountains, an hour later, while simply driving at 75mph, the engine lost power, gas pedal became unresponsive, rpms fell, vehicle was coasting down from highway speed, and transmission did several odd shifts with varying rpms, and decelerations. Coasted to a stop, flashers on, off the highway. Engine was not running. Starter motor worked. Engine would not start. Flashing lights on cruise control, check engine, and "at temp", and possibly others not recalled. Called spouse. Contacted towing service. Opened hood: fluids, oil level, etc all appeared normal when checked. Temp display in vehicle showed normal (219 degrees radiator temp). Tried turning key on/off repeatedly to see if computer would reset: no luck. Spouse called 30 min later: online research found removing plug next to transmission shift lever in center console, and using long screwdriver to press switch at bottom might reset some device. Tried it different times: key 'on', key 'off', etc, reset appeared to take effect with key 'off', then turned on. Vehicle now cooling down (45 minutes on roadside, not running). Now restarts when cranked. Various lights "check engine', 'at temp', cruise control light no longer flashing. Warning on panel stating "vehicle hill start assist not available" no longer showing. Car appears to run. Drove ~ 5 miles to roadside business. Cancelled tow. Checked car again. Drove gently to home city. Rescheduled flight to alaska vacation because of the delay.

See all problems of the 2014 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Transmission fluid leaking. Transmission cooling lines have leaks along weld seams. Weld seams have severe corrosion.

Engine had a porous block. Subaru of America has acknowledged this as a manufacturing defect. Experienced catastrophic loss of transmission fluid. Cause unknown. Car currently at new motors for repair. Matter has been referred to an attorney for possible action under state lemon laws.

See all problems of the 2000 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Bad seal on o ring of oil dip stick caused oil to overfill transmission fluid, car would stall due to lack of oil pressure. Dealer fixed after third visit.

See all problems of the 1998 Subaru Forester 🔎.