Battery Propulsion System Problems of Subaru Forester

Subaru Forester owners have reported 2 problems related to battery propulsion system (under the electrical system category). The most recently reported issues are listed below. Also please check out the statistics and reliability analysis of Subaru Forester based on all problems reported for the Forester.

1 Battery Propulsion System problem of the 2014 Subaru Forester

Failure Date: 09/06/2014

This problem has been getting progressively worst. The car has been having troubles turning over on cold starts, and has experienced a loss of propulsion and stall going up hill including a loss of brakes since I bought it a year ago. On 9/6/2014 the car was started and was idling high (approximately 4000rpm), check engine light was on, speed control light was on, incline alert light on, sport mode light was on and check emissions system light was on. Had to move the car out of the garage and it barely made it up the incline in the underground garage as it was not responding to the accelerator, called for a tow which never arrived and tried to restart out of frustration all lights were off and car I made it to the dealer which was not far away. Have already had the dealer inspect the car once to get to the bottom of the problem and they reported their diagnostics showed nothing was wrong and that car electrical\computer problems cannot be fixed until they break completely (or someone is hurt or injured perhaps). There was one more report similar to this on carcomplaints. Com that occurred at high speed. Seems to me that car is not safe at this point.

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2 Battery Propulsion System problem of the 2014 Subaru Forester

Failure Date: 03/14/2014

This vehicle is a Forester xt turbo. I was operating on cruise control at 78 mph, approximately 900 miles from home, when a sudden loss of propulsion occurred. Dashboard had multiple warning lights. Engine was still operating, though at very low rpm so I was able to maintain steering and braking control. After maneuvering to the side of the road, I noticed the tachometer was fluctuating between 500-800 rpm. I turned off the engine and was able to restart. The following warning lights were still illuminated: check engine, hill control, cruise control, and operating mode. Operating mode was stuck in "sport" mode. I was able to drive vehicle at normal speed to nearest dealer approximately 10 miles away. The service technician stated I had an error code of p0606. This is a voltage issue on the engine control module, (ecm). The corrective action is to re-flash the ecm computer chip. This is a restricted action, requiring a field service engineer to come to the dealer to do the procedure. The technician stated they had already experienced this with a vehicle they sold but the problem with the module usually occurs on engine start. The technician cleared the error codes and I continued on my trip. Upon returning to my home, I took the vehicle to my dealer to be serviced. My dealer stated they were one of the first to experience this issue. I am wondering why there has been no recall/notice to owners of this problem since it has been known for a while. It is frightening to lose power when cruising at highway speed.




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