Engine And Engine Cooling Problems of Subaru Forester - part 1

2020 Subaru Forester periodically will stall out at a light or stop sign in heavy traffic. It then takes several attempts to restart. (sometimes completely dead) my mechanic hasi changed the battery and checked the alternator, all in working order. It’s hard to figure out what is wrong because it doesn’t happen all the time.

See all problems of the 2020 Subaru Forester 🔎.

When stopped at an intersection the car stalled. It would not restart for three minutes and caused a dangerous situation for my family and children in the car while traffic was moving. There were no warning signs, lights, or engine codes. The problem is random and cannot reproduced. The car is available for inspection.

We were traveling in rural California, 1 hour north of bishop, CA on CA-120 when our vehicle's "check engine" light, "parking break" light, and several other lights lit up on our dashboard. Our car began to stall out immediately. We were able to pull off to the side of the road as best as we could as we were towing a camper at the time as well. We waited for 4 hours to get our vehicle and camper towed 1 hour away to a mechanic. The mechanic couldn't fix our car, but we were able to get an engine code reader to clear the codes as they came up. The closest Subaru dealership was 4 hours away in las vegas, nv. We had to drive through mountains and death valley. Despite using the engine code reader to clear codes every 30 seconds, our car stalled out 6 times on the way. The problem was the thermo control valve for p26a6, a known problem with Subaru vehicles like ours. We had our vehicle serviced in July 2025 for 60,000 miles and the dealership did not say anything about this known issue.

Car has died 10+ times in the last 2 weeks. Will not hold a charge and it’s getting to the point that my car is dying in the middle of the road, during heavy traffic. That or the car will just not start unless jumped.

See all problems of the 2019 Subaru Forester 🔎.

I, the owner of a 2020 Subaru Forester am writing to you in regards to an issue with my vehicle’s eyesight program. Over the past month, there have been several instances where the eyesight program fails and caused the vehicle to suddenly stop without warning. This prevents me from safely moving the vehicle to the side of the road as the car stops. In other words, the car abruptly stops on the spot. This creates an immediate danger to life and health to myself and to other motorists. This issue must be addressed immediately and the necessary steps taken to ensure the safety the driver, passengers and other motorists on the road. Thank you for understanding.

Parasitic battery drain.

While driving the vehicle I began to hear a loud grinding noise from the engine compartment when the a/c was engaged. I pulled over to look under the hood and it sounded like the noise was coming from the serpentine belt. Upon inspection by a Subaru dealership it was determined that the a/c compressor is failing. I was informed that there was a known issue with the 2018 Forester a/c compressor and the compressor has been redesigned. I was also informed that if I postponed repair then the compressor could seize up with would cause the serpentine belt to break which would then cause immediate engine failure. Such failure could be extremely dangerous if it happens when driving on a highway, etc. There was no warning light that appeared when the grinding noise started. I also listen to music when I drive so it was lucky that I heard the noise before the compressor seized. If Subaru had to redesign the compressor then it seems reasonable that a recall should be issued to prevent engine failure. All routine maintenance has been preformed on this vehicle at the dealership in a timely fashion. There is 78,000 miles on the vehicle and I am the original owner.

See all problems of the 2018 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Vehicle began surging during acceleration. Dealer stated that the engine intake valves had carbon deposits that were causing performance issues including poor fuel economy, increased emissions and running concerns. The valves required a cleaning to correct the issue. This is a 4 year old vehicle with only 38,000 miles, this is unacceptable for issues like this so soon. Estimated cleaning cost is $300 and is mentioned no where in the scheduled maintenance information.

See all problems of the 2021 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Driving on the garden state parkway in NJ on August 1st at approximately 1pm my car just stopped in traffic and steering locked up and all lights came on dashboard along with a constant beeping sound-I was in the middle of a four lane highway traveling south-I could not get out of my car and feared someone would hit me as I was a "sitting duck" while cars were swerving around me-my only saving grace was that my flashers worked after I turned them on-I called roadside assistance as I was starting to panic and was told they could not help me as I was on a private road-I saw a helicopter overhead and at the same time a police office weaving in and out of traffic behind me to slow and stop the traffic-he then proceeded to push my car off the road with his car to the shoulder and called a tow truck-car was towed to nearest Subaru dealer where they performed a diagnostic test and found nothing wrong with my car!! how could that be?? I was then charged for the test and the tow-have called Subaru customer care several times but they say they cannot help me because the test result showed nothing-please help me as I no longer have peace of mind driving this vehicle and I am a single woman in my 70's who needs to drive long distances several times a month- there were no previous warnings in my car it just stopped.

My Subaru smelled like gas and caught on fire while I was driving to work less than 72 hours after it left the service department at the local Subaru dealership. Earlier that week I dropped the car off for service due to a check engine light and multiple other warning lights on the dashboard. The check engine light was determined to be due to a faulty thermo control valve (a known issue on several models of 2019-2021 Subarus). During that service appointment, the thermo control valve was replaced under warranty, the 60000 mile service, state inspection, and an oil change/tire rotation were completed. The morning of the incident, the car smelled like gas, but there were no warning lights on the dashboard and the temperature and gas gauges were all in range. While looking for a safe place to pull over on the side of the road, the gas smell worsened, I heard a pop, the check engine light and every single other light on the dashboard lit up, it smelled like burning jet fuel, and the front of the car was smoking and there were flames, and all mechanical and electrical control of the vehicle was compromised. The car coasted to the side of the right lane. I was unable to operate the gear shift to put the car in park. I opened the driver’s side door, removed my seatbelt, grabbed my backpack, lunch bag, and phone, and exited the vehicle while it was still rolling. I ran around the back of the car to get onto the side walk. Flaming, melting pieces of plastic were coming off the bottom of the car. Flames and smoke were visible on the front hood of the car. I called 911 while the car continued to roll across several lanes onto the other side of the road. The burning car rolled and hit a guardrail on the opposite side of the road and continued to burn until the local fire department arrived on scene. Local police and the fire inspector wrote reports. My insurance declared the car a total loss. I have informed the local dealership and worked to get them access to the vehicle.

I was stopped at a red light and the engine stalled. It read "for safety, auto restart disabled". All warning lights on the dashboard lit up. I had to put the car in park and restart it in order to drive. I was honked at and put in a dangerous position. This has happened at least twice now.

I just found out that there was a problem with oil consumption in a 2014 Subaru Forester. I purchase it two years ago. Is there anything they can do to fix it.

See all problems of the 2014 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Yesterday 6/19/25 I was driving out the driveway when the vehicle accelerated on its own, and not slowly, but like it had been punched. I was actually coasting at the time since I didn't want to stir up dust. My foot was not on the gas pedal. And it was not the floor mat. It happened on its own, the first time in 87,000 miles. It probably cannot easily be replicated as it was completely random, although now that it's happened once, it very well could happen again if there's a faulty or aging part or sensor. Neither the local dealer nor Subaru has acknowledged the problem (I called both today) but it's a serious safety issue. No check engine light or other means of warning. It just happened out of nowhere. Glad I was in the driveway and not in town waiting while a pedestrian was crossing the street.

During severe stop/go, thick, holiday traffic on I-495 (DC beltway), during daylight hours, once again (this has happened several times before), the auto engine shutoff feature catastrophically malfunctioned, turning the car off, and simultaneously, activated the entirety of the dashboard to flash on/off, causing nearly every indicator light to come on, and then had difficulty restarting. This has been brought to Subaru's attention multiple times and they essentially have washed their hands of it and stating since they can't duplicate it, it essentially must not be occurring and they cannot repair it.

My Subaru suddenly had numerous warning lights go on. Took it to the dealer and they said it was due to a recalled part: thermo control valve. They replaced it for free but said my head gaskets needed to be replaced after checking my oil for $4000 plus. I believe the recalled part caused the head gasket issue and shouldn’t have to pay also the mileage is only 66k.

My car is a 2019 suaru Forester 54,268mi I was driving from houston to dallas on the freeway during a thunderstorm on [xxx] [xxx]. I got off the freeway and was almost on the road near my house when my car engine suddenly died, I had no control of my car, my car engine would not start anymore. I had no problems with my car before. I towed it home the next day and had it checked with a scanner and it came up with about 25 check engine codes. 5/14/2025 Subaru dealer (ewing of plano) had it checked and had the thermo control valve replaced because it was bad. They had no previous notices or recalls. If my car had stopped in the middle of the freeway it could have been a major accident. . Other people's lives are important. . Please look into this issue information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

2021 Subaru Forester limited- stop start when stopping at a red light. Sometimes the engine does not restart when releasing the brake pedal. Message on dash put car in park and press start. Occurred. April 24 2025 and may 5 2025.

Subaru forrester was misfiring and sputtering as if it was going to stop running. The car was shaking. Had car towed to Subaru dealer for service. At first we thought spark plugs and ignition coils but this did not fix the issue. Service determined a spring valve was broken which caused the issues. I have escalated the issue with Subaru corporate, waiting for their response. Other Subaru models have had this issue with the spring valves.

See all problems of the 2016 Subaru Forester 🔎.

Was stopped at traffic light. Start stop system was engaged. Engine turned off as normal. When I took my foot off the brake the engine did not engage and the eyesight warning light came on that the eyesight system was not functioning. Put the car in park and engaged the ignition button and the engine started. Turned off the start stop system and the car functioned normally after that. Have read postings on Subaru forum that this has happened to others.

Auto start/stop shut off engine at drive thru line. Locked up brakes and could not get it to unlock and restart car. It has happened on a number of occasions. After multiple attempts trying and letting it sit for a couple of hours, somehow got it to unlock and start. Thank goodness we haven’t gotten into an accident.

Currently suspected that the vehicle battery was installed incorrectly during assembly. Engine fire started at the battery wiring and vehicle was a total liss.

See all problems of the 2023 Subaru Forester 🔎.

At signal/stop sign or in stop and go traffic, engine shuts down. Car is in park. Engine (or car) makes beeping noise when this happens. Eyesight disabled shows on the screen (however this has nothing to do with that) there's existing lawsuit for cars until 2020. This problem exists for some 2021 model as well. Similar problem: [xxx] this is a recurring intermittent issue. Can't reproduce consistently information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The contact owns a 2022 Subaru Forester. The contact stated that while her husband was stopped at a stoplight, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to move. There were three abnormal beeps heard. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

See all problems of the 2022 Subaru Forester 🔎.

When I first noticed that my car wasn’t heating properly, it was in may 20 24 when I purchased the car and carvana dropped it off to my place of residency. When I notified someone of this issue, they told me it probably just needed coolant. I did as instructed and noticed that I was adding in coolant frequently. On February 19, 2025 I returned home one evening and noticed that smoke coming from my car and coolant was leaking from underneath. I called roadside assistance in order to get my car towed and into service at the Subaru dealership. After inspection, the mechanic noticed that there was oil inside the coolant suggesting that there may be an issue with the head gaskets then warned me not to drive my car because there could be further issue with the engine as a result of the head gasket being blown.

Periodically, the vehicle stalls at stop lights, stop signs, and in other situations when coming to a complete stop. Once the vehicle comes to a complete stop and turns off due to the auto-stop/start function, it stalls immediately after the car re-starts and you press the gas pedal. This leaves the vehicle stalled in intersections and in potentially dangerous conditions. You must engage park and restart the vehicle while stopped in the middle of traffic, which poses a significant safety risk. I believe this issue is related to the auto-stop/start functionality. The vehicle has been inspected by a Subaru dealer several times, but they claim they cannot reproduce the problem and there are no diagnostic codes or warning lights. No other mechanic has inspected the vehicle.

My Forester just totally shuts down sometimes from the auto start feature in traffic or intersections . Errors come up . The wheel locks and I must put the car in park , turn it off and turn it back on. Very scary and very dangerous.

We were driving at 70mph on the freeway, left lane, and suddenly the car lost power as if the fuel pump went out. We had to suddenly get over to the shoulder of the freeway, almost got hit, then limped along the shoulder until we called a tow truck which towed us 40 miles to Subaru dealer. The dealer looked at the car and "couldn't find anything. " now we are afraid to drive the car.

For the second time we were on the freeway at a hight speed and the car suddenly lost power, all the warning lights came on, and we had to get off the freeway (dangerously). We almost got hit, and other cars had to brake radically. We took it in to Subaru and they said the catalytic converter was bad. They replaced the catalytic converter, and when they took it for a test ride, they found that the second catalytic converter was bad. Apparently they have two. The car must have suddenly lost power for them, too. We have 85k miles on the car, and the Subaru warranty for the catalytic converter is 80k. We're into it for thousands of dollars, but the most important reason I'm making this report is that someone is going to get killed on the freeway because of these failing catalytic converters, and it might not be people in the Subarus. The car just died at that speed in the left lane, and it was a miracle no one was killed. (I'm not sure if I have my date quite right. My calendar is not at hand). Note: Subaru is having a hard time getting the part, a delay, they say, of many days, so that makes me think that this is happening widely, and that these catalytic converters are getting replaced at an unanticipated rate.

At 40936 the valve body needed to be replaced. With such low milage vehicle is having problems.

My car has required multiple jumps and batteries, since I bought it new. I have records of the services for jumps, and new batteries. The car continues to have a parasitic battery drain, that has caused me to be stranded multiple times. The car is currently at the dealership, and they want to do a dcm test to see if this is cause. I was not informed of battery class action lawsuit, and extension of dcm warranty by Subaru. The dealership staff never discussed this with me as a possible cause, and that I may be eligible for warranty.

Ticking noise on cold start up as well as reduced acceleration speed and torque. Diagnostics point me to believe the avcs solenoids are beginning to fail prematurely. This has not been confirmed by a dealership and the issue is reproduced during any driving. There are no cel lights active or codes stored. The vehicle currently has 74,*** miles. The issue started within the last 6 months. This is a safety concern when attempting to get up to highway and freeway onramps or getting up to merging or passing speeds.

12/14/24-I was stopped at a red light at a very busy intersection. The engine was in stop mode by the start/stop feature. When the light turned green, the car failed to start. The entire car shut down, with alarms sounding and dash lights flashing. The entire system had to reboot before I could restart the car. It was a freighting experience. Fortunately, I wasn't killed by traffic zooming by or by some person with road rage. 12/16/24-issue evaluated by local Subaru dealer. Their evaluation was that when the auto start feature was activated, my car battery was too low to work. There was zero warning about a low battery before this failure in traffic. I had to buy a new battery. The auto start/stop feature is not an enhancement, but a safety hazard. Owners should be able to permanently disable this unnecessary drain on batteries and starters. I did a search, and there are plenty of others that experienced similar issues with their Subarus.

When I break and stop the car power is reduced, at times it stalls out and be hard to start again when starting back up in traffic. This is also starting to happen in my other forrester of the same year.

Subaru Forester engine stalls at an intersection due to auto start stop feature of Subaru to save fuel, except that this is the second time when engine is idling it lowers the revs and then it stalls when trying to auto start engine; first time the dealer said is battery issue, I replaced the battery at my cost, and this is the second time. It is dangerous because there are oncoming traffic and I have only a split second to turn on my flashing lights. This is a brand new battery install on 9/2024.

"check engine" light along with "eye sight" appeared suddenly on Nov. 22, 2024. All safety systems along with cruise control became inoperable. Took car to Subaru dealer and it was confirmed to be the catalytic converter. My VIN is covered under extended warranty, but I was never notified of this. Plus, now repairs are of an emergency nature. Also, I do a lot of driving including on the NJ turnpike, I-95, etc. , and while I am awaiting car to be repaired, I have no safety features to rely on--which was one of the reasons I bought a Subaru. They will not pay for a courtesy car loan. Another issue is the thermo control valve. I was notified that I have an extended warranty for this, but part has to fail before Subaru will make repairs. Once again this becomes an emergency repair situation instead of a proactive one.