Wiring problems of the 2009 Subaru Outback

The car intermittently bucks/chugs while driving and then stalls. All the lights flash on. It is difficult to restart. It has happened on the highway and local streets. It also idles very rough when at stops or in park and shudders like it wants to stall - sometimes it does. This has been going on for 2 months now. The first time, I was stopped at a red light and it stalled creating a hazardous situation. My mechanic has attempted to fix it and then he has taken it to the local Subaru dealership where it has spent almost 2 months off & on while they "fixed" it. They give it back and it is back to them within a week with the same issue. The last time they replaced a map sensor and some wiring. This is hazardous and the vehicle is unsafe. It feels like they just keep clearing out the error and giving it back to me.

There is a well documented faulty design issue that leads to failure of the wiring harness (rear gate cord) to the rear wagon door/gate of this model Subaru ouback wagons. Failure of the wiring harness has affected me while driving the vehicle. As this issue has progressed, more and more wires break, completely severed, and lead to the rear lock not working, then backup lights not working, rear defroster not working, wiper not working, and license plate light not working. This is a safety issue, especially the backup lights, rear defroster, rear wiper, and locking mechanism not working at all! these compromise visibility and car safety. This faulty design, or faulty material choice is clearly Subaru's fault: severed electrical wires, as a result of normal use, should not be acceptable, especially when they compromise safety by disabling backup lights and the rear lock. While the replacement cable itself is only $63, the Subaru dealerships want to charge over $500 in labor. I am really disappointed that there has been no recall, or support on this issue from Subaru of America. I cannot find any official response from Subaru on this issue. I don't think it's fair to have loyal customers like myself, pay excessive labor charges to fix a safety problem that is a design flaw from Subaru.

The wiring in rear hatch in really bad shape some showing the copper and two completely broke apart. Causing the latch not to work and alarm going off. Rear wiper not working.

After fuses blown repeatedly and replaced, rear wiper, washer pump and lock ceased to operate for perhaps a year. Recently the headlights got real funky - would not operate in normal "on" position. But then some strange behavior when shifted into reverse (ignition on without starting to allow shifting). Headlights still not lit in either off or on position, but then came on as switch moved back from headlights on to running lights position! I happened upon the video mentioned in an earlier post about rear wiring harness issue which easily could have been related to wiper/lock issue, so took a look. Inspection revealed 11 severed wires with a clump of 5 or so melted together and another 3 wires nearly severed (see photos). Dealer says he'll replace wiring harness for $350 -500, and had a same generation Outback in the shop for same work. Service mgr suggested a call to Subaru customer care line. If you have goofy electrical issues, especially in rear, check the wiring inside boot from body to door on upper right side. It's not easy to get at as wires are short, which may have led to quite a serious, um, short. Call Subaru before your headliner ignites. . .

Rear hatch wiring has worn to the point of fully breaking four and damaging five other wires out of approximately 14 total going through the flexible boot between the body and the hatch on the passenger side of the vehicle. Systems affected: rear wiper, rear lock, possibly the brake light and license plate lights. This was damage incurred over time of normal use, opening the hatch no more than once per day.

The rear gate wiring harness failed, causing rear brake lights and tail lights to stop working. Without replacing the rear gate wiring harness ($88. 80 parts + $448. 80 labor + 51. 07 tax) soon the rear wiper and defrost would not work and the back hatch would lock. This is a serious safety issue, I want to see a recall and reimbursement of $588. 67 from Subaru of America.

The brake lights, hatch lock, wiper and other electrical components on the rear part of my Subaru 2009 Outback stopped working or working erratically. I checked the rubber boot containing the rear wiring harness for damage and discovered 13 out of 14 wires were either completely broken, or the insulation was worn, exposing bare conductor. In addition to the rear electrical issues, I replaced the bulbs for the headlights at least four times in a two year period. The am channel on my radio no longer receives signals. The rear electrical problems are causing a safety hazard due to the brake/tail lights not functioning, or the rear windshield wiper not working. Subaru is not responsive to this design flaw.

09 Outback was blowing fuses on the door lock circuit. Put in a new fuse and it would blow in a few days, often when car washed or driven in rain (or perhaps when rear hatch operated). Last replacement fuse has held for a few weeks now, through summer. Then the rear wiper stopped working. . Read more...

Problem 1: experienced rear wiper (station wagon) not working. Car still under warranty, took it to the dealer and was told the wiring harness that goes through the hinge area was broken. It was repaired. Now the car has 72,000 miles and I am having rear wiper problems again as well as the rear door not locking. Wires frayed and broken again. This is a known issue both with Subaru and on the forums on the web. This is a poor design and possibly dangerous as it can cause the rear lights to fail. Failure time frame was almost double mileage from the previous failure. (35,251 - 72,000). Problem 2: air bag light keeps coming on. Have had it to the mechanic several times to be checked out and reset. This is also a known problem with Subaru and on the web forums. This is a serious safety issue as the air bags could fail to deploy. Subaru may say the airbags are a "secondary" safety feature, but to me they are extremely important. Airbag deployment can be the difference between life and death in an accident. Please investigate!.