These warning lights came on yesterday morning and in addition, I wasn’t able to shift out of Park. Abortive attempts followed as I turned the car off and back on, until I learned to attempt to shift three or four times in sucession and then it would let me, with the lights staying on.
So far the lights have gone out after a short drive, and I know the car is OK to drive even with them on; those system just won’t be enabled. I also know the workaround to getting it out of Park – multiple tries at it.
2015 Subaru Impreza; it looked normal at the garage because I had driven the short distance there and then turned off the car – so they couldn’t see any codes anymore. I mentioned not being able to shift but since they considered it a fluke thing they didn’t say much about the shifting and clearly I was able to get to the garage after all.
My question is – is it expected that these lights coming on also affect shifting like this? Is it because I would somehow miss my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree so it hits me over the head with this shifting thing? Or could there be something else going on?
Yes, that’s normal. The people who designed the car want you to take some time to consider whether you should really be driving around with a brake fault.
Incidentally, there should be a little plastic pop-out panel somewhere near the shifter that covers a button you can hold to override the shift lock.
Thanks so much! So far it has resolved itself but if it works out that I can drive to the garage and have them read the codes, I will. I will also check for the panel.
So, these lights come on randomly now. Sometimes they are on when I start the car, and either I can shift no problem, or I have to try to shift a bunch of times and eventually can put it in gear. Sometimes they come on after I have been driving for some period of time, and they come on when I hit the brakes.
The PITA part is when they are on, I can’t use cruise control.
I guess at this point I am still assuming it’s fluky, and I just need to bring it in to have the code read. The part about it coming on when I hit the brakes makes me think something is loose…? Any thoughts are appreciated.
Is there a reason you haven’t taken a 2015 car in to the dealer yet? Is it not still under warranty? It sounds worrying.
Anyway, did you pop out the little button on the shifter so you can put it into gear? That way you don’t have to turn the car on and off.
It’s totally unrelated but I had a fuse burn out in my Impreza when it was brand new and had to drive around with a screwdriver in the cup holder to push into the button under that pop out and manually put it into gear. They replaced the fuse for free because it was fairly new.
The dealers around here aren’t the best and I hope to take it to the neighborhood place even under the warranty. Right now it’s more of an annoyance than anything else since the antilock brakes aren’t essential to me.
ETA: I did find the little popout but have been able to jiggle the gearshift enough to get it going without that, so far.
Thanks for the kick in the pants! I will plan to take it first thing tomorrow. Again this morning it wasn’t on when I started but came on when I braked at the top of the hill. So I can be pretty sure it will reproduce itself to be looked at.
I haven’t had antilock brakes before so I don’t really miss them, but of course it would be nice to have the car in working order!
Well, I’m at least interested in what the problem turns out to be, if only because I have a nearly-identical car.
Another reason to get the problem checked out is that the AWD and the traction control use some of the same components as the ABS, so those may not be working normally with the ABS fault.
I’m not sure why the prior guy didn’t get any codes, but the woman there today was able to pull one. If I saw it over her shoulder correctly, it was one of these:
DTC C0151 Right TCS Solenoid #1 CKT Malfunction
DTC C0156 Right TCS Solenoid #2 CKT Malfunction
She said it would be covered under warranty but she’d have to charge me. She estimated an hour and so I am taking it there in the morning since I’d rather pay them than endure the Subaru dealer for free.
“C codes are general trouble codes and usually fixed by replacing user servicable parts, reconfiging the module with a Tech2, or fixing a broken wire.”
My WAG is that a critter messed with the wires and then died, because there has been a faint odor in the cabin not traceable back to anything in the cabin. But OTOH he should be a Popsicle and odor-free at this time of year!
How bad can the Subaru dealers be?
I have always taken a car to the dealer when it is under warranty.
I don’t want to worry you needlessly but I can envision a scenario where the car is not fixed correctly after going to this mechanic, and when you end up at the Subaru place, they say you voided the warranty by going to the first mechanic.
Kind of a worse case scenario, but car repair is expensive.
Good luck! And please update us as I also have a 2015 Subaru.
Subaru can’t say the warranty is void because you took the car to an independent shop (unless they say the particular problem was caused by said shop) but for an actual repair I’d still hold my nose and take it to the dealer if I were you. The risk is that if the problem ends up being some sort of intermittent thing that reoccurs and is perhaps more expensive than at first thought, you want to have made a warranty claim as early as possible.
One worst-case scenario is if your independent mechanic fixes whatever with the sensor, but then the same problem comes back after the warranty is out. If you’d had the original repair done as a warranty claim, it should still be covered despite the warranty being out. A perhaps even-worst case is if you end up needing to make a lemon law claim, the independent shop visit won’t count towards that.
You don’t have to use the dealer you bought the car from, and I’m guessing there’s no shortage of Subaru dealers up in your neck of the woods, so maybe take a drive and try another one?
Thank you guys for your advice, I do appreciate it and I know that at some point I may have to suck it up and go to a dealer. For this one I did go in this morning and the fix was straightforward for now.
Naturally my elderly brain remembered wrong; the code was C1531 Brake Light Switch Fault. TSB 06-46-14 Brake Light Switch Adjustment Procedure which seemed to involve adjusting the pedal ?? by two tiny grooves. He said he got it within spec but to bring it back if it happens again (not comforting but I understand what he was saying).
The adventure continues.
Dealers aren’t as plentiful as you might hope.
One across the river in VT – convenient but most people consider them shady and a friend had to threaten to call the police because they wouldn’t release his car because he wouldn’t pay for work they had erroneously put on his bill.
One down south in NH, 1.5 hours away – this is where I bought it from; I took it down for the first service because if you keep going there you get free oil changes and inspections. I waited two hours for what they said would be an hour to an hour and a half, and they hadn’t done part of the work ordered. I expect some delays but not forgetting the work, and it is a long drive.
It’s ba-ack! Last night it was umpteen tries (I didn’t count) to shift out of Park and as I was about to give up, it let me shift. This morning it took 43 tries at shifting (yes that time I counted), then I turned off the car and turned it back on and the lights did not come on. Oh, this car is an enigma. I’m taking it to a dealer this time (not The Car Store) and will see if they do anything different.
I just try to keep telling myself it’s minor, it’s a good car and runs fine other than this little glitch. And maybe they will actually find a solution. /hope springs eternal Thankfully it’s been a mild winter with little need for the ABS.
Sorry to be blogging about this, but since there was some interest – the dealer pulled the same code as the local garage, C1531 Brake Light Switch Fault. This time “tech found failed brake switch”. He explained it as the brake not knowing I was braking. Makes sense it wouldn’t let me shift out of Park – the other warning lights were misleading.
Supposedly I will have no more problems with this, and it was covered under the warranty.
