2018 Forester Dash lights after Valve Body replacement...

[Liberty610]

Hi everyone.

I Am having an issue with a 2018 Forester that I thought was fixed, but we are seeing the Christmas lights on the dashboard again. It's a 2.5i Limited model. and we are about to hit the 133,000 mile mark on it. Overall, we have had very few issues with it, We bought it brand new off the lot in September of 2017, and we have only had to do general maintenance to it outside of one wheel barring and a new exhaust. And most recently we had to do a right control arm/sway bar/tirod replacement,

A few months ago, the exhaust was getting a little loud, so we made plans to get it replaced. My mechanic hooked his scanner to it, and it was showing that the valve body was starting to go on it, and he had warned me that the dash lights/check engine light would find their way on sooner or later because of it. And eventually it happened. The dash lights all came on, and it would prevent all the eyesight and cruise control features from working. The dash lights would eventually go off after driving it for a while and it would assume normal operation. I assumed this was being caused by the ageing valve body. The lights would come and go over the course of several weeks while, as we had a hell of a time getting Subaru to get a valve body to us.

One of the odd behaviors the car would do from time to time while waiting for the valve body, was when accelerating, especially up a hill, the RMP gauge would bounce a little and you could hear the engine slightly revving up and down a bit. My mechanic assumed it was related to valve body needing replaced. We avoided driving it as much as we could, but the Mrs travels a lot for work, so it wasn't always avoidable.

The valve body has been replaced as of a month ago. We had not had the dash lights come on since, but every once and a while, the RPMs would do the quick bouncing/revving behavior. My mechanic said it was more then likely the car re-learning our driving habits with the valve body put it, and it should eventually go away. However, last night we were driving home from a friends house that lives about 45 minutes away, and the RMPs started bouncing again, and all the dash lights and check engine light came back on. The pattern of the dash lights points to a transmission related issue. We assumed that the valve body replacement would fix it, bit here we are again. It took a good solid month for the dash lights to come back on so I assumed the problem was fixed.

My mechanic is asking to take the car back to him to run another scan. As far as I know, when he did the valve body, he also did the transmission fluids and what not, but I am not 100% sure. I am not very savvy when it comes to the inner workings of a car. Because of the issues we have had over the last couple of months with this car and our aging 2014 Impreza, I am starting to wonder what our next step should be. We have been keeping up on the maintenance of this Forester since we bought it. Oil changes every 5,000 miles with Purolator Boss filters and high Milage Valvoline oil.

At 138,000 miles, we were hoping to get another year or two out of this car. Any suggestions on what we should be considering at this point? I of course plan on having the scan on the car to see what the potential issue is that is causing the dash lights to come on, but I really don't know what the next step should be here. A new vehicle would push our insurance up even higher I am sure, and we can't really see ourselves taking on a car loan right now since both our cars are paid off.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chasfish]

Definitely get a scan done. And understand what results telling you. Not only for this issue, but all else it tells you. You want to understand now what mechanical issues could come up down road in 1-2 years and estimated costs to make the repairs. Not that you have to do the repairs, just understand what you could be faced with should you decide to keep the car. My big question is: did you drain and fill tranny fluid about every 3years or 36000 miles? This is what Japan Subaru recommends for Subarus used in Japan. Subaru America says for most part drain and fill of tranny not necessary. Very bad maintenance decision of Subaru America. The fine print in maintenance manual says to drain and fill every (about) 15000 (?) if pulling trailer. Maybe other high stress conditions apply. Read it carefully. Bottom line is, imho, do the repairs so you won’t have car payment on a 50000 dollar new vehicle. That’s the average price now. My understanding. Or buy used. Save a lot that way. And start listening to mrsubaru1387 on YouTube. Much good info there. Good luck whatever you decide to do. (Also tune into thecarcarenut also on YouTube).

Chuck

Reading, pa

 

[Liberty610]

We took it back to our mechanic, and there where several codes throwing at his reader. None of them where the valve body, so that was still fine. This was throwing electrical codes this time. He didn't have the proper gear to test them all, and the dealership wanted well over $1500 to run a full diagnostic on it. We just dumped 2 grand into it last month for a new exhaust and a new valve body. So I was not willing to drop another 1 to 2.5 grand on another repair.

We got a $6500.00 trade value on it, and got a new Crosstrek Wilderness. Didn't want to really go this route already, but the Mrs. needs a reliable vehicle for her travel jobs. Love the new car though. So it's not all bad.

Thanks for the tips on the You tube guys though! I started following them on there and will apply a lot of the recommendations on the new Crosstrek and the new Impreza we still have.