Dealer can't read CEL code
 

Hi all.

I bought my BRZ in Montreal, but have moved to Southern California. I had experienced the rough idle a little in Montreal without the CEL going on, but right after the Smog Test for CA registration, I got the most severe rough idle ever and it triggered the CEL.

I brought it to the local Subaru Dealership and they are apparently unable to read the codes. The service manager took it to his Scion dealership as well and they can't read anything there either.

Anyone have suggestions to read and clear the codes in this case? The car is driving fine since it happened.

Is your CEL still on? It doesn't make any sense that they weren't able to read the code. You could always buy a code scanner for about $50-100 and scan it yourself and clear it. Or you can pull the negative terminal on your battery for a few minutes to reset it and see if the CEL comes back. I find it a bit peculiar that the dealer couldn't pull the code if the CEL was on though.

Yup, CEL is still on. Yes, it makes no sense that they can't read the code.

I tried the negative terminal of the battery, but maybe I did not keep it off long enough. I'm guessing though that they might now be storing the codes in flash memory (aka non-volatile memory) which doesn't lose its contents when the power is disconnected.

If you just want to clear the code and don't care what it is, then disconnect negative terminal. Step on the brake pedal for about 10s to drain all residual power. Then reconnect the battery. I'm not aware of the car storing codes in any non-volatile memory, but then again, I've not had to clear any CEL's on the car yet.

I have seen a few random cases of OBD2 ports being broken on these cars. Maybe when the smog shop plugged in their equipment to your OBD2 port they yanked it out extra hard and pulled the wiring from one of the pins or something.

I just went and looked at the OBD2 port and there doesn't seem to be anything obvious in terms of loose wiring. I would have expected the dealer mechanics to check that, but maybe I'm asking too much.

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Your car has a warranty, press corporate for a resolution if all you get from the dealership(s) is "we can't read it, sorry, eh" (or since you're in Cali now "hella sorry we can't read it brah"). Though, your corporate will be Subaru of Canada, so good luck.

The fuse for the OBD port probably got blown during the emissions test. Check for any blown fuses.

The fuses that I pulled seem intact. I think I'm going to get on the phone tomorrow with corporate, both in Canada and the US and figure out what can be done.

I'll keep you all posted.

Didnyou check for pins being pushed up into the plug itself. Ive heard a few people mention they have to reach around and push wires back in.

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How is this your problem? Push the dealer and corporate to fix the issue.

Remember, this isn't my original dealer, so he really has no real incentive to push this issue himself. I'm not saying he hasn't been helpful, as he has been. He's called up his chain but is waiting for response. He's made himself available without appointment to get different crews at different dealerships to look at it. But there seems to be no pressure to resolve: he's made his calls, and he's just going to wait for responses.

If I want this to be resolved faster, I'm going to have to make calls myself and work my way up the chain as far as I can go. I have incentive to get this fixed.

Did you try a little maple syrup in the gas tank and oil filler? It is a Canadian BRZ afterall.