Unofficial - CEL/SL/Idle Issue List for FR-S/BRZ Owners

[steve99]

Originally Posted by TheStig85

Brand new ECU is about $500-600 depending where you go. And super easy replacement job. As per the rest, I don't know but that can save you a pretty penny.

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Originally Posted by strat61caster

idk but it seems ridiculous to me that you have to junk an ECU, per the TSB several ECU's, isn't there a way to wipe them and start from a clean slate?

Originally Posted by SLVRSRFR

I live in Canada.

All the ecu from 2012-2016 are same hardware just different ecu calibrstion. Swapped a used usa manual ecu in an auto car in australia works fine jist need to reflash the correct ecu calibration.

Secondhand ecu go for 100-150 usd on ebay.

Strange about this learned value burned into ecu seems suspect, but its possible that the ecu sensor input or output circuits for cam actuator or sensors could be faulty, requireing ecu replacement


http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013SUBARU-B...hX8YXJ&vxp=mtr




Replacement proceedure

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102810

However the dealer should be doing the diagnostics as per the tsb not jyst chucking loads of parts at it snd hoping for a fix.

You could do the ecu yourself and see if that fixes it

[SLVRSRFR]

I'm not really comfortable doing something like an ECU by myself. Anything mechanical, sure, give me a shot at it. But when it comes to electrical and wiring, especially something as important as an ECU...no thanks. Not confident enough in my abilities to do that, even if it's a simple procedure. I'd be too nervous to even try.

He plugged me into the diag for free, which obviously doesn't usually happen, but he wants to help me out where he can. The values were 61.32 and 47.32. He said these cannot be reset, which is something that has frustrated him before, because P0018 is an issue that pops up on other vehicles too, with the same conclusion. He didn't seem like he was willing or able to help me out on pricing, or try to get it claimed for me. The pricing he gave me may have been "worst case scenario", and the issue may be remedied before it gets all the way to the ECU step. That being said, I really do NOT want to leave my car with the dealer for weeks on end in the middle of summer when I'm trying to be active in the local car community and actually want to DRIVE my car and go to meets and stuff.

I feel like my next step should be to e-mail Subaru Canada corporate and ask them exactly why I should be expected to spend $2k out of my pocket to fix a KNOWN issue that there are TSB's for, simply because I am 10k outside of warranty. This is my biggest concern with this whole scenario. I really wouldn't be THAT upset to give up my car for a few weeks if this was all going to be covered under warranty.

[SLVRSRFR]

Update: requested contact from Subaru of Canada exactly a week ago today. I have not been contacted in any way shape or form since then. Their e-mail address for customer care is listed absolutely nowhere on their Canadian website.

I called into their 1-888 customer care hotline, and the recording said all representatives were busy at the moment, and then listed out the customer care e-mail address. So I had to call in just to get that...great.

Hung up and typed everything out into an e-mail that I have just sent off to Subaru of Canada.

And now, we wait...

[SLVRSRFR]

Update:

Received a reply from someone at Subaru Canada customer care department.

She was quick to point out that the TSB is from Subaru of America and does not pertain to Canadian cars...despite the fact that our mechanicals are identical. So that's a great start. Also pointed out that a TSB doesn't guarantee that the repair is warrantable.

She said she had forwarded my case to the District Manager, who is on vacation until July 31st, so that is the soonest I would hear back from them regarding any potential resolution.

I'm starting to debate whether I should spend the money and fix the car now, and try to fight for reimbursement, or wait until they get back to me with a final answer. I do not have alternative transportation, and cannot afford a rental car for 2 weeks, and I have been borrowing a car that I have to give back before Monday. Fixing it now looks like my only option, because I cannot wait 2 more weeks for transportation, but I don't want that to screw up any potential progress I have made, or any potential resolution that may come...

Thoughts?

[steve99]

Originally Posted by SLVRSRFR

Update:

Received a reply from someone at Subaru Canada customer care department.

She was quick to point out that the TSB is from Subaru of America and does not pertain to Canadian cars...despite the fact that our mechanicals are identical. So that's a great start. Also pointed out that a TSB doesn't guarantee that the repair is warrantable...yeah, thanks Captain Obvious.

She said she had forwarded my case to the District Manager, who is on vacation until July 31st, so that is the soonest I would hear back from them regarding any potential resolution.

I'm starting to debate whether I should spend the money and fix the car now, and try to fight for reimbursement, or wait until they get back to me with a final answer. I do not have alternative transportation, and cannot afford a rental car for 2 weeks, and I have been borrowing a car that I have to give back before Monday. Fixing it now looks like my only option, because I cannot wait 2 more weeks for transportation, but I don't want that to screw up any potential progress I have made, or any potential resolution that may come...

Thoughts?

Maybe their is somone of furkms here near you with a Tactrix cable, they could flash you to latest factory calibration for your car takes loke 10 minutes or less. 2012 cars had early calibrations like 700Cor D for auto, their were several specific to cam issues. Aparantly the ecu was to aggressive in its detection and management of cam position.

This may not fix problem if it an actual mechanical issue, but be wort trying first if dealer wont reflash to the BO1C or D ecu calibration.

I have the stock calibration you just need someone with cableor buy one they are $170 usa new

[SLVRSRFR]

Originally Posted by steve99

Maybe their is somone of furkms here near you with a Tactrix cable, they could flash you to latest factory calibration for your car takes loke 10 minutes or less. 2012 cars had early calibrations like 700Cor D for auto, their were several specific to cam issues. Aparantly the ecu was to aggressive in its detection and management of cam position.

This may not fix problem if it an actual mechanical issue, but be wort trying first if dealer wont reflash to the BO1C or D ecu calibration.

I have the stock calibration you just need someone with cableor buy one they are $170 usa new

Just a note that my car is manual, not auto.

I will see if any of my local 86 buddies have a cable.

I might just bite the bullet and go through with the whole thing. Can't stand not driving my car in the middle of the car season here, and by the sounds of the initial e-mail from Subaru Canada, I am not confident that they will be helping me. I'd hate to wait another 2 weeks of not driving it, just to find out they won't help me, and that I could have just done the repair a long time ago.

Ugh.

[Icecreamtruk]

@SLVRSRFR I had a very similar case to what you have now, altho my problem ended up on the other bank (P0016), and ended up being the sensor. Im just going to say tho, that the shop I took it too is a subaru specialist (mainly EJ tho) that prepares lots of race and rally cars. I gave the guy a bunch of links and info and talked about this "the values are burned into the ECU, needs replacement" thing. He said its BS. If the ECU needs replacement, its because the hardware inside of it is wrong, there is no such thing as "burned values", his words.

Concerning your car, if the car feels the same, you probably have the same thing I did, ECU is detecting a problem and is just disabling all cam adjustments. My car felt fine too, I had a time attack event that I couldnt / didnt want to skip so I went anyways, car was slower on straights. It feels fine, but its lacking power because its running without variable cam, its basically an impreza flat 4 without a turbo (like an impreza NA, a wimp). You can probably keep driving the car normally if that is the case.

It seems the sensors are not your problem since swapping them didnt do nothing, but I'd do one more test to be sure. Swap the concerned sensor from 1 bank to the other, reset codes (with a reader, techstream or other), and go drive the car around until the code comes back on (it will). If its still P0018, then you probably have a bad cam sprocket (since its very unlikely that the can chain skipped a tooth, I dont even think its possible), or a bad ECU.

Im not a tuner, this has just been based on my own experience and interactions with the shop mechanics. I race the crap out of my car (every 2 weekends minimum), and its 4 years old now with around 45k miles on it, P0016 and P0351 (coilpack) are the only codes its ever thrown.

[SLVRSRFR]

Originally Posted by Icecreamtruk

@SLVRSRFR
It seems the sensors are not your problem since swapping them didnt do nothing, but I'd do one more test to be sure. Swap the concerned sensor from 1 bank to the other, reset codes (with a reader, techstream or other), and go drive the car around until the code comes back on (it will). If its still P0018, then you probably have a bad cam sprocket (since its very unlikely that the can chain skipped a tooth, I dont even think its possible), or a bad ECU.

Hey dude I really appreciate your reply.

I actually did the sensor bank swap too. My first test was to swap top-to-bottom. When that didn't work, I swapped from one bank to the other. Code is still P0018 bank 2 sensor A after both swaps and resetting the light. So that didn't work.

I think it's the sprocket or ECU.

[SLVRSRFR]

Update:

I called my local dealer earlier today and asked if it would ruin this whole claim/investigation/process if I were to repair the car and fight for reimbursement instead. I expressed to him my concern with having to wait another 2 weeks for an answer, and either have my car sit there the whole time, or have to drive it in "limp" mode for 2 more weeks.

He advised me to call Subaru Canada directly. Surprisingly, he also told me he had received a few phone calls from Subaru Canada regarding my car and my case specifically, so I'm impressed to know that they are at least taking this seriously and are moving forward with this and doing their diligence.

After 20 minutes on hold, I got through to the person handling my case at Subaru Canada. After asking her the same question, she told me she wasn't 100% sure, and ran it by her supervisor. He also didn't have a solid answer for me. She said that, rather than assume it would be fine and advising me to go ahead with the repair only to find out later that she was wrong, she'd rather find the right answer for me.

The District Manager is on vacation until July 31st; apparently he's very good at getting back to them, even while on vacation, but apparently is currently in an area with next-to-no cell phone service, and this is why they were advising me to wait until he gets back. After expressing my concerns about waiting another 2 weeks for an answer, she told me that one of the other District Managers will be in the office tomorrow to fill in for the one who is on vacation. He has the exact same position and responsibilities. She told me that she will bring him up to speed on my case, and will have a final answer for me tomorrow one way or another.

So basically, the phone call tomorrow will either be "yes we will help you, and here's what we will do..." or "sorry, you're on your own". Either way, the car will be at the Subaru dealer by the weekend, and the service manager didn't hesitate to tell me that the repair should only take 2 days max. So hopefully, the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight. The only question now is how much damage it will have on my wallet...*EDIT* he just did a rough price quote for me. Approximately $2700 with tax.

I am a bit relieved that Subaru of Canada is not dragging their knuckles on the matter, and are taking this very seriously, and are expediting a resolution as much as possible.

Fingers crossed...I will update this thread tomorrow after I receive her phone call.

[SLVRSRFR]

Update:

Subaru contacted me via e-mail mid-day on Thursday to request any invoices for service performed outside of a Subaru dealership, as they had already requested all invoices from the Subaru dealer that I deal with. I had done a couple of oil changes outside of Subaru (since I work at a dealership and it was sometimes more convenient), and luckily kept all my invoices for those. Sent them off to Subaru on Thursday evening.

Subaru of Brampton was quoting me $1800 in parts, and about $600 in labour, if I had to pay for everything myself.

Yesterday, I received another e-mail from Subaru Canada...

"Hi Brian,

Thank you for your patience in this matter. And now the news you have been patiently waiting for...

Subaru of Canada is happy to inform you that we are offering to cover the cost of ALL parts involved in this repair (approximately $1800 plus tax), and you (the customer) will cover the cost of labour at a discounted warranty rate"

I was shocked! Almost dropped my phone!

I am not only completely and thoroughly impressed at the fact that Subaru Canada took this matter very seriously and came through with a resolution that is more than fair, but I am also completely and thoroughly shocked and impressed that it took less than 2 weeks from the point of my initial contact with Subaru, to receiving a final resolution. I work at a Kia dealership, and have worked for a few other OEM's as well, and even on the inside, I know that it can be incredibly frustrating to deal with the manufacturer sometimes, and I went into this fully expecting that it could take weeks or even months to come to a resolution, and that the resolution/outcome was far from guaranteed. I could have potentially been looking at fighting this for months only to find out that they wouldn't help me, so this completely blew me away and shattered my expectations.

I will hopefully be dropping the car off to Subaru of Brampton on Monday, get a rental, and hopefully will have it back before next weekend.

I am beyond happy and satisfied, and I must say that this whole transaction has completely restored my faith in Subaru.

Looking forward to getting her back!

Thanks everyone for reading all my posts, and for all of the invaluable advice and information that has been shared and provided.

[Darkrune]

Awesome news! I've been waiting for this resolution.

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[SLVRSRFR]

Originally Posted by Darkrune

Awesome news! I've been waiting for this resolution.

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Thanks! Me too! lol

Quick update: I stopped in at my Subaru dealership today to drop it off; service manager suggested I drive it for a few more days while he orders the parts, so that my car is not sitting there for 2 or 3 extra days while they wait for the parts to arrive.

I will hopefully be dropping it off on Thursday.

[SLVRSRFR]

FINAL UPDATE (hopefully):

I was supposed to drop the car off at my dealer early last week, but a few parts were delayed in arriving, so I dropped my car off at my Subaru dealer this past Tuesday (August 8th) after the long weekend here in Canada (everything was closed on Monday). I dropped it off around Noon, and received a complimentary rental car.

Less than 48 hours later, at 8:39am on Thursday August 10th (yesterday), I received a call and surprisingly he told me it was ready to pick up!

Took her home yesterday, and I'm completely thrilled to report that all lights are gone, limp mode is gone, all my power is back, and the car is driving 100% perfectly normal again.

Camshaft actuator, camshaft sprocket assembly, oil control valves, ECU, and some smaller supporting items were the major components that were replaced. A fresh oil change was also performed, and the car was road-tested extensively before he even called me to tell me it was ready.

5.7 hours of labour at warranty rate, with Subaru of Canada footing the bill for ALL parts, meant I had to pay a grand total of $675 including tax (CDN).

I can't thank Subaru of Canada and Subaru of Brampton enough for their help, support, and goodwill in coming to a resolution on this matter.

After almost a month and a half of frustration, uncertainty, and dread, here we are finally at the end of this chapter of my life, and I hope my posts and stories can help at least ONE other person on here moving forward.

Just goes to show; the squeaky wheel gets the grease! If I had never spoken up to Subaru of Canada to fight to get some help on this, I would have undoubtedly been staring down the barrel of a $3k repair bill, but they really went above and beyond my expectations, and this whole thing came to a far better resolution than I ever could have hoped for.

Cheers!

[Aznprd21]

New here, need some advice and help. I have searched in other areas but still can't get it figured out.
So 4 days ago I popped u0073 and cannot get it cleared using my p3gauge, ecutek, or odb scanner from car store. I even tried hard reset and reflash but no joy.
Any ideas,thanks


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