Anybody know what these dash lights mean? (disabled car)

Hello all,

 

I've really enjoyed my 15 legacy so far - I live in freezing cold ND and it's been a beast handling on snowy icy roads. Unfortunately at about 25000 miles this comes up...it's a CPO car I got about 2000 miles ago so it's under warranty regardless, but thought maybe someone might know what the problem is before I call Subaru tomorrow and get it towed if necessary...

 

I drove it to the supermarket, about a two mile drive, car started right up in the driveway but when I come back out of the store it won't start. Electronics all work, fan, radio, dome lights...but when trying to start it just clicks once when I turn it to ignition. Is it possible snow got somewhere it shouldn't? On my recent trip there was an extended period of driving in moderate blowing snow. It's about -4 right now but it's been in colder and it did start up about 30 minutes earlier.

 

Door was cracked open when I took this picture, all the other lights stayed on when I closed it.

Same thing happened to ours (2016 Legacy 2.5i) a couple weeks ago when it was really cold up here in NE North Dakota, mileage is around 20k right now. I read the codes with my reader at that time and got error codes for the TCM. Called the dealer (Grand Forks Subaru) to bring it in and was told that it would be a week before I could bring it in. We left it in the garage and did not drive it until we took it to the dealer a week later. Of course the lights were no longer on and all the dealer said was it was working fine and that they saw the error codes in the history but do not know what is causing it. Mileage for the car also dropped from an average between 29-32 to 21-23. Asked them about this and again was told everything is working fine... Mileage is still in the 21-23 range. Might as well trade it in for a 4wd truck or awd suv if its going to get that kind of mileage.

You may have a bad battery. Call road side assistance and have them give you a boost. My battery on my 2015 died at 34k miles. I had a tough time convincing Subaru that I was bad. It they replaced it after it left me stranded for the third time. Same thing, just clicking and not starting. The lights are just one because the ignition is on but not running.

There was a TSB about cold starting - dealing with some relays. Definitely worth looking into whether the TSB was done.

 

Edit: may have been a recall or a service campaign. Forget which. Just looked up the number - WTG67

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255588

Interesting posts. I hope I don't have your problem 9Rockr, I live in the NW part of the state by Minot. It's had good gas mileage for the circumstances...about 25mpg average on my last 700 mile round trip. I'll come back tomorrow and try running it after the sun shines on it some although temps not supposed to break -3 for highs. The battery was a little weak starting up (took about 5 turns) but I guess I didn't consider it because all of the accessories seem to run fine. Either way will schedule a dealer appointment whether or not it runs tomorrow, I have to get the fuel door fixed on this one anyway as it was a previous rental and never was changed.

I drove it to the supermarket, about a two mile drive, car started right up in the driveway but when I come back out of the store it won't start.

 

Ask your dealer about recall campaigns WTG-67R and WTH-68 (relays sticking in below-freezing conditions).

Ask your dealer about recall campaigns WTG-67 and WTG-68 (sticking relays in below-freezing conditions).

 

Will definitely do that. I have a small list of things for them to look at when I get it in as the dealership is a good distance from here as is everything. As for tonight I feel a little foolish..as alluded to by laz it seems to have been the battery. A friend gave me a jump to try it and started fine. The wind chill was pretty low last night (-40) maybe it sapped enough of the battery for it not to have recharged enough for a second engine start in such a short trip. Thanks the help and recommendations you're all awesome. Almost bought a Honda as I'd had an old Accord before, didn't know much about Subarus but so far very impressed.

Wind chill or not doesn't matter for a battery or other car items. It's just the actual temperature that matters.

 

Wind chill is just how fast an object cools down to the surrounding temperature.

I had the relay TSB done last week and I don't notice anything different. Mine is a 2015 3.6r, two years old, and last winter I saw some negative temps, the lowest being -14 one morning. Car always started.

Bad battery is my guess. Enough to cold start the car, but driving it 2 miles didn't recharge it, car is still not even warmed up, battery couldn't crank.

 

 

Did you try to jump start it?

Another vote for low battery and tsb stuff. They did my tsb stuff in the fall. I've only had to jumpstart my battery once. It was middle of summer and my exwife let my daughter sit in it with the car on engine off and fans spinning. Killed the battery. It was fine after a jumpstart. Like rob_m we had some cold winter days up here and my car always started (even before the tsb).

 

Do you have any mods that stay on?

 

I don't know if this helps at all but once every two weeks I hook my car up to a battery tender overnight. Especially on cold nights.

 

It's something I've done since my BMW days. I got two extra years on a battery the dealer wanted $400 to swap out.

$400 for a battery swap seems like a rip-off unless you have a very complicated car or expensive battery set-up.

$400 for a battery swap seems like a rip-off unless you have a very complicated car or expensive battery set-up.

 

It was for an AGM battery and "labor" to install it and recode the car to new battery. Indy shops charged a little less. If I had kept the car I was planning on borrowing a tool to code the battery myself.

 

Ended up trading it in for another BMW then traded in that BMW for my Subaru. I'll change the Subie battery myself when it is time.

Still seems expensive - like they took $200 just for coding the new battery.

Yes. "Labor" to code the battery to the car. That's why I don't plan on buying another BMW. Lease maybe . Unless Subaru breaks down and finally makes me a convertible BRZ.

Another vote for low battery and tsb stuff. They did my tsb stuff in the fall. I've only had to jumpstart my battery once. It was middle of summer and my exwife let my daughter sit in it with the car on engine off and fans spinning. Killed the battery. It was fine after a jumpstart. Like rob_m we had some cold winter days up here and my car always started (even before the tsb).

 

Do you have any mods that stay on?

 

I don't know if this helps at all but once every two weeks I hook my car up to a battery tender overnight. Especially on cold nights.

 

It's something I've done since my BMW days. I got two extra years on a battery the dealer wanted $400 to swap out.

No mods. I will have the tsb stuff linked earlier looked at, not sure if it was already taken care of or not. I would imagine having the ac running with the engine off would drain it.

Our battery just died last week. Only 25 months old. Dealership said not covered because we are past the 36,000 miles.

Temps in the 50s when it happened. Drove all the way to the airport dropped some people off in the drop off lane. Tried to redstart and just clicks and lights on dash. Nothing like blocking space at the domestic drop off at the Atlanta airport. Airport help jumped it off after about 30 minutes. Got new battery even though Advance said it checked out. No problems with car since. Already had TSBs done.

These Subaru batteries still test on the treahold of being good but don't have enough juice to start our cars. Same thing happened to me.

Noticed that the car has been turning over slower for the past 4-5 days. This morning starter was struggling even more. Car turns 2 years old later this month and has approximately 13,800 miles. Had battery tested at Goodyear. Test showed new battery needed. Advisor encouraged me to go to dealer for warranty replacement of battery Dealer replaced and installed new battery at no charge.

Several people have mentioned testing the battery. How are we testing them to determine good/bad? Voltage test? Load test? Measuring CCA? Parasitic draw? Fully testing a battery can take some know-how, or perhaps some special equipment. Interested to know what measures those are using who have deemed their battery in need of replacement.

Deka batteries are awesome. I had one in my 2002 CL type S when I sold it and I have one in my 2003 Subaru Legacy and when the battery in my 2014 Subaru dies, it is getting replaced with a Deka AGM battery. In my experience I have gotten 8+ years out of the Deka batteries...

Several people have mentioned testing the battery. How are we testing them to determine good/bad? Voltage test? Load test? Measuring CCA? Parasitic draw? Fully testing a battery can take some know-how, or perhaps some special equipment. Interested to know what measures those are using who have deemed their battery in need of replacement.

 

You test the batteries with a load test. First ensure that it's fully charged, then put a load on it to see how long it lasts before the voltage drops below a certain level.

 

How well a battery ages depends on many factors, but realize that car manufacturers always selects the cheapest necessary option and calculate with a certain number of warranty replacements of batteries that are insufficient.

You test the batteries with a load test. First ensure that it's fully charged, then put a load on it to see how long it lasts before the voltage drops below a certain level.

 

How well a battery ages depends on many factors, but realize that car manufacturers always selects the cheapest necessary option and calculate with a certain number of warranty replacements of batteries that are insufficient.

 

I know how to test batteries - I would be careful with your suggestion. A load test is one piece of evidence, but I've load tested plenty of batteries that appear good from that test and fail a CCA test, warranting replacement. Also, you never hold a load on a battery until it "drops below a certain level". You hold a load on a battery for a maximum of 10 seconds, monitoring to ensure that it stays in the effective range.

 

My question is for those that are replacing their batteries because they are "bad". Are we testing them or just swapping them out, potentially just throwing money at a problem without solving the underlying issue. Relays, alternator, parasitic draw, ground, etc.

My question is for those that are replacing their batteries because they are "bad". Are we testing them or just swapping them out, potentially just throwing money at a problem without solving the underlying issue. Relays, alternator, parasitic draw, ground, etc.

 

The Service Advisor at the dealership reported that they ran a full diagnostic test on the car, before the determining that the battery was the culprit.

Everyone is talking about batteries but I am pretty sure that the problem OP had has to do with the one of the TSB on relays. TSB exactly states ignition not working if you turn off car after driving short miles in cold weather. Plus it can't be the battery because OP says he only hears click. I don't think nothing could have drained battery so badly and so quickly that it won't even crank the engine once in couple minutes.