Cooling Fan Relay Issue now a recall campaign

I've got this issue myself. Since the ECU is warrantied for up to 80K, I should be good to go. I'll report back my experiences.

Got my ECU replaced under recall. Removed the AP before the procedure, and afterwards, reflashed with no issues whatsoever. Dealership gave me no grief about having a flashed ECU.

My car just had a ton of work done on it, most of it under warranty.

 

While doing the work, they discovered that the ECU that had been replaced as part of the recall, had failed. (IIRC, the original one never failed).

 

The failed one was just replaced under warranty.

is there a mileage limit on the recall? i have 144k and my fan is constantly on

I think it's 300K miles

The relay on mine was replaced under the recall in 2008, but the fan is constantly on. Sounds like it was damaged before the relay was replaced. Hope my local dealer doesn't give me a hard time getting the ECU replaced.. like 158K miles on the car right now.

if the dealer gives you a hard time then call SOA. Chances are they won't though.

I've read this thread and have done searches, but haven't found confirmation on my issue resolution. As a few others have also experienced on their cars, my fan does NOT turn on with key on engine off, or after I start the car. It seems like it turns on when it needs to, but then never turns off (just started seeing this). If i key off, then start back up, fan is off again. I've done the relay replacement myself, but it did not fix the issue. Per the recall, the dealership will start the car when cold and if the fan is running, will replace the ECM. So in my case, they will see that the fan does NOT run after start up, and they won't order a new ECM for me.

 

For those that have had the same symptoms, could you confirm if the dealer did investigate further to see that the fan only turned on when reaching the temp threshold, but then did not turn off, then agreed to swap the ECM? And did that new ECM fix the problem?

 

Thanks.

ok so i have the blown relay issue... i was also wondering if this could cause about a 9 watt power leak if the ECU is shot because of it.

 

 

Also... do you think they'll replace it if the car is stage II or will they see my shinny

downpipe and blow the whistle?

Yes if the relay is toast you will experience about that much additional load. Also you should not have any issues with having the ecu replaced, just make sure you unmarry the AP prior to bringing it in, as you likely won't have a chance to do it after they've pulled it from the car.

grrr... so its happened to this car before... and they won't fix it again under the recall which i think is bull...

Keep calling soa until you get someone willing to help. I seem to recall it was 8 year 300,000 mile warranty on the ECM.

About to bring my 05 Outback XT in for the wheel bearing replacement and notified them of the fan running all the time as well. Computer shows no open recall on this since the previous owner had the relay replaced. Now with the fans running all the time its quite obvious the first replacement relay has gone bad again and now caused the computer to be damaged.

 

I will be very vocal about getting this replaced again(Im just over 80,000 miles) once they diagnose/confirm the problem on Monday. If rejected I will be recording a nice YouTube video on the issue and posting it on every forum I can find as well as on Twitter. I just will not take no for an answer for a recalled part that has failed again and no damaged the computer. This could get interesting and quite enjoyable. I'll post the results of my dealer visit next week.

 

In the meantime has anyone else been able to get Subaru to replace the parts twice??

 

grrr... so its happened to this car before... and they won't fix it again under the recall which i think is bull...

Yeah they should cover it, as the relay replacement was no guarantee against ECM failure due to overload. If anything you could claim they replaced it incorrectly which resulted in further issues later on (now)

You are exactly right but I'm sure I will be fighting them on this issue.

I should be taking my car in for this problem tomorrow. I am pretty sure both the relay and the ECM needs to be replaced. We will see what happens.

So I went in and after diagnosing it they said I need a new relay and ECM. They said since the parts were replaced in the past, and since the recall is so old, they will only cover half. Although I am happy for at least half, I still think it should be covered fully. What do you all think? Anyone go through a similar situation?

Call SOA and raise hell.

I have a 2005 Legacy non turbo, so as I understand it is not under recall (went to the dialer to confirm), both fans are on all the time, replaced relay to rc-5101, they are still on, should I check cooling fan sensor, unplug it and see if they go off or not (if they don't go off replace sensor)

I had mine taken care of by Subaru Canada twice... once in 2007 and again in 2010. Different dealerships too.

Add me to the list of those that might be affected. I have a 2009 but apparently they never fixed the problem.

this being a MT only recall is bull... I have a 5EAT and my fans turn on when ever they want and it shuts off my car...now I have to pay for everything my self...

..And it's happening again.

 

Any harm in not fixing it?

Any harm in not fixing it?

Other than the noise, it means it takes your car longer to warm up. Theoretically this adds additional wear on your engine.

Has anyone added a standalone PWM fan controller to deal with this issue? You'd still have one fan controlled by the ECM, but would sure be a) quieter and b) cheaper.

 

I just got quoted $1k parts only for an ECM replacement.