DanZnj Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 I have a 2019 Legacy 3.6R with 5000 miles. With rare exception, it stays in a warm garage on cold nights. On the two days in December and January that I left it out in the cold, it had a hard start in the morning. The push button kept trying to get the engine to catch for quite a while. It did start after 3 button pushing attempts on the December morning. In January it eventually did start with the first button push - but took about 5 seconds of continuous cranking before it started. I took it to the dealer in December. They checked the battery and said that battery was fine. They checked for service bulletins and didn't find anything. They checked for computer diagnostic codes and didn't find anything. I purchased this 2019 legacy 3.6 in September 2018. It was manufactured in August 2018. I plan to bring it back to the dealer with this complaint in February when it is due for its first service at 6000 miles. Anyone else have the same problem ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubieN8 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Lot's of info on this issue - Search is your friend. Good place to start https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/unusually-long-engine-cranking-time-during-cold-weather-2015-276437.html?t=276437&highlight=starting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 -7F this morning car started just fine, -11f this after noon car started just fine...-30F tonight, sure car will start fine tomorrow morning... get better battery that can provide enough current to start car when bitter cold out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Batteries and cables to the battery is way too often undersized on modern cars in cold climate in order to save cost. Just get the fattest most powerful battery you can fit in the tray and make sure you have good cables. Using an oil that's thin in low temps also helps a lot. See here about oil: https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/clearing-up-all-oil-info-79800.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyR Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Get a new battery or keep your car in the garage during bitter cold spells. OEM battery is marginal in these conditions. Battery cables are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norskie Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Your battery might test 'fine' but if it's the undersized 390 CCA unit Subaru likes to use in their H4's then you should replace it with something more appropriate for conditions north of the mason-dixon (i.e. 650+ CCA). In my experience with four Subaru's in MN, a Subaru battery is good for two winters. After that I cannot trust them to not leave the family stranded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rec630 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Mine tested fine earlier this month but Im disappointed with the anemic OEM battery. It was touch and go but the 3xx CCA battery did start the car today with the -20 temperature. Dealer told me to not replace with a Subaru battery and go aftermarket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 -28F yesterday morning and the Napa Gold (East Penn manufacturer) started the car right up. -30F this morning, same as yesterday car started right up. Last year we had a couple of weeks of -20 to -27F every night and the Subaru OEM battery started the car every time although it was a tad slow.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gathermewool Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Is the cranking normal speed or slow? There's no sense condemning the battery if it's cranking normal speed. Our '14 FXT would exhibit the same symptoms, even if temperatures were only near freezing. The fix was an ECM update. We still have the OEM battery installed, which cranks just fine, even in bitter cold weather. '15 FB25 Magnatec 0W-20 + FU filter (70,517 miles) RSB, Fr. Strut Bar, Tint, STI BBS, LED er'where Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanZnj Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 normal cranking speed. it didn't sound like a battery problem to me. next schedule service is in March. i'll ask the dealer to check for any TSBs and see if the computer has any diagnostic codes. thanks for all the information and advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Normal cranking speed - that means that the diagnosis has to continue and then it's either sparks not coming as they should or the fuel system not giving fuel. It might be a sensor that's acting up and don't like being cold. Borderline sensors don't necessarily give codes. Notice that the sensors have a built-in magnet and if that's a bit weak then it could be missing out giving a distinctive signal at low rpms. I have seen weak magnets causing hard to start issues before - on a motorcycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gathermewool Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Good point about a sensor. I'd say it's easy to condemn the fuel pump (or something fuel system-related) or something in the spark path, but it's also just as likely to be an iffy sensor. Aren't crank position sensors known to cause long-crank, no-start conditions, as an example? '15 FB25 Magnatec 0W-20 + FU filter (70,517 miles) RSB, Fr. Strut Bar, Tint, STI BBS, LED er'where Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 ok good crank so do this 1. turn car ON but not to start 2. turn off 3. repeat 1 and 2 three times does car immediately start when you try after that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanZnj Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 The problem has only happened twice because I generally keep my car in the garage. if I were to leave it outside on a cold night, I could then try your suggestion.... but I don't know if it would have had a problem starting regardless of my doing as you wrote. To figure out if your suggested procedure works, I would have to leave it outside on several cold nights. Some mornings I would try to start it normally and see if it had the problem Other mornings I would try your suggestion. I'm reluctant to go to all that effort at this time. I do appreciate the suggestion. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 ^ doing the above will let you know if fuel pressure is bleeding off.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hkshooter Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 ^ doing the above will let you know if fuel pressure is bleeding off....How so? Every time the car is keyed up fuel pressure comes up. Fuel pressure does normally bleed off, that's why there's a prime sequence in the ecm for when the car is keyed up. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeuEmMaiMai Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 simple, if there is no fuel pressure, the pump will take longer to "prime" the system. typical reasons for fuel pressure bleeding off are (in no particular order) bad check valve leaky injector bad fuel pressure regulator external leak normally when you turn your car off, fuel pressure will remain for quite a bit of time before it bleeds of (slowly) and this means when you come back to start your car the next day, the pump makes the few psi of pressure loss up quickly and the car starts immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Don't forget that it can be a bad pump too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hkshooter Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 This thread reminded me that I had wanted to replace my battery as a preventative measure. So I did a few minutes of research and ordered up an Interstate MTP34. Removed old battery, removed plastic tray, washed and cleaned it. Applied anti corrosion spray to a few pieces including the freshly cleaned hold down clamp. Put it all back together. Went from a weak 490cca to 800cca. Thing starts up faster and easier than it ever has. 6 year warranty, I should never have to replace it while I own the car. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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