Wiring Around Problem If Cause Is The DCM - If it's the DCM that's causing the parasitic drain, check this video out for how to wire around problem to retain existing functionality. ELSE if ok to live without some of the lesser functionality, just unplug fuse #9
DCM module is continuously draining the battery making the battery dead and vehicle non-startable. As a work around, Subaru dealer, Sheehy Hagarstown, removed the DCM fuse to disable the DCM part and stop the parasitic battery drain.
Subaru should be held accountable due to software fix that caused this issue.
Dealer is asking for $585 to replace the DCM part.
Got the Subaru brand new in 2019. I only now have 29k-30k miles. Everything started going crazy with the car in 2021-22. It has been to the Subaru dealership so many times. It's now been in there for a whole week. I am paying for a car that I cannot depend on and leaves me stranded. Thank goodness I have the Gold Star of warranty's. They cannot fix the problem. The guys at my local Subaru are great guys, but the problem is Subaru Corporate. They have known of this issue with Outback from 2015-2020 and yet not much has been done. Like I said my local Subaru shop is full of great men!!! I just want a car I can depend on. I always heard that Outback's were the longest lasting most dependable car on the road. NO they are not.
Issues: Battery does not hold charge, electronics do not work, gas gauge goes to empty when there is gas in the car, radio completely stopped, etc... If I do not drive the car for over a day, it will not start most of the time. Then I have to call roadside assistance which is covered under my warranty only to fill out all the requirements on the link, then it asked for my CC number... I was not going to do that, it's covered. Click link to speak to someone. Well, 26 minutes later, and NO one has picked up.
The battery just died overnight and bought a new battery and replaced it and that's when it died, not sure what the problem is then I have to take it to the dealership and find out.
Since January my 2019 Outback has had electrical issues. Some days it starts just fine. Some days all lights and radio come on, but car will not start. Some days it is completely dead. Just now I jumped it off with a battery charger, let it run a few minutes, then turned it off. When I tried to restart it it was completely dead.
Battery and alternator check out above average on the diagnostics test at Auto Zone.
I hate carrying the charger with me. I'm a 70 year old female and want a dependable car. Plus it's still darned cold where I live and getting out in the weather to start the car is annoying.
Upon returning to the airport after a week of long work travel, my car battery was dead. It was 930 pm when I got to my car and had been traveling since 6 am that day. All I wanted was to be home, but my 2019 Subaru Outback battery was dead so my trip home was delayed. Thankfully, the airport has a complementary service for car-jumps. This is the 2nd time I had this happen upon return from a week trip with this same car. First time it happened, I thought I may have left an interior light on which drained the battery. This time, I triple checked the lights before leaving my car because so didn’t want to have another dead battery. When I did a Google search online, it looks like Subaru has known about this issue for years and chooses no action. There is even a class action lawsuit against Subaru. The issue is the complex electrical system causes the battery to drain when the car is not started for a few days. Very annoying, to say the least! Now I’m trying to figure out what to do for my next trip in a month.
- Carole H.,
Mars, PA, US
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Upon returning to our home airport at 10 pm, my family returned to a dead car battery. All we wanted was to be home, but our 2019 Subaru Outback battery was dead so our trip home was delayed. Thankfully, the airport has a complementary service for car-jumps. I initially thought we left an interior light on, however, we found none on when the car finally started. The airport mechanic told us that he is always providing battery jumps to newer model Subaru's.
If anyone gets to this point, I can only say, wish you succeeded having your vehicle fixed. I'm charging my battery as I'm typing for my 7th (3 different dealers) visit schedule for 8am Mon, Mar 11, 2023, A few months ago, received a card from Subaru about electrical problems. My 2nd and 3rd dealer visit I presented the Subaru card, which they were aware of. Beginning Monday I'll try contacting Subaru America if anything other than more dealer visits can be worked out. Check online about lemon Law. I have finally lost reliability of this vehicle.
ps: along with jumper cables, may include 50' cable
Found rear hatch open, and dead battery. Assumed it was my fault, I charged the battery. A week+/- passed same problem,. Again questioning did I not close hatch, I charged battery. Again found hatch open, dead battery. This time I new the hatch was closed, but couldn't charge battery. Local dealer (10+) miles away was short busy and handed, told at least 3-4 weeks for appointment. Located another dealer 60 miles away, and had it towed. filled out the form describing problem in detail, no loaner car, wife followed in her car. Dealer couldn't find problem, said battery need replacement. there is more to come.
After replacing the battery of our Subaru 6 months ago (due to the first time our battery drained and nearly left us stranded) my family was having lunch at a car hop style restaurant and after our meal we try to start the car but the wheel was locked up and the battery was dead (remember this was a 6 month old battery) someone at the restaurant was kind enough to give us a jump and it worked, no issues until just over 1 WEEK later when today I am leaving work and wouldn't you know it the wheel was locked up and they battery was dead.
So tired of this car, its 4 years old and completely unreliable at this point, the dealership said that it was probably because we didn't use a Subaru battery the 2nd time which is BS - there was a class action lawsuit about Subaru and their faulty batteries end of last year.
Car battery died while returning from a camping trip out of state. We stopped for lunch and when we came back to the car the wheel wouldn't turn and and the car wouldn't start. Eventually a good Samaritan stopped and offered to jump our car, after 30 minutes of trying to jump our car with no luck we had to let them be on their way, another person stopped and the same thing happened; they were not able to turn the battery over with a jump. We called a tow truck who came and was able to jump our battery for $100, say it was all but drained. We drove home without stopping as advised. The next day car battery was still dead and had to be replaced.
I was stranded at the airport in the middle of the night. When I had my battery replaced last time, Groove Subaru attempted to gaslight me by telling me I am leaving my lights on and that's what's draining the battery. I never leave my lights on. I don't even use the auto feature anymore. AAA was not allowed on the airport property, so we had to wait in the cold in Colorado on Valentine's day for Denver International Airport staff to come jump start my car just so I can get it home for it to die again in my garage so that I have to have it jumped again to get to an appointment TWO weeks from now.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a psychologist in community mental health, which means I make a pittance trying to serve the most marginalized people in my community. I now won't be able to afford to get to my own office because they will not pay for a rental car and my public transportation does not run near enough to my home for me to get to my office in the winter. Additionally, the dealership (Groove Subaru) indicated to me that it was my fault that I was unaware of there being battery issues indicating they sent a notice (which they did not), and I had already been seen at the dealership within the time frame that this issue had been supposedly noted by the dealership, and they did nothing whatsoever to acknowledge the issue, much less inform me or comp me for the incredibly expensive battery replacement. All they did was gaslight me and charge $241.19
The car sits in our attached garage. If we don't drive it for a few days, the battery dies!! I've had other vehicles that sit outside in MN in the dead of winter for a month and they have started. Subaru needs to fix this problem.
Wife and I returned from out trip to Maine and reached the Outback at 11:00 pm. The battery was dead. I had to use the key to manually open the door. It was close to 1:00 am before the car was jumped. Ran fine but the infotainment center was constantly rebooting, provide the warning message, turn on the radio and after about five seconds rebooted and started all over again. The next day the battery was dead again. AAA came to the house on the following day and replaced the battery. Jumped the car and it started immediately, but the infotainment center software continued to reboot (constantly). Infotainment center also appears to be the underlying cause of the battery rapidly draining. Let the car sit overnight and it won't start the next day, but if jumped I can drive it, make stops, turning off the car at each stop/shop, and then it starts when I return to the car. Just can't let it sit overnight.
The next issue is the dealer has the infotainment center (radio as they call it) on back order. No idea when it will be available. The car has been sitting either at the dealer or in the driveway now for better part of a month and no repair being made in the foreseeable future. Note: the dealer tried a $160.00 software update of some sort but was unable too. Also, why should I pay for an update to fix existing software problems?
We have had multiple issues with the battery dying.
Update:
It is now 11-19-2022 at 8,000 miles and the vehicle is just a few months out of warranty. We are experiencing dead battery problems once again. My husband measured the voltage and it is 10 volts. When running it goes up to 14 suggesting that the alternator is working but that there is once again a parasitic drain on the battery.
Decades of driving various cars and usually get 4-5 yrs from a battery. This one went 3 yrs.
Update from Dec 28, 2022. 7 weeks after NEW battery installed, "tick-tick-tick-tick-tick" (near dead). There MUST be a parasitic load; no other explanation makes any sense. Called dealer and made appointment for tomorrow.
The vehicle was purchased new. It had multiple events with failure to start. The dealer replaced original battery, but only after I elevated my concern to management.
This is the second battery that was replaced in my 2019 Subaru Outback 3.6R. First battery replaced at 330 miles, which did leave us stranded. Stateline Subaru in Somerset MA came and had towed the car back to facility to replace the battery at no charge. Second battery left us stranded again. I had just had the car serviced at Stateline Subaru 3/22/2022, milage was 23,095 miles. The battery failed a second time. The car had 23,658 miles and was 39 months old. Called Stateline Subaru again and they said the car was out of warrantee by 3 months. Rays towing service came and replaced battery which cost me $196.88.
This is my first Subaru and probably my last. I need a car that is reliable and at least gives me warnings that the battery needs replacement.
Is it possible for Subaru to reimburse me even though I was not in the class action suit?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
DCM module is continuously draining the battery making the battery dead and vehicle non-startable. As a work around, Subaru dealer, Sheehy Hagarstown, removed the DCM fuse to disable the DCM part and stop the parasitic battery drain.
Subaru should be held accountable due to software fix that caused this issue.
Dealer is asking for $585 to replace the DCM part.
- Ken V., Hedgesville, WV, US