The check engine light went on and the diagnostic code read was P26A3, Engine Coolant Bypass Valve is failing in my 2019 Forester, which only has 46,000 miles on it. Subaru was aware that this part was defective in the 2019-2021 models, because in Feb of 2022 the part was replaced and a service bulletin 09-80-21 was issued with instruction for replacing the part, but did not issue a recall, despite this problem causing the advanced safety features to stop working and directly affecting the proper functioning of the engine. My car is just out of warranty, and the quote to have my mechanic replace the part is almost $1200 which I am unable to afford and do not feel I should have to pay for. Subaru should be help to account for this issue.

- Austin, TX, USA

Thermo control valve failure, P26A3 code, eyesight safety assistance warning light, check engine light, pre collision braking light, lane assist light.

- National City, CA, USA

Check engine light came on roughly 3 days prior to incident. Temperature control/coolant bypass valve failed (replaced by dealer at my expense with now updated design), caused the car to unexpectedly lose power rapidly and enter limp mode, dropping from 55 MPH down to 5 MPH in seconds. The incident occurred on a rural road. I had been on an interstate during rush hour roughly 15 minutes prior and could have caused a crash if the incident happened there.

- Jamesville, NY, USA

Start / stop feature. Multiple incidents. Continuing issue. Stop at a light or in traffic. The car turns off. Let off the brake the car completely looses power sometimes or dies. Need to move shifter to park to restart. When the vehicle dies completely. Unable to move shifter of use hazards. This has happened on the highway at stop lights leaving me stranded in the middle of the road with no vehicle power. Or having to restart. Battery, starter and Alternator have been tested and are good. Safety issue.

- Ogden, UT, USA

While driving on a highway outside Milford, CT my vehicle is check engine light suddenly illuminated. I had a sudden loss of power, no heat, and the engine temperature was unable to read. Engine temperature was not accurately reporting and showed it as being cold as indicated by blue light warmup light. My eyesight, pre-collision system, and sport mode was disabled due to the engine light being illuminated. The vehicle was seen at a Subaru dealer, who diagnosed the issue to be the thermo control valve. Dealership informed me that it was unsafe to drive and I risk complete engine failure, overheating, and or fire if I continue to operate without required repair. As a result, I was stranded overnight, three hours away from home. Repair was completed on [XXX] at cost of $1830. I learned at the dealership that this is a known issue, in 2021 Subaru replace the plastic components of this part with aluminum due to similar issues experience by many customers. Customers are reporting vehicles going into -??limp mode-?? and even engine damage. I learn that there is a class action lawsuit regarding the same issue, which can be reviewed here: [XXX] Please help to recall vehicles and push Subaru to repair/refund. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Templeton, MA, USA

Car had just been serviced by Subaru service dept on 2/27/2024. On 3/1/2024, while travelling in heavy rush hour traffic, we smelled a very strong odor of gasoline and were alerted by another driver that our car was leaking a large amount of gasoline in the roadway. We pulled over to a safe area, evacuated the car, and the car burst into flames. Fire was extinguished by the wantagh fire department. Police report by NY state police was obtained. Car was removed by tow truck.

- Seaford, NY, USA

The thermo control valve (TCV), responsible for regulating cabin temperature and engine temperature failed, causing the vehicle to go into safe mode and was not drivable.

- Albany, NY, USA

My 2019 Suburu Forester battery will not hold a charge. Whenever I want to use it, my husband must jump the Forester with cables from his car's battery. I am careful not to park it for long and use it for trips to dentist, doctor, and other necessities. We bought the Suburu Forester brand new off the car lot in 2019. The car has under 3k miles of use--it looks in perfect condition. We've changed batteries but that did not solve the start up problem. It is a safety hazard depending upon where I have to stop the car. The "incident" is one of many recurrences. After 7 days of nonuse, parked in my garage, the car fails to start.

- Etters, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the audible alert sounds were excessively loud and the warning lights were so bright that the contact became frantic. The contact stopped at a local Auto Zone. The Auto Zone mechanic inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that the failure was due to a failed heater control valve. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed heater control module, and it was determined that the heater control valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 79,128.

- Humble, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2019 Subaru Forester. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknow warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the audible alert sounds were excessively loud and warning lights were bright that the contact became frantic. The contact stopped at a local Auto Zone. The Auto Zone mechanic inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that the failure was due to a failed heater control valve. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed heater control module, and it was determined that the heater control valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 79,128.

- Humble, TX, USA

I am concerned as my car was safely parked, once I started it and it said eyesight off, flashing S symbol, the heat thermo Stat changes back and forth from hot and cold, car is not warming up and check engine light came on. I am very concerned as it is the winter, and I have my baby in the car. Please advise. This seems very unusual and never happened before. The vehicle have around 23K miles.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

The vehicle is less than 5 years old and has less than 50k miles. While driving with cruise control engaged on the Thruway, my check engine light came on. Almost immediately after the red "BRAKE" warning showed on the dash. When that happened my car engaged the brakes while I was traveling at 75mph and I pulled to the side of the Thruway as quickly as I could as to not wreck with another driver. My engine sounded like it was working overtime so I shut off the vehicle. After a couple of minutes I tried to start my engine and it would not go. After another few minutes I was able to start the vehicle but could not drive because the brakes were still engaged. I needed to turn on/off the parking brake a few times before they released. I then drove the vehicle the remaining 2.5 hours home with the check engine light on and red "BRAKE" light off. This same scenario happened on my way to bring the vehicle to the dealer to fix the issue. The Subaru dealership inspected the vehicle and confirmed the thermo control valve was malfunctioning and would need to be replaced. Thankfully the vehicle was under warranty and did not cost me anything to repair.

- Rensselaer, NY, USA

I started my vehicle and the check engine light came on. In addition, my eye sight turned off and the letter S started blinking. I also had clicking noises when I turned the vehicle off. I read some forums and this is a thermo control valve problem that happens to many Subarus in 2019-2021 range. As I took the vehicle to check the codes, the heater did not work and the cold engine light kept coming on. The codes read P26A3. Other reports are: NHTSA 11490232; 12479843; 11511658; 11490977; 11479843; and many others. Apparently Subaru is aware this valve and has come out with a new replacement that costs a high dollar amount to change out.

- Houston, TX, USA

On November 30th around 5:30 PM on Highway 161 in York County, SC my wife struck and killed a 6 point buck. Thankfully a SC Highway officer was coming in the opposite direction saw the accident and aided my wife in getting out of the car as he had seen a fire in the engine compartment area. Shortly thereafter the car exploded and was engulfed in flames and totally destroyed. Neither the patrol officer nor the tow operator can remember an auto fire resulting from striking a deer.

- York, SC, USA

There are two problems: 1 after the car turns off after stopping to save fuel it will fail to restart automatically and must be put into park to manually restart; 2 the car will try to change lanes indicating that the safety related lane change is malfunctioning. I have to fight the car to maintain my lane.

- Orlando, FL, USA

The check engine light came on and all of the eyesight components on the car were disabled as I was traveling down the highway at 70 mph (this included the adaptive cruise control, the lane departure warning, forward collision warning, etc). In addition, the engine thermostat light came on and the heater and defroster stopped working. It was cold and rainy and the window started to fog up and I was unable to clear it without a functioning defroster. This was definitely a safety issue and I had to stop driving. The car was taken to a subaru dealer today and diagnosed with faulty thermo control valve. The technician told me the car should NOT be driven in this condition due to the problem being in the engine coolant system. This is a known issue on the 2019 Forester, and other Subaru models as well, and has a TSB originally issued in Sept 2021. (#09-80-21) My car has 70K miles and therefore is just out of the warranty period. I will have to pay over $1500 to replace this part and because it is a safety issue I have no choice but to pay for the repair. It is a part that is known to be defective and I am requesting that a recall should be issued before others are also put in potential danger and/or forced to pay large sums of money to get it fixed.

- Syracuse, NY, USA

I own a 2019 Subaru Forester. Approximately 5 months ago, I experienced a failure in the auto start-stop feature. My car intermittently shuts down when stopped at traffic lights or in the middle of an intersection. Subaru conducted a diagnostic assessment to address the issue, but they couldn't identify any problems. This has happened about six times within the last five months. They claim to have never encountered this issue before. The temporary solution is to turn off the car and restart it, which is not safe when it occurs in the middle of an intersection. Following my dealership's recommendation, I replaced my battery with a standard EFB battery, However, the same issues persisted. Notably, the problem consistently occurs after driving on the highway for approximately 60-80 minutes and then coming to a stop at traffic lights. It is evident that the issue is not related to the battery. This issue raises significant safety concerns, especially when making left turns after coming to a stop at intersections. The sudden shutdown of the vehicle in the midst of an intersection can pose a substantial safety risk to both the driver and other road users. It not only creates a hazard in terms of traffic flow but also increases the likelihood of accidents and collisions. Given the critical nature of this safety concern, it is imperative that the problem be promptly addressed and resolved to ensure the safety of all road users.

- Dayton, OH, USA

The temperature control valve (TCV) has gone bad and so the check engine light is on and reverse automatic braking and the Eyesight system is disabled. The problem with the temperature control valve is unrelated to the safety systems, however, when this valve goes bad, these safety systems are disabled automatically.

- Naperville, IL, USA

Three times in the last week or so, coming to a stop, in traffic, the car throws a warning about the EyeSight not working and it shuts the car off. The first time I was still rolling and had not come to a stop. The other two times I was just barely stopped and it happened. It would be horrible if it happened while driving fast. You have to put it in park and hit the start button to turn the electrical off and then hit the button again to start the car. Windshield is clean. No visible obstruction to the camera system. Clear weather every time. No rain. Daytime driving.

- Lawrenceville, GA, USA

This is a follow up from previous complaint 11525953 dated 6/8/2023. My subaru forester stalled again on 8/2 at an intersection after 15 minutes of driving, and then again on 10/4 at an intersection after 45 minutes of highway driving. There are no warning signals or any indication of engine problems. I replaced the air filter in June hoping that might solve the issue.

- Elkridge, MD, USA