bullseye451 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Hello all My 2007 Outback 2.5 auto is giving me nightmares. I just can’t stop the gremlins from messing with the car. I was actually going to replace the front differential and transmission. But when I started the car up from sitting for a week the dash lights went nuts and my ABS control solenoid started running and wouldn’t stop even with the key off. I unplugged the battery for a day or two and reconnected it, still runs nonstop. I hooked up my scanner and saw lots of new faults in the power train. So I tried clearing them out in hopes that it would resolve itself. No luck. Im thinking maybe a mouse got after something or my ECU took a dump. I haven’t replaced an ECU in one of these yet so I was looking for some help in that regard. I have an Autel MS-906 to use to try to program it if I need to. I bought a used ECU for a 2007 and it’s on the way. I’m not sure if I even need to reflash it or just replace it and hope everything works as it should. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvu Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Does it start going christmas lights only after you start the engine? If so it's likely a broken alternator regulator sending ac voltage in the system. Try unhooking the red charge wire on top of the alternator and starting the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 No the ABS runs like that with key on or off. I think it’s a pump or motor in the ABS assembly. The dash fault lights I’m not too sure but I believe they are showing only when running. I will need to see if after resetting the OBD faults if the trans temp and other lights came back on. I had just replaced the alternator with a known good one a month or so prior to this I didn’t bother testing the charging system but I can to be sure the alternator didn’t fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 4 hours ago, bullseye451 said: No the ABS runs like that with key on or off. I think it’s a pump or motor in the ABS assembly. The dash fault lights I’m not too sure but I believe they are showing only when running. I will need to see if after resetting the OBD faults if the trans temp and other lights came back on. I had just replaced the alternator with a known good one a month or so prior to this I didn’t bother testing the charging system but I can to be sure the alternator didn’t fail. Just pull the ABS fuse for now so the car is usable without battery dying and obsessive noise/brake activity. Pop the hood and open the main fuse/relay box by the strut tower. Fuse slot 1 there. Or fuse slot 33 in the cabin fuse panel down by your left knee. On mid-90's Subaru's they had a common issue where the ABS relay would fail and cause the exact same issue - ABS activating nonstop even when the car was off. Just replace the relay. Not sure if you have one or where it's located. Could also be a the controller. I'd bet it's not mice but maybe, I have seen rodent damage. Sounds like the same thing could be happening here. On those units the relay was actually attached the ABS unit you have pictured. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 Ok I’ll try anything at this point. It’s cold as hell here so I’ve been putting off the inevitable replacing the front differential and transmission. But I need to resolve this first. Propane heater is costing me money which is fine if I can know the job is finished. I did see in other post that if the ECU is bad and I need to replace it I need to have the dealership reprogram it for me. I did see a program option in the Autel option screen. I haven’t used it yet on any of my builds. I was hoping someone has used it here and can tell me if I can do it myself. I may be a newbie to Subaru’s and their ECU systems but I’m completely up to doing anything to make it work. I’m a Chevy guy from old school point of view but have a lot of hardware and tools to do it all the right way if I just get the proper information to fix it. Thanks to you guys for all the support. It just frustrates me that what ever I touch with these cars they crap out on me. I’m almost at my last point where I just will just send them all to the scrap yard and never deal with Subaru’s again. I have 4 Subaru’s at my garage and not one runs that I can say I can trust for a 100 mile trip. My daily driver I just tested for a head gasket leak and it failed. I replaced the head gasket and heads on it a year ago. So I’m driving it with no thermostat so it doesn’t overheat. I have basically the problem years 1989, 2005,2006,2007 Outback’s the 89 is going to scrap or part out. I do like the all wheel drive. They can get through snow better than my Chevy 3500 4wd Dually. But they are useless to me if I can’t reliably drive them especially with my kids in them or driving them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 9 hours ago, bullseye451 said: Ok I’ll try anything at this point. It’s cold as hell here so I’ve been putting off the inevitable replacing the front differential and transmission. But I need to resolve this first. Propane heater is costing me money which is fine if I can know the job is finished. I did see in other post that if the ECU is bad and I need to replace it I need to have the dealership reprogram it for me. I did see a program option in the Autel option screen. I haven’t used it yet on any of my builds. I was hoping someone has used it here and can tell me if I can do it myself. I may be a newbie to Subaru’s and their ECU systems but I’m completely up to doing anything to make it work. I’m a Chevy guy from old school point of view but have a lot of hardware and tools to do it all the right way if I just get the proper information to fix it. Thanks to you guys for all the support. It just frustrates me that what ever I touch with these cars they crap out on me. I’m almost at my last point where I just will just send them all to the scrap yard and never deal with Subaru’s again. I have 4 Subaru’s at my garage and not one runs that I can say I can trust for a 100 mile trip. My daily driver I just tested for a head gasket leak and it failed. I replaced the head gasket and heads on it a year ago. So I’m driving it with no thermostat so it doesn’t overheat. I have basically the problem years 1989, 2005,2006,2007 Outback’s the 89 is going to scrap or part out. I do like the all wheel drive. They can get through snow better than my Chevy 3500 4wd Dually. But they are useless to me if I can’t reliably drive them especially with my kids in them or driving them. Yeah just pull the ABS fuse - it'll drive just like a vehicle without ABS and the brakes will work perfectly fine. Then you can move on to other issues until you figure out a repair option. I'm not sure about reprogramming the ECU - I wasn't aware there were scanners that could do that, but I haven't tried. The local dealer charges $100 to program and I think you need all your key FOB's on hand to do it all at the same time. Unless maybe they can do ECU and FOB's separate, but I'd have them all on hand just in case. They charge the same amount no matter how many keys you have so it's a good time to add a spare since the programming of it would be free. Are you sure the ECU is bad? They do fail but that's kind of new for ECU failure. Are you sure the front diff/trans is bad on it? Sorry that's rough. I'm not a huge fan of the 05-09 era - the struts are weak, the power steering pumps fail all the time and aren't easily rebuilt/replaced/aftermarket suck, wheel bearings worse, swaps and other work harder due to the canbus and immobilizer issues, all downgrades from prior generations. And headgaskets. Ther're not really that bad if you replace the headgaskets, and the struts/power steering aren't going to strand you, the automatic transmissions are the 4EAT and very stout, capable of a lot of miles. Headgaskets - use Subaru gaskets, resurface the heads, clean the bolts and holes, and torque properly and they shouldn't fail again for 100,000 miles. Aftermarket gaskets often fail within the first year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 I just received a used ECU so I will find out if I can program it. I think it more than just the ABS controller failure because the other faults all at once. This 07 Outback I got the engine running well and just when I thought it was all good the front differential started grinding and almost left me sit coming home from work. My 06 Outback head gasket failed again so I need to redo that one. Yes i resurfaced the heads and used new head bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I’d clear the codes, pull the ABS fuse and then read the codes and post them all here. Theres a chance you may have separate issues. I don’t see the ECU running the engine perfectly fine but causing the ABS to go haywire that seems very unlikely post us some check engine and any other system codes If you try programming the ECU let us know how it goes I’ve got an Autel scanner that does all the SRS, VDC ABS, etc, but don’t know if it has that functionality Use Subaru headgaskets too on that other engine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 I’ll post the codes. I think I saved them before the clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 I pulled up all the fault codes I have. They still don’t explain why I have a trans temp light flashing on the dash too which happened at the same time as all this happening. I realize there are some that I had going on earlier before the ABS controller running nonstop. Well here are the codes: Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Those aren't codes painting a clear picture of a fault. Those are system wide, communications, and CANBUS faults. Is your alternator and battery charging and holding charge properly? Is the harmonic balancer (crank pulley) failing? If it separates from the rubber ring it'll reduce belt speed, reduce alternator output, and cause codes due to insufficient power supply. You'd have to look up the flow chart for diagnosing. Ideally you clear them all and see which one comes back although I assume it'll be equally confusing. I'd be interested to see what the flow chart daignosis from Subaru looks like for the U1223 and B0223 codes that are "current" and "no-receive data". The others may be phantom, derivative codes from whatever is causing that communications issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 Also I don’t know how to explain it but the electrical system is plain working weird. Electrical components are humming and working with key in on position in ways I never noticed before. I was going to try to disconnect the charging system to see if the alternator failed badly. I also will test the charging system. It is charging but it’s like there is a huge short somewhere. Of course this has a brand new alternator on it. It had failed very recently and the transmission started shifting badly. This happened before so I knew it was the alternator right away. A few runs with it to work then front differential failed. I have a Medtronic’s tester so i can give it a full test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo F Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Swapping in a used ECU shouldn't be a big deal on a 2007. I tried this on my 2008 Forester and had no issues (also didn't solve the problem so I now have a spare). I'm not sure about that generation Outback, but it was plug and play for my Forester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 I need to look at my ecu from what I see there are 2 different types to choose from. I'm not sure if they will both work the same. I got burned thinking I bought the right ecu from eBay and it ended up being a trans control unit. Live and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stelcom66 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 On 1/4/2024 at 9:28 AM, idosubaru said: Yeah just pull the ABS fuse - it'll drive just like a vehicle without ABS and the brakes will work perfectly fine. Then you can move on to other issues until you figure out a repair option. That's what I did with my old Silverado. Unlike with the ABS fuse in, it's stops just fine. Over the years because of rust and other factors, I believe the sensors don't communicate that the wheel is turning at slow speeds, so the ABS interprets that as a skid and reacts accordingly. I'm sorry to hear the OP's situation is more complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89Ru Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 What happened after you pulled the ABS fuse? Maybe the ABS pump relay is stuck closed, and/or the motor is dragging the system voltage down. What voltages are you getting when the pump is running? My 96 impreza had a continuously running ABS pump even with the ignition key off, and pulling the fuse fixed it, just no ABS system now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 (edited) Well the winter is over and I’m going to try getting this running again. i still have the front differential to replace after this mess since it started to grind and almost let me sit. i looked everywhere for rodent damage using a bore scope under dash . Nothing! So it still has a ton of faults and above the odometer the readout shows: ER SS and ER HC I took the ABS harness off the controller but I still have the trans hi temp fault flashing at me. Edited March 13 by bullseye451 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullseye451 Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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