Tech Tips January 2018 (TIPS 0118)

TECH TIPS JANUARY 2018

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN

01 QMR OF THE MONTH

We are pleased to announce this month's winner of QMR of the Month:

Brad submitted a great QMR outlining his diagnosis and repair of an intermittent condition on a 2017 Impreza. The car came in with a host of warning lights illuminated and a U0155 communication DTC which was common in all the systems which had a DTC stored. Because the DTC was common among all the systems, he began his search for the cause with an inspection of the CAN system wiring and related connectors. His testing did not identify any wiring-related problems so, he began swapping known good components from another vehicle. After repeated clearing of all the DTCs and road testing over several days, Brad was eventually able to "catch" the CAN system in a failed state. While checking resistance at connector I10 and simultaneously squeezing the bulkhead harness above the accelerator pedal, he confirmed a changing resistance value on his DVOM as the harness was squeezed and released. Brad provided an excellent quality video along with his QMR documenting his confirmation of the condition. He replaced the bulkhead wiring harness to repair the vehicle. After reassembly and a final road test, the vehicle operated normally, confirming the successful repair. In appreciation for going the extra mile and sharing his experience with us, Brad will be receiving the following from his Field Service Engineer:

Any Subaru Technician can participate in the QMR of the Month program. See the February 2013 and January 2016 issues of TechTIPS for full details. You just might see your name and photo in a future issue of Tech TIPS!

01 REVIEWING DATA FILES

The Techline continues to receive calls from Technicians who do not feel comfortable reviewing data files. The first thing to keep in mind when attempting a file review is to mark the file when the issue occurs. Marking the file is achieved by hitting the enter button.

Next, let's discuss the ranges. A good default setting is 5 seconds per division. Seconds per division indicates how many seconds of data are in each division on the graph. For example, 10 seconds per division would crunch the data closer together and 2 seconds would spread the data apart. Once you've selected the seconds per division, you could focus on Range. SSM4 has an auto-range function. SSM3 does not. If using SSM3, you should use your maximum PID range as a starting point. In the example below, the maximum PID range is 3179 and the minimum is 592. Recommendation would be to set the range to 3200 and 550. This will allow all of the data to be visible when reviewing the file.

Red arrow: Auto range for selected PIDS.

Yellow arrow: Allows for individual PID range, color change and line thickness.

Green arrow: Seconds per division setting.

Black arrows:  Distance between the two arrows is one division.

After setting all ranges properly, you can now hone in on your issue. If you're looking into a slipping issue in a CVT, you should be viewing the Primary and Secondary Revolution Speeds, Actual Gear Ratio, Engine Speed and Actual Secondary Pressure to start. TSB# 16-95-15R covers chain slip diagnosis. If you're looking into a drivability issue, the Roughness Counters, AF, MAF, Knocking Correction and Engine Speed PIDs are a good start.

If the vehicle you are attempting to diagnose is a 2014MY or earlier, the SSM will not display high speed mode unless you select 10 PIDS or less. It is difficult to catch an issue outside of high speed mode. The recommended procedure is to hone in on the top ten PIDS for the customer's concern. Select just those PIDS and run a data file.

07 BLIND SPOT DETECTION OFF

If you receive a condition of Blind Spot Detection off light is on, the first step of diagnosis is to scan each radar sensor for codes. If you find a code, follow the DTC's trouble tree for repairs. The Techline has been receiving calls where there is no code in either radar sensor, and the system says BSD off. If you run into this condition, the next step is to check each radar sensor for a fail or halt flag. You can do this in current data on the BSD system (examples shown below). If you see this issue, the next step is to swap the radar sensors side to side. They are the same exact part so, this will cause no issues. When complete, rescan to determine if the issue moved to the other side. If it did, the radar sensor should be replaced and system calibrated and rechecked. If the issue does not move, the issue is likely in the bracket (holding the radar sensor) or the vehicle body; inspect each for damage next. See TSB# 07-115-16 which includes more information related to this issue.

Example of normal data: 

Example of an active fail flag: 

15 2017 AND LATER IMPREZA, INOPERATIVE LONG-RANGE RES REMOTES (FOBS)

There have been isolated reports of inoperative Remote Engine Start (RES) fobs (blue LED does not illuminate when pressing the Start button) right out of the box when installing the RES accessory. The cause of this condition is a dead battery in the fob itself due to a software issue.

The affected RES kits are:

• H001SFL000-2017 and later Impreza with Push Start ignition
• H001SFL100-2017 and later Impreza with Turn (key) Start ignition.

The repair for this condition is to order a replacement fob, part number H001SFL020 which has the updated software. In addition, RES kit p.n. H001SFL001 and p.n. H001SFL101 include the updated fobs.