thermo control valve defect on suburu Forrester, outback, boxer engine, classaction lawsuit?

[@batmasterson7091]

This just failed on our 2019 forester sport. Your replacement is insane! Thank you.

[@chipwright6193]

Remember when a thermostat cost all of 5 bucks and it took a half hour to replace at most. My goodness what a mess....😵

[@ChaosExplained]

😆 yea man, times have changed

[@chipwright6193]

@@ChaosExplained I don't know whether to laugh or cry 😅

[@jonroylance2441]

I’d like to thank you very, very much for this video. My ‘21 crosstrek just had this dreaded failure and it’s a salvaged title, so no extended warranty. The vamm on be failed on Monday, bought the parts and found this video on Tuesday, and she’s back and running on Wednesday. What a pain in the ass job!! I can do a cam swap in an LS engine in half the time! Anyway, you’re a life saver!! You deserve good karma for life!! Thanks again!! 👍🏼👊🏼

[@jmartin9954]

Subaru extended the warranty for this part. Repair and diagnostics at subaru dealer cost me nothing 3 days ago. Should have been a recall. Mine is a 2021 it went out at 94,000 miles. Dealer said earliest he saw one was at 20,000 miles.

[@sjohnson4985]

They can't issue a recall because there isn't a fix. They can only cover costs associated with the failure and install another one....which may or may not fail. A recall would be issued if there was a definite fix.

[@bobwendoloski6970]

my wife's went out at 24,000 miles we were watching for it.

[@mmoltich]

The chipmunk audio cracked me up. Very good, detailed step by step video. I’m wondering if my 2018 Outback is affected.

[@robertcretu4363]

Man you’re a life saver. Thank you!

[@brandonpetrilla1731]

Part has a 15 year 150k extended warranty for the Thermal control valve, Take it to the Dealer

[@tjsmith3741]

This should have been a recall. The problem is widespread and even the “re-designed” part will fail because it’s still polycarbonate plastic. I was just about to buy a 24’ Forester and went with a Honda CRV instead.

[@chuckg6039]

At my high volume dealership, they said they have not seen one redesigned part fail.

[@ndydiy9963]

@@chuckg6039 only time would tell....

[@bobwendoloski6970]

My wife's 2021 Outback had this failure at 25K miles about 2 months ago. it is a know problem and they are fixing it free. we had all kinds of lights on the dash but the thing failed open and we were able to drive it. we knew about this since we had received a notice from Subaru. Just another bad design on these cars. We love out Subaru Outbacks we have owned three. My 2015 has been pretty solid but with some annoying quirks that should not exist. This is just the latest insult to what has been a sold vehicle.

[@ChaosExplained]

@@bobwendoloski6970 yup, the way cars are built now is just unnecceptable. By the time I repaired mine and made the video they hadn't accepted a recall on it yet but shortly after it did which is extremely annoying

[@pilotdog68]

Holy heck that's way more work than I expected, and so much opportunity to miss one tiny thing on reassembly. 2nd guessing my plan to buy a rebuilt title now. I think I want the warranty coverage to take care of this for me.

[@ChaosExplained]

@@pilotdog68 I heard Subaru finally acknowledged it as a recall

[@pilotdog68]

@@ChaosExplained does that mean a dirty title gets it too?

[@pilotdog68]

@@ChaosExplained i think they just extended a longer warranty, not a full recall

[@ChaosExplained]

@@pilotdog68 ohh 😆 I honestly don't know buddy, that's a question for an automotive attorney

[@cBodhi]

​​@@ChaosExplainedextended warranty to all til 90k.. Recalling for certain vins. My 22 Forester vin isnt part of recall but will get extended warranty coverage. Call your dealer service to check vin.(this is what my local service Dept says at least)

[@rudedog302]

Bought a used 2020 forester Touring in Oct of last year really low miles, about 2k after I bought it the blue, cold engine light came on and all the lights you had on. Took it to a Subaru dealer and they said thermo control valve, and it was on a service bulletin, or recall. They replaced it no charge.

[@ChaosExplained]

Your lucky bcuz my dealership said pissoff 😆

[@lonnieavant7630]

how did you get that done? only info i can find is that there is a current lawsuit against this part but it says subaru has not found a permeant fix yet? this is a customer's car and i contacted the dealer about the situation and they said they'd call me back.... its been 5 hours so far and no call back. 2020 forester

[@ChaosExplained]

@lonnieavant7630 as far as the lawsuit stuff goes, there's just not a lot of clarity. As a shade tree mechanic it took me about 8 hours from start to finish. Parts costed 500$ only available through dealership at this time

[@rudedog302]

@@lonnieavant7630 I bought a certified used car, so that allowed me to get the warranty extended, they may have just installed a like for like thermo control valve, not an upgraded or new improved valve, so I could have the same problem again. I didn't pay that much attention to it at the time, they just fixed it. I know what the valve does, I understand how it works, I know where it is located and all that, they didn't seem to make a big deal out of it at the time. They knew exactly what the problem was, and said it was on a service bulletin. A few hours later I was on the road.

[@Truckdriverdivorcee]

Watching this in anticipation that the one in mine will fail soon. This was a thrilling adventure. Basically a full motion picture. Insane

[@majorkursk780]

Watching this video, males me want to stay clear of owning a Subaru...what an over complicated bunch of crap under that hood.

[@ChaosExplained]

Yea it sucked to work on. We built cars better 50 years ago lol

[@yardboy3955]

This changed my mind about buying a Subaru.

[@garry6954]

Bless you for your patience and good luck getting it back together. Is the 2024 Crosstrek still a problem or has their "fix" remedied this issue? On the verge of buying a Wilderness model but this has me hesitating. Thanks in advance for your reply.

[@albertolopez981]

A think they have an extended warranty 150k millas or 15 years so you can have a new part, but the labor not

[@Subie-Driver]

They’ve gotten rid of this ther o control valve with the new 2025 models. They saw the wring on the wall.

[@Teenagegoogoomuk]

I was told these new parts are designed to fail in open mode. Still a bad design on a great little car.

[@mattdecker6791]

Same here. Mine died at 60K miles with no prior warning in my 2020 Forester.

[@Porco_Utah]

same thing happen to our 2019 Forester at 2023 , only 4 years into service. at 85K miles. dealer charged us retail price of parts around US$700. but, they did not charge labour. I think I will not buy Subaru again. probably buy Kia or Hyundai with 100K miles, 10 years warranty.

[@ChaosExplained]

Ah yea same here. No more suburu

[@jonnyz5772]

kia and hyundai throw the whole motor; might want to steer towards toyota or honda

[@Porco_Utah]

@@jonnyz5772 at least Hyundai and Kia has 10 years , 100 K miles warranty , they know their products last that long at least.

[@mikeys1459]

should be covered under emission warranty it is more miles than powertrain .If the cat isn't up to temp.can'r be meeting emissions.Also you said transmission code .My 2020 won't lock up at highway speed today just got this code.Called dealer she goes oh 66018 nope not covered ,Waiting for a call from Subaru of N.America monday .I'm thinking it will be covered

[@ChaosExplained]

Word on that! Best of luck!

[@edfisher6564]

2019 forrester here .Had ours replaced at the dealership They did not do it for free .Had to diagnose first $185.00 Its bad they did the work for $100.00 deductible good will to customer.Fix but not happy,so reached out to subaru of america. They did not help but bust my stones.Did not want to hear about emission warranty,they sucked even had it evelated to a manager ,still no help.Fast forward got a letter from subaru telling they extended warranty to 10/150 .They offered a refund for any money spent on the TCV. So we are waiting for a check from SOA for $285.00 back from subaru ,THIS WHOLE PROCESS WAS A PAIN IN THE A$$ and took a lot of work to get this job taken care of..

[@jpd256]

2021 outback, went out 16,000. Covered under warranty, subaru just came our with 150,000 or 15 yrrs. Just wonder if they will cover it again

[@mastech953]

the funny thing is that you could just take it to the dealer and get it for free up to 120k miles

[@Doug_Hefernen]

What years and models affected?

[@ChaosExplained]

@Doug_Hefernen outback, Forrester, wrx I think and a few more. Google it my man.

[@Doug_Hefernen]

@@ChaosExplained THERMO CONTROL VALVE ASSY R&R US PZEV States (Under CA State Emission) US Non-PSEV States IMPORTANT REMINDERS: A455-061 7 Years / 70K Miles 5 Years / 60K Miles 2.6 CGO-43 15 Years / 150K Miles 15 Years / 150K Miles States

[@sjohnson4985]

2019 to 2024

[@sjohnson4985]

Forester and Outback

[@joshuathomas4934]

Well done Subaru. You decided to do away with simple mechanical parts and put in an electronic mess under the intake manifold and call it good. GOTTA HIT 1MPG better. So. Let’s do it.

[@celicharvel]

Just wondering does climate break these. Like are any owners in hot climates experiencing these failures.

[@sjohnson4985]

Mine failed in a 2019 Forester Limited. Garage kept car in Florida with less than 10k miles. Never been out of Florida. It's at the dealer now.

[@jonnyz5772]

brilliant video thank- you for making it

[@emiliog.4432]

Do not use aftermarket parts.

[@eclmex35]

My Forester 2020 died at 46K miles with no prior warning and 6 lamps alerts and all the Eye Sight, Back sonar, and Si-Drive disabled, the issues is that the Subaru agency do not want to register as warranty ¡¡¡

[@Rincerr]

My thermo control just failed as well on 2019 Forester at 77K miles. Taking it to the dealership tomorrow. What do you mean when you say Subaru will honor the warranty if its under 100K miles? Did you take out an extended warranty? I bought the car new and as far as I am aware it only had a 3yr 36K mile warranty.

[@ChaosExplained]

My wife and I had to talk about just that. We honestly think they're playing games with us. She called when it broke at like 99,000 and they said they will not honor it. Then I called because I was trying to get the correct parts because the car is so new auto parts stores don't carry it yet, he said he's pretty sure Subaru would honor it. Than at this point I told him at 101,000 miles and he said oh sorry yeah we can't do it.The whole kit cost like 530$. I'm not a fan of suburu now because of the way they built it. 2 hours just to get to the thermo control valve. Found out auto part store sold me wrong sh#%. Called them up, thermo control valve is unavailable. I had to put her car back together. 6 hours of my life I'll never get back.

[@Rincerr]

@@ChaosExplained Yeah I was thinking of doing it myself as well, but after watching your video and a couple of other videos it seems like a really annoying job. Back in the days a thermostat replacement used to take 30 mins and parts were under $20. It's ridiculous. If the dealership tells me that they will somehow cover the cost I will let you know.

[@ChaosExplained]

@Rincerr for sure. Tell me about it. Yea it's entirely way to much bs for absolutely certain. Did the best I could do with making the video. If I could afford it I would just send it off to the dealership honestly.

[@Rincerr]

@@ChaosExplained So this is really going to sound weird, but I took the car to Subaru dealer this morning and they just called me back confirming that thermo control valve needs to be replaced. Total cost parts + labor $2100.... It would have been covered under the powertrain warranty, but I am over the miles. However the service advisor talked to his manager and they are going to do it free of charge except for the $235 diagnostic fee??? I am happy with that, but I don't get how they are able to do it. I smell something is off here, maybe the issue is much simpler, but they are just trying to make it look like they are taking care of their customers or perhaps they have a way to charge Subaru for this somehow, maybe there is a recall coming for this in the near future? I have no idea...

[@ChaosExplained]

@Rincerr Great question! Honest to God I am not sure of the inside politics or inside business that the consumer like you and me is not aware of that is my honest answer. We actually just realized that one of the symptoms from this fault is the car does not realize its own temperature which technically is part of the powertrain because the engine idles way too high even when the engine is warmed up. That means on our behalf since we have the unlimited warranty that's powertrain only unlimited warranty we should be covered because our power is affected due to one of the several faults over this one problem that the car is not idling correctly thus "powertrain". I just realized this. Be happy they are doing it for you I hate this engine passionately. I don't care if it is a boxer engine. Good open chat room we have here, hopefully this helps many other people

[@byronmcgee4118]

They never fixed the battery drain when the rear hatch is left open

[@robertcretu4363]

You should change the title to something with thermo control valve in it. Probably get more views. Well thanks to your video I replaced it and got everything working with no codes but I don’t seem to be able to bleed the coolant properly so heat s still not working. How d you bleed that sucker?

[@ChaosExplained]

Funny you should actually ask how did I bleed that thing because I never did! I simply put it all back together. Swear!

[@ChaosExplained]

Yes heat works! All problems went away!

[@robertcretu4363]

@@ChaosExplained Nice, but hey I m happy I got to this point. I ll figure out the coolant burping eventually.

[@ChaosExplained]

@robertcretu4363 good luck! Yea I didn't have it to sweat that it just worked itself out!

[@lonnieavant7630]

on my autel scanner there is a special function to have it bleed the coolant. i dont know what exactly it does just yet (or if it will even work) im still working on finding the correct part before i pull it apart

[@philipa5568]

Does not apply to xt models

[@kalebross5443]

I just went in to ask about this and they said I was fucked on the warranty. Im at 66k and paid for the part

[@ChaosExplained]

Don't let them lie to you. They told us we was covered at 100,000 miles.

[@TVzenrobot]

Did you get that letter from Subaru America on this subject? If you paid for the part or labor you are now entitled to a refund. If you haven't already, should check with Subaru and get your receipt handy.

[@cesarnorbeypachonsanchez9221]

Cuánto le costó el cambio

[@richardstutrud5293]

it would be better is the carton voice would go home

[@dleon1982]

There’s a service bulletin and extended warranty on it but i wish they did a recall. My 2021 outback is 29k+ miles right now and I no longer feel comfortable traveling far in this new vehicle because of this. It would have been better if they did a recall so they can replace it now so i be more confident in traveling with it. It’s basically a matter of time before im stranded somewhere so that subaru can then fix it. Supposedly with an updated TCV but its still plastic. Like that’s going to be more reliable 🙄 No wonder in the 2024 or 2025 vehicles, subaru went back to traditional mechanical metal TCV. Keeping it simple to accomplish the same thing is more reliable. 8 min mark talks about the cooling system. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2e9c2yYisqNecksi=jrC69BnMAfXBR1KT

[@Doug_Hefernen]

The lollipop guild

[@dentalnovember]

Fred your video was annoying. Please do not do a high speed helium type narration.