Car help needed

[montanaskier]

A buddy was swapping out a car battery for me this weekend while I was doing another project. He accidentally switched terminals and it blew a main fuse and car was DEAD. Swapped the main fuse yesterday and she cranked right back up. EXCEPT now all the warning lights are on and it won’t shift out if park. I can manually shift it and then it drives. Other issue is at first the tranny appears to take awhile to get into reverse or into 1st gear, kinda lags. Once I drive it awhile that kind of gets better. It’s a 2015 Subie Crosstrek. I assume it’s a fuse issue or relay issue somewhere? Any ideas?


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[4matic]

Could be the ECU. Check the fuses and then find auto electric shop.

[PNWbrit]

How much is a CPU for an 2015 Subaru?

He should lose his job over this.

[AdironRider]

Fried ecu.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

#1 - don't let buddy work on your car again
#2 - reset ECU, and burn some sage inside car
#3 - if #2 doesn't work, reputable mechanic

[4matic]

#1 - don't let buddy work on your car again
#2 - reset ECU, and burn some sage inside car
#3 - if #2 doesn't work, reputable mechanic

That's a good idea. Disco the battery and let everything power up again.

[RShea]

ECU probably at least damaged and if there is no way to reset the existing to get it to work, then price out replacements for said item....

And how easy is it to either mark or before you start to work look at the existing battery before removing said terminals. I was at a gas station last month, lady was asking about a jump of her vehicle after pumping gas. The old battery and the terminals did not have any clear markings and I did not want to risk reversing the terminals and doing damage to my vehicle. We ended up searching the web for her battery model (which could be read on the label in the night with a light. It clearly showed the photo of the battery and the red terminal on the right and marked as positive.... Had to find an alternate ground point on her engine but we got it going and running and saved a tow bill.

[frorider]

Still trying to wrap my head around your buddy’s screw up.

Vibes.

[yeahman]

Had to find an alternate ground point on her engine.

Is that really necessary? I have jumped many cars connecting positive to positive and negative to negative and never had an issue. A ground is a ground, right? So if the negative terminal is properly grounded why not just connect to it?

[k2skier112]

Is that really necessary? I have jumped many cars connecting positive to positive and negative to negative and never had an issue. A ground is a ground, right? So if the negative terminal is properly grounded why not just connect to it?

To avoid an explosion from hydrogen gas. I will go battery to battery if I can't find an engine ground.

On your trans problem, most have learned behaviour and need to be trained. On my Ford van you had to warm up in P then put it it drive with foot on brake for 1 min, then turn the AC on for 1 min, then start driving. PITA for disconnecting the battery

[RShea]

Is that really necessary? I have jumped many cars connecting positive to positive and negative to negative and never had an issue. A ground is a ground, right? So if the negative terminal is properly grounded why not just connect to it?

The issue was the way the battery mounted in the mini van, size of the jumper clamps she had, the engine/front cross braces going over the middle of the battery, and her really dirty terminals on that probably 2000 or so vintage van. First attempt the starter just clicked and did not start at all. I moved the ground and reclamped and tried the positive in a different angle on her junk van and said to her if this does not work, then she would have to clean the terminals and maybe get a tow truck or AAA emergency response. (Was a long day and I was trying to get home from work to a late dinner with winter weather and still a bit of a drive...) Finally got it enough by using the engine bracket mount near the pulleys. Did my good deed of the day though with the 15 minutes messing around...

[XXX-er]

the proper way to jump a battery I believe is to use chassis ground on the car being jumped, but I'm not sure why ?

edit:
Connect the other end of the negative cable.

Be sure that it’s attached to an unpainted metal surface on the engine of the dead car. This could be an unpainted bolt or bracket that is as far from the dead battery as possible. Doing this provides a solid ground and reduces the possibility of igniting the hydrogen gas emitted by the car battery.

Safety Tip: You want to make sure that the last jumper connection made is the dead battery, not the live battery on the booster car.

[Timberridge]

There's nothing wrong with battery to battery on modern cars. People can barely find the two battery terminals, so they probably can't find a good remote chassis ground. And good luck finding the engine block on a modern car, let alone attach a clamp to it.

[XXX-er]

i forget where it was but a safety guy pointed out the best practises of jumping a dead battery was using vehical ground becuz you could get an explosion , yes I've probably jumped 100 dead batteries direct to battery and i never have had an explosian but safe is safer especialy if there are other flammables around it could be exciting.

IME its not 1 thing that gets you its 2 or 3 things going sideways at the same time that will fuck you up badly.

a thing I do when i jump a battery is I touch the terminal and if it zaps/sparks big time like an arc welder I know I got the cables reversed,

Idealy when a battery gets to a certian age ( 7-8 years ) and starts to get weak I proactively replace instead of waiting till winter to fuck around at -30C is the best practise IME

edit: A buddy was jumping a battery on a paddling trip, the hood was up when a carbon fibre paddle fell on a live terminal and instantly melted half the paddle

[montanaskier]

So took it to the Sunie dealer expecting it to be a ECM. They said it appears that the battery deal was just the fuse and we repaired that with no damage. Said the tranny problem and warning lights point to the tranny giving out and coincidentally doing so at the same time that this battery deal had just happened but they aren’t related. They kept the car to run more diagnostic stuff before we know for sure but that is what they are thinking. Brutal if true, really hope it’s a computer at this point.


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[RShea]

So took it to the Sunie dealer expecting it to be a ECM. They said it appears that the battery deal was just the fuse and we repaired that with no damage. Said the tranny problem and warning lights point to the tranny giving out and coincidentally doing so at the same time that this battery deal had just happened but they aren’t related. They kept the car to run more diagnostic stuff before we know for sure but that is what they are thinking. Brutal if true, really hope it’s a computer at this point.


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If you had no previous symptoms of a transmission issue, I'd wonder how that code and errors just "happened" to show up after the battery and ECM getting the voltage surge. I'd be certain to make sure if the transmission is not under warranty still (and the battery issue may void that warranty??), that they are 100% accurate and do not put in a new or rebuilt transmission just to find out the codes do not go away and it is the ECM. ECM may not be a cheap fix either but would not think it is as much as a full transmission. They are the Subaru specialists though- I've only ridden in one.

[SB]

Car is screwed, go get another one.

They are made of LOVE after all.

[SB]

https://www.military.com/video/guns/.../2886752624001

[ill-advised strategy]

Find a mechanic you trust.

The guts of the transmission shouldn’t have been affected by this, maybe the tcm. If some shady dealer service writer is trying to sell you a transmission, gtfo out of there.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Yeah, this so called coincidence smells shitty. They need to clear the codes and see if it pops up again with a good ECM. the jolt could have thrown all kinds of codes, it could have even blasted the TCM.

[fatnslow]

How many miles ? Is this a cvt transmission ?

[Name Redacted]

Find a mechanic you trust.

The guts of the transmission shouldn’t have been affected by this, maybe the tcm. If some shady dealer service writer is trying to sell you a transmission, gtfo out of there.

This. I know Autozone will run and clear codes for you for free as will other part stores. They have no reason to fuck with you really.

If it is the tranny, go trade the fucker in ASAP.

[uglymoney]

Doubt anybody on this board can really help diagnose your problem through the interwebs...does sound fishy but CVTS are a problem area.

2015 Subaru should have a warranty extension on that transmission to 10/100000 miles so if you are under 100k I wouldn't sweat it. Let the dealer give you a new one on Subaru if they offer.

https://www.ncconsumer.org/news-arti...-vehicles.html

[MontuckyFried]

Find a mechanic you trust.

The guts of the transmission shouldn’t have been affected by this, maybe the tcm. If some shady dealer service writer is trying to sell you a transmission, gtfo out of there.

For real. I'm not buying it either. That's a little TOO coincidental. Think it's possible the battery got fried somehow too? I've seen weirdo problems due to bad batteries that were JUST out of spec or acting funky, and a new battery solved everything after clearing the codes.

My guess is ECU then possibly TCM, but I'd have the battery tested first, using a proper testing unit of course. Maybe even test alternator too while you're at it.

[4matic]

I suppose the transmission could have been ready to throw codes and require repair. It wouldn't be the first time something failed startup because of a failure somewhere else.