2021 Subaru Outback. Yesterday I did a 2 1/2 hour road trip to the nearest city for errands. After running around to 6 places it was time to head home. When leaving the city there is a long steep hill that I sudo shift down to 3rd gear. Doing about 50 kph I went to shift from 5th down to 3rd but got a double beeped when attempting 3rd. I thought this a little weird and made a mental note to look into it. I drove about 20km and stopped to visit friends. After about an hour when I started the vehicle the dash was lit up. ! CHECK MANUAL EYESIGHT DISABLED COLLITION WARNING DISABLED LANE KEEPER DISABLED [i] icon X MODE icon flashing Engine icon Temperature gauge was not working On the LED side panel it showed… X MODE not lit and inaccessible DRIVING ASSISTANCE inaccessible The engine was in high idle mode and would not idle down. I disconnected the battery, reconnected it and all the warnings disappeared although the temperature gauge still didn’t work and the idle was still high. I decided to continue the drive home. Everything went fine and average gas mileage was its normal consistency. I used the paddles to downshift when exiting the highway and once again it beeped when attempting 3rd. As a curiosity while doing about 15kph I tried downshifting from 2nd to 1st and it beeped. At a lower speed it did downshift. When at home and in Park the rpm had calmed a bit but was around 950rpm. I turned the vehicle off and restarted it and the dash lit up again. The same happened again with a cold engine start and battery dis/reconnect. I do have an OBD2 and plugged it in this morning. Lots of faults appeared most of which are Greek to me. One I did notice was the engine temperature had gone into safe mode. If you want me to open and send any of these faults let me know. Any thoughts? Thanks Gary Entwistle

I have a new to me ‘21 Outback that I bought it in December of ‘25. I live in Northern Saskatchewan and I find in temperatures of -15F or lower the battery does not have enough jam to start the engine. Using a booster pack and it turns over fine and starts. I taken it for a 3 hour drive and it laboured to start after I got to my destination (very cold). I had the battery replaced by a shop that only dealt with batteries but the problem remained. I later discovered the negative post would not tighten properly. I installed a post sleeve insuring the post and interior/ exterior of the sleeve were super clean. The negative post is now very tight. I have installed a battery warmer and along with that an over night charge will give me good starts for about five days. I have an OBD2 GearWrench Scanner and it shows 14.7 volts with a charge of approximately 10amps tapering down to 2amps after starting. I’ve noticed a quick 10 minute stop for shopping will cause a laboured start but later the same day a 1/2 hour stop and it starts easier. So after this long winded whining, here are the questions. I know there is an after market negative assembly, so eliminating the negative post sleeve with this assembly solve the problem? Or did the previous owner use autostop constantly and I have a tired starter? Unfortunately the weather is warming and I don’t think this problem will reoccur till next winter but I would like to get it resolved before hand. Thanks