2010 Subaru Forester: ABS light or ABS activating

Filed Dec 11, 2017 · Brakes · 76,000 miles · GA

I was driving on a mixture of light snow and ice and noticed ABS engaging when it shouldn't, causing me to almost slide into an intersection. I hadn't lost traction and would feel the system engage through the brake pedal. It would come on very hard and actually cause me to start sliding instead of assisting with braking. In icy conditions, it feels like subaru's ABS is very "heavy handed" in it's application and overly sensitive in it's deployment. I was in complete control of the car until the system engaged suddenly on a downhill leading to a stop sign. This occurred the following day at a stop light. Releasing the brakes completely was the only way to regain control of the vehicle. In both instances, I was traveling between 5 and 30 miles per hour, leaving myself plenty of room to stop. I want to reiterate that both times, I had grip and was slowing just fine until ABS engaged and started a slide. The only thing keeping me from getting into a wreck was a lucky light change. (the 2nd time) and the distance I gave myself to stop. (the 1st time) this issue is bad enough that I'm considering pulling the ABS fuse the next time I have to drive in snow or ice.

Filed Mar 21, 2017 · Electrical · 80,000 miles · NC

All the lights on the dash came on at once . The non skid, check engine , cruise lights wouldn't go off . I took it to the subaru dealership and they made out like it was nothing . I took it 3 different times they ended up charging me $500 dollars and never fixed anything. In a months time they came back on. I've had them turned off several times for them to come back on in 2 days time. I just recently put it back in the garage and was told the scanner found various codes. They cleared all codes , but code p0057 kept coming back for communication between antilock brakes and ECM. Possible cause- wiring, ABS module,or ECM.

Filed Apr 4, 2014 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 44,000 miles · NY

At 40 MPH front left brakes " self-applied" at maximum force. Abs prevented complete skidding of the tire, so no flat spot on tire. The vehicle lurched into a " nosedive" onto the left front wheel. After incident steering wheel cocked to left at about the "10:00" position. Flatbed to dealer. Dealer showed me bent tie rod end, anti sway bar and lower control arm. Vehicle 100% fine before incident. I believe the sudden violent weight transfer onto front left caused damages. Dealer unable to road test car with bent components. Parts on order to dealer. Will road test after repairs got case # from subaru of america. Waiting to hear from them.

Filed Feb 27, 2014 · Electrical · 30,517 miles · AK · fire

Over the course of the weekend the vds and ABS warning lights came on intermittently. On monday, went to start the car for work and heard a slight popping sound and car would not turnover. Smelled burning plastic, but no smoke. Upon further inspection that evening discovered the vinyl of the driver's side rear wheel well was burn then removed the spare tire cover to discover a small fire had occurred in the spare tire compartment. It appears as though the wiring harness had caught on fire there. The car was wired for a trailer hitch by the dealer.

Filed Dec 13, 2010 · Brakes, Tires · 18,000 miles · IN

At low speeds near intersections with light snow or slush on the road vehicle's ABS system causes loss of stopping ability and loss of directional control. Partial or complete loss of braking and/or directional control at stop signs and on slick roads. Premature activation of ABS system in snowy and slushy conditions. Potential consequences include striking pedestrians, leaving the road unexpectedly and stopping in not before an intersection. Dealer inspected braking system and stated that it is performing as intended. Dealer further documented that oem tires had low traction rating causing ABS system to operate incorrectly in certain driving conditions. In particular ABS causes drastically increased stopping distance with loss of directional control with oem bridgestone dueller h/t 687 tires with 7/32 tread depth and correct inflation pressure. Dealer states that tires should be changed to improve drivability and ABS function in snow and ice conditions. Bridgestone dueller h/t 687 tires will be replaced with a different brand. These tires will be put in storage and will be available.

Filed Dec 13, 2010 · Brakes · 4,000 miles · IN

On icy downhill grades when braking or slowing ABS system will cause a "rock hard" pedal and complete loss of brakes. All four wheels will lockup. This causes loss of directional control and loss of braking. This failure occurs when ABS fails to prevent wheels from locking up on slick surfaces. Consequences include rear end collision, loss of control, unexpected exit from the roadway and loss of control of vehicle attitude. Vehicle was take to dealer and brakes were inspected. Nothing was found to be wrong. Brakes were operating as designed. This is a design defect in the antilock braking system in that the system causes unexpected drastic changes in the feel of the brake pedal, allows the wheels to lock and does not give the driver clear expectation of how to regain control of the vehicle. On low coefficient of friction surfaces the ABS system cannot differentiate between the vehicle moving with wheels locked and vehicle stationary with brakes engaged. Vehicle must be accelerated to start wheels turning in order for the ABS to release the pedal.