No acceleration hill assist light comes on

[spinnaker]

I have been having a problem with a lack of acceleration when pressing on the accelerator. The car does not stall, there is simply no response. This is almost always accompanied by the hill assist check warning coming on. It usually occurs when I am moving slowly.


Apparently I am not the only one with this complaint.
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Subaru/Forester/2015/fuel_system/fuel_propulsion_system.shtml

Has anyone here had this issue and was able to have it resolved?

 

[spinnaker]

P.S. This is a 2015 Subaru Forester.

 

[Nate4x4]

Check if there is a sufficient amount of coolant in the coolant reservoir.

 

[spinnaker]

Check if there is a sufficient amount of coolant in the coolant reservoir.

I think there is. But I will check again. What would that have to do with it? It is not over heating. Why would that cause the hill assit warning to go off?

 

[spinnaker]

Checked level. It was fine as I expected. I went ahead and added a few drops.

The other thing I noticed was sometimes the brake tail lights stay on. after the ignition is turned off. I have to press the pedal again to get them to turn off.

My battery was dead this morning. I thought I checked the lights last night but maybe I missed it. Or maybe they came on after I left the car.

It is unbelievable that in the modern world of sensors and computers, your battery is allowed to drain to a point where the car can't be started. It would be real simple to monitor the battery level. If motor is off then all non essential systems would be shut down.

 

[Nate4x4]

There are many reasons why your vehicle is losing POWER especially when accelerating.

Some common causes are: Mechanical problems such as: Low compression, Clogged fuel filter, Dirty air filter, Clogged Exhaust Manifold.

Malfunction of Actuators such as: Bad injectors, bad fuel pump, bad spark plugs.

 

[spinnaker]

Only 24K miles, Brand new air filter. As for the others I would hope not have 24K miles. Also there are no codes that at least I can see. I would hope any of those would trip a code.

And how would that explain the Hill Assist warning coming on? And any of those would show no matter what speed I was going. This usaully happens when I am moving slowly maybe under 10 miles an hour. Sometimes occurs then going a bit faster say 20 mph. But seems fine at highway speeds.

Happened again tonight. I noticed that if I really pressed on the accelerator the tach would respond. Maybe not as much as you think it should but it did respond, But the car went nowhere. If I backed off of the accelerator all the way then things went back to normal. Makes me think it is a transmission issue but still there is that Hill Assist warning. Don't know how that can be related.

Anyway I take it into the dealer tomorrow. Hope they don't rack me for service. Car is 4 years old now from the purchase date.

 

[spinnaker]

Something else I just noticed, After starting the car and I press on the accelerator at idle, the brake tail light comes on. It will remain on after I turn off the engine. Sometimes it will stay on unless I tap the brakes. Sometimes it goes off by itself 2 or 3 seconds after the engine is shutdown, I hear a whining sound then the brake light goes off.

 

[subaru559]

Something else I just noticed, After starting the car and I press on the accelerator at idle, the brake tail light comes on. It will remain on after I turn off the engine. Sometimes it will stay on unless I tap the brakes. Sometimes it goes off by itself 2 or 3 seconds after the engine is shutdown, I hear a whining sound then the brake light goes off.

did you resolve this? I just started having this EXACT issue on 8/19/19 Hope to hear from you.

 

[remy6908]

This may sounds like a dumb question but, are you driving with the parking brake engaged?

 

[subaru559]

nope, just had the brake light recall replacement and problem started happening afterwards. FYI everyone reading this, i took it back and they re-adjusted whatever setting on the recall and the problem has been resolved for over a week.

 

[remy6908]

Good to hear! Thanks for the update.

 

[SubaROO]

I'm having this problem on my 2005, and the reason the car won't accelerate is because the brakes came on; the hill assist brake hold is coming on while I'm driving. I know this because if I take a strong stab at the brake pedal while it is happening, the brakes let go and it drives normally until the next time, which might be in one minute or tomorrow. I can also feel a "catch" in the clutch pedal where something is tangling with the linkage, also intermittent. When there is no "catch" in the clutch, there is no problem with the brakes coming on by themselves. The car of course will not accelerate when the brakes are on.....but no "idiot light" has come on. Already got $700 worth of front brakes that I did not need and the problem actually got worse. Finding a mechanic who doesn't say "bring it in and we'll find out what is REALLY wrong with it" is difficult.

 

[JimTheMechanic]

P.S. This is a 2015 Subaru Forester.

Manual car?

 

[JimTheMechanic]

I have been having a problem with a lack of acceleration when pressing on the accelerator. The car does not stall, there is simply no response. This is almost always accompanied by the hill assist check warning coming on. It usually occurs when I am moving slowly.


Apparently I am not the only one with this complaint.
https://www.carcomplaints.com/Subaru/Forester/2015/fuel_system/fuel_propulsion_system.shtml

Has anyone here had this issue and was able to have it resolved?

the older manual cars
they need adjustments once awhile for a manual car

 

[SubaROO]

Reporting what was wrong with my 2005. There is no warning light associated with the hill assist; I took it back to the mechanic who put the $700 worth of brakes in and asked him to either fix or disconnect the hill assist. He disconnected it at no charge. I have had no problem since and have driven it all over creation. The cable for the hill assist was getting tangled up in the clutch mechanism somehow (it is a separate mechanical system) and forcing the hill assist to come on. Disconnecting it worked.