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Old 12-22-2009, 08:06 PM   #1
Subirex09
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Default 09 WRX-VDC, ABS, and Hill Assist Warning Lights

Hello Everyone,

Funny I came over to the issues forum and for a sec thought I was having the same problem as woWRX...but mine is a bit different.

So all three of these lights, Hill Assist/VDC/ABS, have been illuminating lately. Sometimes I am on the highway when it happens, sometimes I am on a normal street. When they come one, the car still drives but you can definitely feel that the VDC is off, the car kind of drags a little. If I stop, turn the key off, and then restart, the lights go off but not forever.

I brought it to the dealership after this happened multiple times in one day a couple of weeks ago. By time I got to the dealer that day, with the lights illuminated, I would hit the brakes, hear a very high pitched electronic tone, and then clicking as if the abs was trying to apply the abs pulses under even light braking, very strange. Mech said he hadn't heard of this problem on any other cars.

They ran the codes and did come up with some:

C0054 BLS OFF MALFUNCTION
C0057 VDC CONTROL INTERRUPTION
C0042 POWER SUPPLY VOLTAGE FAIL

Mech called the tech line and with their help diagnosed a faulty brake light switch on account that the resistance of the BLS was too high. They ordered me a new switch and reset the codes. The warning lights came on again after I left. I brought the car back in to have the new switch installed the following Wednesday and despite a little problem with a clip, I was given back the car at the end of the day with a new brake light switch.

Thursday came along and the lights came on another couple of times. Now I will have to bring it into Subaru again next Monday and most likely leave it there for them to play with for a few days which sucks because I have a hard time leaving it anywhere.

Has anyone else heard of this problem anywhere? I told the Mech I would post to see if anyone else has come across the same issue. Would be nice if they could get this thing fixed...whatever it may be.

Thanks for reading.
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Old 12-22-2009, 10:25 PM   #2
RobM
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I had the same issue on my '09 STI, about 2 weeks after I took delivery. Replaced the brake light switch, and haven't had the problem since.
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Old 12-23-2009, 05:08 PM   #3
Subirex09
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Cool, well hopefully they get a switch in that doesn't die in one day next week when I bring it in : ).

I also found this on Edmunds For Those of you who come across this in the future:

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0ffae1
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Old 12-23-2009, 07:38 PM   #4
Shohin
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This happened to me . . . replaced steering angle sensor . . . problem fixed. Happened exactly as you described during hard braking.

EDIT: See THIS THREAD

ALthough you are getting different codes, its worth looking at.
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Old 02-02-2010, 12:06 PM   #5
28Fiend
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I had the exact same problem, dealer replaced the brake light switch. They also said it has been a common problem. All good now.
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Old 03-05-2010, 11:10 AM   #6
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This is my fourth go around with this problem.

1) I don't have the codes they pulled in Sept of 09, but it ended up being the break light switch

2 & 3) The light went off before I got it to the dealer and they could not find the codes

4) I have the codes from a few days ago. C0054(ABS), C0057(VDC), and C0047(ECM). This go around it is the steering angle sensor.

Everytime the lights came on, it was under normal driving conditions. Maybe this will fix the problem for good.
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Old 03-10-2010, 08:40 AM   #7
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Update:

Got the car back. Well I thought all was fixed, I got about half way home and the lights came back on. It goes back in on Saturday.
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Old 03-27-2010, 12:16 PM   #8
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...Geez, I am sorry you are still having this problem.

Mine was ok once they replaced the one time use clip that held the brake light switch in place. They had broken the clip when they went to replace since it is one time use, and then had to order me a new clip since they didn't know it was one time use and didn't have a clip on hand when they went to take care of the switch.

I haven't had the problem since. Do you know if they ever replaced your one time use clip with the switch?
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Old 04-05-2010, 08:23 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Subirex09 View Post
...Geez, I am sorry you are still having this problem.

Mine was ok once they replaced the one time use clip that held the brake light switch in place. They had broken the clip when they went to replace since it is one time use, and then had to order me a new clip since they didn't know it was one time use and didn't have a clip on hand when they went to take care of the switch.

I haven't had the problem since. Do you know if they ever replaced your one time use clip with the switch?

No I don't. The light is back on after being off for about three weeks. I have zero faith in the dealership I have been taking it to. I am calling a new one today to see what they say.
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Old 10-27-2010, 12:25 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WRXKurt View Post
No I don't. The light is back on after being off for about three weeks. I have zero faith in the dealership I have been taking it to. I am calling a new one today to see what they say.
Did you ever get your car figured out ? I'm having the same problem with mine and apple subaru is a complete joke. Now im over 36k and they basically told me to pound sand even though it's been going on since 27k and they could never figure it out..
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Old 11-07-2010, 02:31 PM   #11
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I have had this happen once on my 11 STi so far. It was raining and I noticed the lights after stopping at a light to turn left. I'll take it in if it comes on again.
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Old 12-16-2010, 07:47 PM   #12
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This happened on my 11 sti sedan two nights ago....and it keeps coming back on everytime I drive the car.....annoying....I really don't feel like taking it into subaru.
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Old 12-17-2010, 08:18 AM   #13
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Someone else just posted about this issue in another thread who also had an 11 sti sedan...you'd think subie would have stopped using that faulty brakelight switch by now...
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Old 01-17-2011, 06:00 PM   #14
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Just had the same issue with my 2008 2.5i sport. The lights came on, so I stopped the car turned it off and started it back up again and the lights stayed off. That was 4 days ago. Still going to take it in to get it checked out.
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Old 01-17-2011, 07:35 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cubb View Post
Just had the same issue with my 2008 2.5i sport. The lights came on, so I stopped the car turned it off and started it back up again and the lights stayed off. That was 4 days ago. Still going to take it in to get it checked out.
Don't waste your time. Unless there is a hard fault that is present and the lights on, there is almost next to nothing they can do.
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Old 01-26-2011, 12:31 AM   #16
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Bump....'cause I'm havin the-same-****in-issue, VDC off, ABS off and Hill Assist off all illuminated and cannot re-engage.
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Old 02-11-2011, 11:18 AM   #17
Gone Subin'
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I have also had this issue occur about three times since I took delivery of my car (12/28). The two times I noticed it happen I was applying the brakes at a very slow pace (i.e. creeping up to a light). Third time I didn't notice it until after they had come on, probably due to the same issue.

Going to dealer today to talk over several concerns, hopefully it is something benign.

Probably on a side note, one thing I did notice on my '11 is that my brake pedal could be lightly applied without the brake lights coming on. Possibly related?
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Old 02-11-2011, 02:33 PM   #18
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^^Re to myself

Brake light switch is also the culprit as per my tech, sat with them through the troubleshooting. Going to keep her until the replacement part comes in.
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Old 02-12-2011, 09:31 AM   #19
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Bump..

DCCD icon bars have also been blinking along with VDC, ABS, hill-assist bein illuminated(in yellow).
Dash started going bananas last night, CEL blinking, gas icon illuminated also, and car started misfiring along with tach fluctuation! I was like
Decided to try and turn-around to get home and the car just shut off.....tried to turn it back on and no ignition turn-over. everything lights up, but not ignition. EMBARRASSING!.
Cars being shipped to the stealer today..I'll keep bumpin this thread as soon as soon as I get an updated, so guys can have an idea of what we're workin with

Last edited by BraveSTi; 02-13-2011 at 04:41 PM.
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Old 02-24-2011, 01:33 PM   #20
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Brake light switch replaced Tuesday, hasn't reoccurred so far...hopefully all is well now!
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Old 04-11-2011, 11:12 AM   #21
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I have the same issue on my 08 WRX. I took it to the dealer and they ran the codes and I have the same 3 codes as above. They charged me $100 to basically say they don't know. I then found this thread and replaced the Brake light switch myself. Do i now have to take it back to get reset? The problem is still happening with the new switch but thought maybe it needs a reset. Id prefer not to take it back there cuz it probably won't be free to reset it but guess I have to try. Anyone know if there is a reset that has to be done?

thanks
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Old 04-11-2011, 12:46 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bpersonke View Post
I have the same issue on my 08 WRX. I took it to the dealer and they ran the codes and I have the same 3 codes as above. They charged me $100 to basically say they don't know. I then found this thread and replaced the Brake light switch myself. Do i now have to take it back to get reset? The problem is still happening with the new switch but thought maybe it needs a reset. Id prefer not to take it back there cuz it probably won't be free to reset it but guess I have to try. Anyone know if there is a reset that has to be done?

thanks
I don't know if a reset will help but when the dealer did mine they naturally broke the one time use clip that holds the switch in place, and the problem didn't go away until they got ahold of a new one time clip and replaced that as well.
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Old 07-21-2011, 08:49 PM   #23
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how hard is it to replace the brake light switch myself... I can order the part online for about 15 dollars... my dealer was going to charge me $121.00 just to diagnose! They got the codes (the same C0047, C0054, and C0057)... and waited til they were almost closed to call me and let me know they wanted to keep it over night... Luckily I live very close and was already off from work... I picked up the car and they did not charge me since they needed me to drive it around some more to see if I could get more recent codes to come up... This seems to be a commom problem.. I was about to flip if they were just gonna charge me 121 dollars just to plug it into a machine to find some codes which a simple google search could have told them how to fic the problem...
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Old 08-01-2011, 02:39 PM   #24
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Mine is going on Thursday for the brake light switch. I've already had the steering angle sensor replaced a year ago. I seem to get the lights more often in the rain. Just going down the road, sitting, turning doesn't seem to matter. I hope the BLS fixes the problem. It's been over a year.
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Old 12-10-2011, 05:42 PM   #25
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bumping to find out if everyone still has this problem or did it finaly get fixed?
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