If you’re thinking of buying a Subaru Forester, it’s likely due to its strong reliability ratings. In most cases, you’ll get many years of dependable service out of a Forester. However, it can have some issues arise, especially with its CVT transmission.
What problems has the Subaru Forester had with its CVT transmission?
- Valve body solenoid locks up
- The transmission suddenly shifts out of gear
- Sudden unexpected acceleration
- Reverse gear does not engage
- Brake light switch issue causes loss of power
In this piece, we’ll look over all of these CVT transmission issues and many more. You can use this data to make an intelligent decision when shopping for your next vehicle.
What You Need to Know about the Subaru Forester CVT Transmission
With the introduction of the fourth generation of the Subaru Forester, the vehicle came equipped with Subaru’s Lineartronic CVT transmission, a continuous variable transmission (CVT).
Lineartronic CVT transmissions use two graduated pulleys with a pair of cone-faced plates on each one. When the plates shift away from each other, it changes the diameter of each gear. As well as the overall gear ratio.
This setup allows the transmission to operate at the same rotations per minute from the engine while changing the gear ratio to speed up or slow down the vehicle.
This type of transmission tends to be more efficient by avoiding the accelerate-shift pattern in many traditional transmission systems. Still, it has not been without its issues during development and real-world usage, including its usage in Subaru Foresters from the 2014 model year onward.
Common Subaru Forester CVT Transmission Problems
CVT Transmission Valve Body Solenoid Locked Up
Subaru offers coverage up to 100,000 miles for their CVT transmissions, a common cutoff for many manufacturers. However, when the customer’s valve body solenoid failed and locked up, the transmission, which Subaru claimed never needed service, had dark, thick, dirty transmission fluid inside. The transmission had to be replaced in this case.
Transmission Failure Causes Car to not Turn off
Though you’d expect a vehicle to turn off when the key or power button is exercised, in this case, a faulty transmission kept the car from shutting off. The owner had to pull the battery to stop the car from running, even though the transmission was not engaged. A local mechanic said it was an issue with the transmission failing and that it needed to be replaced.
Transmission Suddenly Shifts out of Gear
In both instances of this problem, the driver was going at about 75 mph with cruise control on when the transmission suddenly shifted out of gear. This caused the engine rpms to spike and the vehicle to rapidly decelerate as if it had been unexpectedly put in Neutral.
In one instance, this problem nearly caused an accident as a tailgater did not expect the sudden change of speed.
Sudden Unexpected Acceleration
In several instances, the Subaru Forester’s CVT transmission seems to accelerate, either continuously or in phases, causing problems with controlling the vehicle.
In one instance, it caused the driver to crash through a car wash garage door. In some instances, the vehicle will shudder, going between near-stalling and high-acceleration states, making it difficult to expect how quickly it will take off.
Reverse Gear Doesn’t Engage
On several occasions, when put into reverse, the Forester doesn’t actually engage the reverse gear. This can cause serious problems when trying to back into a parking space on busy streets, including accidents.
When reported, it happens both on flat ground as well as on slight downhill grades, but even with several trips to dealerships, finding the cause of the problem remains difficult.
Failure of Brake Switch Causes Power Loss
In at least a couple of instances, a faulty brake switch causes the Subaru Forester’s transmission to go out of gear, causing a sudden loss of power and in some cases, rapid deceleration.
In some situations, the loss of power was complete, similar to shifting into neutral, while in other situations, it limits the vehicle’s power, putting it into a “limp mode” whereby it can be driven at slow speeds to reach safety.
Vehicle Shudder, Left Veer Linked to Faulty Transmission
You’d expect a shudder in your vehicle that causes it to veer left to be linked to either the suspension or engine, but in this instance, it was the transmission at fault.
At normal highway speeds, the vehicle began to shudder and veer to the left, while power was lost as though the vehicle has shifted to neutral. Upon inspection, it was determined that the vehicle’s transmission had failed and required replacement.
Vehicle Fails to Quickly Accelerate
When in stop-and-go traffic situations, the Subaru Forester may have issues with accelerating quickly, causing problems with hesitation that could lead to a traffic accident.
Linked to this situation is slipping in the CVT transmission, where the vehicle has problems going from reverse to drive, causing significant problems when trying to maneuver the vehicle in tight spaces.
Short Overall CVT Transmission Lifespan
In several cases, the Subaru Forester’s CVT transmission fails well before its warranty has expired, including failures and issues sometimes arising as early as 10,000 miles, in several instances within 20,000 to 40,000 miles, and in many cases before the 100,000-mile warranty has expired or very shortly afterward.
This caused Subaru to issue an extension on the warranty; however, dealership scheduling issues caused at least one owner to have to come in after the extension expired.
All vehicles have some problems, so don’t write off the Subaru Forester just because of these issues. The extended warranty offered by Subaru to help handle these issues will cover many potential problems.