2015 Subaru Forester - all warning lights came on

all my warning lights coming on after driving, even the at oil temp. took it into the dealer twice and they say it is fine, nothing wrong

2015 Forester Premium with EyeSight here. 32000 on the odometer.

I had that experience only once, after one of the wheel bearings were changed. I was driving very slowly (abt 5mph) in the school parking lot, just about to park, had to take 1/4th circle turn and all lights lit up. There was absolutely no difference in how the car drove for those 1000 or so ft. I had a meeting with the teacher so had to turn the car off, thinking if it lights up again, I will stick the OBD scanner and read the code before pulling it out. But it never happened again.

So my advice to you would be, get https://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Scanner/dp/B005NLQAHS. Its super cheap today, usually it runs $30, today its $18. Do NOT buy those other cheapo stuff, they do not work. This one does, with our vehicles.
If you are android user, get Torque app (free version) or check other apps here https://www.obdadvisor.com/best-obd2-app/

Try it out once or twice when the car is idling to understand how it works and leave the scanner in the vehicle. When trying out, the car should not show any codes. Check youtube videos to understand how it shows up on the screen. Put check engine light code in search box. If it does show any codes, go to the trustworthy mechanic first and then dealership (if required).

If this happens again, pull over, leave the vehicle running, stick the OBD scanner to OBD port (under the steering wheel, above the brake pedal, stick the scanner upside down, BAFX sticker down) and scan for codes. Take the screenshot of all codes and then go to the dealership or trustworthy mechanic. If you are interested, share the screenshots here too (or subaruforester .org) Other folks will try to help. I personally want to know as well because when I started the car up again after the meeting, everything was hunky dory. I even made multiple rounds of that part thinking the wheel must have turned in some weird fashion and new bearings triggered warning. There is a ring within the wheel bearing assembly that is a sensor for ABS and my mechanic mentioned that could be the possible trigger.

I am sorry, if the directions sound too didactic. My wife drives this vehicle and I am writing as if I am telling her. Her job is just to drive. She has absolutely no idea of anything about the car. If you do, then ignore that part.

Did you ever figure out your problem? Our car is doing the same thing. The dealer said it was the alternator. That didn’t fix it. They said it was carbon emissions in the engine. That didn’t fix it. 2015 Subaru Forester with 102k miles. Now, after 4 weeks, the are calling Subaru of America again to try to figure it out.

I assume the warning lights are tied into the exciter circuit for the alternator. This is done so the lights get tested when starting the car. There may be a intermittent short to ground on that wire.

Should be a stored code or two. Has it been hooked up to a code reader? Its easy to do yourself and you can buy them now very inexpensively on Amazon or Ebay. With a bit of googling you can read about how all the malfunction lights turn on when the ecu detects a malfunction which can be lots of things from an exhaust leak, or a cylinder misfire, bad O2 sensor or cat and so on…

Code reader said it was the alternator. That was replaced and the code reader still says alternator. They have now had the car for 6 weeks and the Subaru dealer and Subaru of America can’t figure out what’s wrong.

Here’s what mine looked like recently (16 Forester 2.5i Premium.) The fix performed was an alternator change. To the new design using Subaru’s TSB. Too soon to tell if that was the cause of the lights.

Since replacing the alternator didn’t correct the issue then the next most likely suspect is within the wiring to the alternator. The ‘lamp’ lead of the alternator may be going to ground somehow. Normally the alternator makes the connection to ground when it isn’t working. That turns on the warning lights to test them. When the alternator is working that lead then has a back voltage on it and the current stops flowing, so the warning lights turn off, until there is a problem. A simple way to see if the lamp lead is getting a ground is to remove the connector from the alternator. If the lights still stay on then the trouble is with the wire getting a ground somehow. A good shop should know how to do this test procedure.

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another thought . . . and an ugly one, at that

When all the warning lights are lit up like a christmas tree, it’s sometimes due to a communications fault, meaning one or more modules aren’t properly communicating with each other

This usually does result in some codes, even if the warning lights seemingly fix themselves after awhile. But don’t wait too long, because they might be stored codes, by the time you hook up the scanner. And the codes will clearly state that there was a communication problem, and with which particular module(s)