Mt name is Patty. I own a 1999 Subaru Forester that I just bought at an auto auction w/ 173,000 miles on it for $1500. My boyfriend was looking through the manual to try and program a key fob he leftover from his Subaru when he came across a green plug under the steering wheel that was unplugged. He came in and said he’d found this male & female connection that wasn’t connected and that he doesn’t know whether or not to connect it. i went out and leaned under the steering wheel and click connected the green connector together. Bad idea. The check engine light started flashing fast. Then, When my fella took it to an Advanced Auto parts to get the codes (P0500, P1540, P1101, & P1121) the car stopped driving. The other gears work. But it will not drive forward. Can anyone help me?!
I can’t tell you what the green plug under the steering wheel was. Did it look to be original equipment or some sort of weird add on?
Those codes all refer to 2 things and could very well make the transmission go screwy. The P0500 & P1540 are both about vehicle speed sensor issues. The other 2 are about the neutral safety switch. Those are transmission control items but they interact with other systems.
No plug under the steering wheel should mess with the transmission controls - off the top of my head I’d say maybe someone installed an after-market remote starter. These can be very problematic, especially if someone did a hack job on it. Did you undo the plug again and see what happened? You might have to unplug it and disconnect the battery for a while to clear everything out.
You can cross your fingers and do that - but you have an electrical mess and probably need professional attention.
If the rest of the car is in good condition, I would just fix the issues (like sending it to an independent transmission specialist or the dealer) and keep it. Subaru’s are great cars.
First, I would get the whole car checked out by a mechanic first, it may need other serious work.
The connector is for use during diagnostics.
Have you tried unplugging it?
I doubt that its the DLC. That would just be a female plug with no male counterpart.
Well, now you know why the connector was unplugged.
What happens if you unplug it?
alrighty- first, thanks to everyone for their input. I’m so frustrated at this point i don’t know wheather to scratch my watch or wind my butt.
The green plug has been disconnected. The vehicle will still not drive. I’m hoping that the evil green connector was an unhappy coincidence with this new drive issue. I did just find out from the tow truck driver that he knows the auction house I attained this vehicle from to be unsavory and unreliable. fabulous. hindsight is 20/20. am thinking at this point i may just have the subaru towed to the local subaru dealership and see what they can do for me.
Any last suggestions? I’m simply beside myself here. Thanks in advance!