Perfumes causing Subaru recall?

[wemay]

Subaru recalls millions of vehicles due to perfume-induced brake light failures http://flip.it/VxfhiQ Subaru is issuing a major recall of more than 2.3 million SUVs, including about 1.3 million vehicles in the United States and nearly one million more in the rest of North America and Japan, the Wall Street Journal reported. The issue stems from an emissions problem that results in brake light failures, but the cause may surprise you. While the issue is related to emissions, it's not emissions from the car that are causing problems. Instead, the issue stems from chemical compounds emitted from common consumer products like shampoo, perfume, fabric softeners, polish, and cosmetics. Those chemicals seem to be the source of some sort of interference by creating an insulating barrier on brake light switches. That barrier causes reduced flow of electricity to the lights and renders them useless. The recall caused by the chemical compound issue will reportedly affect the company's Impreza, Forester, and Crosstrek models produced between the years 2008 and 2017. It's unclear what will be required to fix the issue.

 

[PimTac]

Subaru has had a tough year so far and it's still early. Hopefully this is the last of this kind of news. Earlier all Japan production was halted due to failed quality control checks. I believe they were down around two weeks.

 

[wemay]

I think they'll be ok. Subaru is just having growing pains. I read they're having difficulty keeping up with demand which has led to these bumps in the road.

 

[JetStar]

Several factors at work here, Contact plating issues, contact pressure, oxidation, contaminants, FOD, low wetting voltage or current to name a few. I have seen this first hand in aerospace products. There are certain airborne contaminants that can cause surface film issues. It's generally not an issue if you are switching signals that have sufficient energy to burn through, but switching low energy signals to body control modules require high quality contacts rated for dry circuit switching. Subaru kind of makes it sound like its the consumers fault, share the love. Earlier today I saw that there were 33 reports of failure. The fix is likely a better switch.

 

[das_peikko]

Ban all perfume; that would suit me just fine.

 

[littlehulkster]

Originally Posted by PimTac

Subaru has had a tough year so far and it's still early. Hopefully this is the last of this kind of news. Earlier all Japan production was halted due to failed quality control checks. I believe they were down around two weeks.

Well, I'd rather see a company that's willing to own up to problems and fix them rather than the alternative.

 

[blupupher]

a smear of dielectric grease in each connection affected???

 

[slo town]

My wife and I bought a brand new 2001 Subaru Outback when we lived in Colorado for three years. We had MAJOR problems with the rear tail and brake lights. The entire rear lighting system had to be replaced because the conductive surfaces in the housing(s) was peeling off, literally so. I've never seen anything like it. It was like someone had poured acid in there. Corrosion on a massive scale. And my wife never wears perfume because the smell of it gives me a headache. Scott

 

[billt460]

Sure, blame their lousy electrics on Chanel #5 and Head & Shoulders.

 

[Kira]

...as well as the normal outgassing from foams and vinyls. A bad electronics problem emerged. Does anyone here think the consumer going to get a truthful, full story? Time to grow up!

 

[csandste]

Originally Posted by blupupher

a smear of dielectric grease in each connection affected???

That was my first thought when reading the story.

 

[PimTac]

My question to this is why is it just Subaru? Their parts all come from the same manufacturer like everyone else. Nobody makes their own particular switches and stuff. Denso likely provided these parts.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

How do we know it's just Subaru? The premise of statistics says it's likely spread across all similar pieces produced by the same manufacturer. Subaru is the only ones so far to come forward and admit it, and install a fix. I agree it stretches the imagination to believe the current explanation, but how many VALID historical safety recalls were initially fought tooth and nail by the manufacturer? Anybody remember the Ford Exploder (oops, Explorer) and Firestone tires? This is a safety issue only in the fact that the brake lights may not illuminate; the cars still stop fine, everything else works. It's like the first step in a 12-step program... at least they admitted there was a problem. I trust them more for admitting the issue and working to resolve it rather than a company who cries they don't have a problem.