Keeping an eye on your vehicle is very important nowadays, in fact, if you do not do the minimum maintenance of it, or if you do not take into account symptoms of abnormality, you strongly risk to see your car getting in bad conditions. This is specifically the topic we are going to talk about on this webpage, one of the signs that most perturbs motorists is the ABS warning light on Subaru Outback. In an attempt to help you analyze this warning light, we will first take a look at what this ABS warning light corresponds to, then in a second what you can do if the ABS light is on Subaru Outback?.
What does the ABS light on Subaru Outback indicate?
We will start our article content with the meaning of an ABS warning light on Subaru Outback, for this, in first, we will discover what an ABS is, and afterwards, why the ABS light on your car lights up.
What is the ABS on Subaru Outback?
To start with, it is vital to describe to you what the ABS of your Subaru Outback is used for so that you can understand the rest of this article. The ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) is a system that prevents the wheels of your car from locking during braking. The purpose of this system is to optimise the braking distance of a car by preventing the wheels from locking, sliding on the road and you losing control of your car. The ABS system of your Subaru Outback is made up of several elements, here they are:
- Speed sensors on each wheel, which will analyze if one of the wheels locks up.
- A hydraulic system and valves that will manage the pressure of the pads on the discs to manage the braking power of the car
- A computer that is the control center of your entire ABS system as well as the ABS light of your Subaru Outback
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The fact is, you can quite easily experience how your car’s ABS works. If you have to steer, you will find that your car will brake by pawing, this is precisely the behaviour that ABS enables, it will optimise braking to the maximum by associating the phases of pressure on the brake discs and the phases of release to prevent the wheels from locking up.
Meaning of an ABS light on Subaru Outback
Now we move on to the section that you are likely more enthusiastic about, meaning of an ABS warning light on a Subaru Outback? To begin with, it is an orange light, so if it is on it means that your ABS system is defective. You should be conscious that whenever the ABS warning light is on, the ABS will be put into security mode, so you should adjust your driving and not take any risks. Here are the different problems that the ABS warning light on your Subaru Outback can show:
- It could be a simple short circuit, a broken wiring harness, a defective relay or fuse. Use a pressure gauge to check it.
- A malfunctioning ABS sensor: A malfunction of one of them motives the ABS light on your Subaru Outback to come on
- The ABS hydraulic block of your Subaru Outback: If it is defective it is possible that the indicator light will turn on and you will no longer be able to use your ABS.
- The ABS computer: If the computer has a problem, being the center of all decisions made to run your ABS, the light will unavoidably come on.
What if the ABS light activate on my Subaru Outback?
We will now move on to the section where we will try to give you some solutions to shut off this light, and thus answer the following question, what to do if the ABS light is on on my Subaru Outback?. The solutions will depend on the failures you are going through. To begin with, pass your Subaru Outback to the diagnostic tool, if you don’t know how to read a fault code on Subaru Outback, don’t hesitate to browse our article which points out the steps to take. Once you have located the origin of your issue, here are the steps to take to solve it and turn off the ABS light on your Subaru Outback:
- Trouble of the ECU or the hydraulic block: It can only be altered, and in this case, you will have to go through a specialist, but if it’s dead, it could cost you around 1000€ to replace the ECU and 1500 to 2000€ if you have to replace both of them.
- Electrical issue: Once you’ve detected an electrical issue with your manometer, if it’s only a fuse or a relay, count around 10€ maximum, in any other case you’ll have to repair the wiring harness.
- A defective sensor: Often a simple cleaning of the sensors will be enough to resolve the issue, in any other case changing a sensor can cost up to a few hundred euros.
In the event that you have any further questions about the Subaru Outback, do not hesitate to consult our Subaru Outback category.
