Thanks for keeping us up to date. Mine is apparently included. Here's hoping it only includes a program update, since I haven't felt any of the symptoms yet.

 

I'm in the recall group. Anybody know if I can go ahead and schedule service even if it's not showing on mysubaru yet?

 

I do not believe you can yet. Once the "remedy" (likely the reprogramming file) is ready.

 

Why am I excited that mine is included?

 

I'm ambivalent... other than that I hope @Liberty Subaru has something interesting (cough... Wilderness) to loan me.

 

Maybe a dumb question, but what does the TCU do? Seems interesting reprogramming that is a possible solution and I wonder what changed for the '21+ MY builds.

 

It tells the CVT what to do. So, short version is, the ECU tells the TCU "hey, here comes 231.7 lb-ft of torque". The TCU does some math and says "ok, the chain clamping pressure needs to be ###psi" and sets the pressure.

In this case, the ECU calls for a shift, the TCU does some math, sets pulley ratio and relevant clamping pressure. Instead of setting the pressure steady, it's setting it wrong, and/or jumpy, and/or low, allowing the chain to skip or slip.

When the chain does that, it can break the chain guide. I'd surmise that the chain constantly being jerked extra taut and then loosened, and/or a chunk of a broken chain guide running under the chain onto the pulley, when the chain is riding closer to the center of the pulley, can cause the chain to break.

In either event (chain slip, or chain guide broken), the CVT will get replaced.

 

Called the dealership yesterday, mine is also affected and has experienced slippage once so far. 2020, built late 2019 with 30,100 miles. Excited to see a solution in the works for this!

 

Mine gets the nod for this recall. I haven't noticed any issues, but the nice folks at my Subaru dealership will get to run the diagnostics, etc., when the time comes.

 

Sadly my Subie is a part of this too ...any thoughts on what the symptoms I should be watching for, so I can inform the dealership when I take it in.
Also, any ideas when the repairs will start? I got an oil change coming up this week, wondering if they might take care of it then already...

Thanks so much for posting this...appreciate the heads up.

 

Sadly my Subie is a part of this too ...any thoughts on what the symptoms I should be watching for, so I can inform the dealership when I take it in.
Also, any ideas when the repairs will start? I got an oil change coming up this week, wondering if they might take care of it then already...

I wouldn't expect them to be taking care of it this week. If you've ever felt a clutch skipping, I think one of the symptoms feels like that.

 

Thanks for the info and link Robert. My VIN is included in this recall as I expected it would be.

Haven't had even a hint of any trouble so far, the CVT is always butter smooth.

I appreciate Subaru's attention to these potential problems.

 

"Butter smooth"?? Are you driving the same vehicle as the rest of us. Mine is sloppy smooth, like melted butter.

 

woo hoo!!!! lottery winner, or is it loser?

 

I'd think that they'd feel different potentially, but that unless a 2019-2020 exhibited the fault symptoms, one wouldn't feel that difference.

 

For what it's worth, the 2021 Outback XT loaner that I had a month or so ago drove pretty well compared to our Ascent. I wrote about it a little bit at the time. Our Ascent drove better after the TCM relearn they did, but it's mostly gone back to what it was doing prior to the relearn. I wonder if some of the stuff I feel in ours is due to small chain slip events that weren't really a factor during the transmission's relearn due to very conservative baseline values...the small slips not significant enough to cause a massive squeal event, but just enough for a momentary impulse...I wonder if all of that will be cleaned up with the revised program and the Outback XT is really what my Ascent should drive like...

I can't lie -- I'm pretty excited for this recall.

 

I just today got my 2021 Outback XT back from having its transmission replaced, with only 5,800 miles on it. It's build date was some time in September 2020. I brought it in because it was making sounds coming from the rear end and shaking a bit when making a left or right turn from a stop. Never really experienced any issues in a straight line. According to the service manager, they got the transmission to bind up any time they accelerated and cut the wheel hard. According to the paperwork, the tech heard noises more in the front diff area. They drained the fluid, found it dark and smelling burnt, and ordered a new transmission.
What worries me, is that the very first turn I took in the car from a stop after getting it back, it made the exact same noise that I brought it in for, which to me still sounds like it's coming from the rear end. Brought the car straight back and went for a ride with the service manager to make sure he heard what I was experiencing, which he did. . Seemed to think it's normal because the extra torque from the turbo. I want to believe that, but I just don't know anymore. I just have this uneasy thinking that I'm going to be replacing the transmission again. When Subaru of America calls me back later this week to ask how the repair went, I'm going to mention that to me it feels like I'm going to end up having the same problem again.

 

So, how many recalls (in total) for the 2019MY Ascent does this make?

 

That depends on production date and other factors, for instance, this will be my third, but, unlike Bphillips32_nj below, the AC line wasn't one of mine.

This new recall makes four on my 2019.. dropped car off yesterday for the AC recall and they told me about this new one!

My third - fourth if you're counting the ECU reprogram. Mine were PCV valve, CVT chain slip (harness) recall, and ECU customer satisfaction.

Our 2020 is not part of this. Might this be a case of “yet”? Are the boffins at Subaru sure enough about which cars are affected that they won’t be adding more?

What is the production date of your 2020? 2020's produced after a certain date aren't in the recall group - probably because they're running different TCM code.

 

This new recall makes four on my 2019.. dropped car off yesterday for the AC recall and they told me about this new one!

 

Our 2020 is not part of this. Might this be a case of “yet”? Are the boffins at Subaru sure enough about which cars are affected that they won’t be adding more?

 

This will be my 4th recall.

 

Robert - You did not get the fuel pump recall?

 

Nope. I'm guessing the pump in question didn't make it into the Ascent production line until later on (my Ascent was built on May 30th, 2018 in the first batch). So, I lucked out on that one.

 

My19 ascent has a total of 4 total
Including this one! The AC LINE and the fuel pump are not complete yet so i might let them do all 3 the next time i take my car for service

 

I’m not sure what the production date of our car is…

thanks for posting all of this Robert. I’ll keep an eye on the MySubaru app for any developments.

 

Should be on the VIN sticker in your door jamb; it's usually in month/year format.

 

I should follow-up and say that neither of the behaviors I describe above happen during manual shifting. That is, if I have the shifter in M and I'm telling the CVT what to do with the paddles, neither of those negative behaviors happens...ever. It's only when the TCM is telling the CVT what to do...

 

My "fresh out of the womb" (Oct 2021 build) seems to have trouble deciding which ratio is appropriate when accelerating from 25-30 MPH with a normal throttle input....it wants to bog, almost like a premature TC lockup, then it selects a lower ratio and lets the turbo spool a bit. I think it needs to go back to school. I'd be happy to lose the simulated, stepped faux shifts in favor of letting the CVT do what it does best, deliver smooth transitions in ratios as required by throttle position input, engine load, etc. Seems like it wants to get to "high gear" really early, in order to satisfy the EPA/MPG goals. Hopefully, a better TCM program with better shift logic is in the offing.

 

5th recall for me. CVT was replaced at ~4700 miles, about 6 months before the initial harness recall and TCU update. Interesting that they are still pushing new updates. No noted issues in 32k miles since the original replacement.

Just for information my progression in reverse time order below. Still love my car, just sharing my experience. I suppose once it flips from "remedy not available" Subaru will let me know it's time to come in.

Type: Safety|Safety Recall: WRK21|NHTSA Campaign: 21V955000
Ascent CVT Chain Guide Breakage with CVT Oil Cooler
Open-Remedy not yet available
Incomplete

Type: Customer Satisfaction|Service Campaign: WRK20|NHTSA Campaign: N/A
2019 ASCENT A/C EVAPORATIVE COOLING PIPE REPLACEMENT
Completed Jan 2021

Type: Safety|Safety Recall: WRD20|NHTSA Campaign: 20V218000
19 Ascent Fuel Pump Replacement
Completed Apr 2020

Type: Safety|Safety Recall: WUV07|NHTSA Campaign: 19V855000
Ascent CVT Chain Slip
Completed Nov 2019

Type: Customer Satisfaction|Service Campaign: WUU06|NHTSA Campaign: N/A
ECU Reprogramming C1424
Completed Nov 2019

~May 2019 - Transmission failed and was replaced under warranty at ~3 months and 4700 miles.

 

I jumped into Subaru with great enthusiasm a couple of years ago when I was looking for a mid size SUV. I grew up on the West coast and the brand was very popular there. However...I will admit that I am pretty discouraged with Subaru at this point. I've had to replace a battery and am requiring a 3rd brake change because of, "Whistling" and my 3rd set of seat ventilation fans because of rattling. I am getting things fixed, but the fix doesn't fix the fix. And now this transmission recall. My Ascent only has 18k on it and it has spent more time in the shop than my Dodge Ram did in 50,000 miles or the Volkswagen before that. In fact , more than both of them combined now that I am thinking about it. I am seriously considering parting ways with this car.

 

I spent the better part of a 43 year career conducting failure analyses on mechanical and electronic components and systems and I was involved in determining the fixes that needed to be made to address the root causes and whether or not the failures were recurrent to a statistically significant degree or had a latency aspect to them where functioning units in service would eventually fail prematurely. I worked on the planning and implementation of many field recalls and fixes.

I find Subaru's lethargy in making the fix for this latest Ascent recall available maddening. This recall was publicized late last year. nearly 5 months later, there is still no fix available. This problem affects driveability, potentially affects safety, and even if your vehicle hasn't manifested any symptoms yet, it may result in significant damage at some point in the future requiring non-trivial repairs. The the mechanical components involved may already be incurring non-catastrophic damage to varying degrees as the affected vehicles accumulate more mileage. Also, anyone who drives their vehicle below average miles per year should be very concerned that when their warranty time period expires before the maximum covered warranty mileage is attained, that the time for the failure mode described in the recall to occur will be outside the warranty period.

This is exactly what happened to us when the 2009 Audi A4 we purchased new was found to have a design defect that resulted in excess oil consumption that worsened over time and mileage accumulated. That problem was the subject of a successful class action lawsuit that forced VW-Audi to do a recall and essentially a full ring job on vehicles that were above a certain threshold of oil consumption by a certain date. Well, my wife drove our A4 about 5K miles per year and during the time frame the full fix was allowed, our oil consumption was measuredd by the Audi dealer as being just below the threshold to be eligible for the full fix (which was about $4200 for ring job on the 2.0T engine). They did a less extensive band aid fix, but without the ring job, which replaced the old rings with ones manufactured to tolerances that would fix the root cause of the problem, any vehicle affected would eventually experience worsening oil consumption to the point where a ring job would be required (outside of warranty) anywhere from about 50K to 80K miles. Try selling a car with that known issue.

Suburu needs to get off the dime and make a fix for this WRK21 recall available ASAP. At the very least, they need to issue an update to affected owners advising us of the status of the fix and providing some definitive insight (not just vague marketing pap) as to why it is not yet available and a target date for it being available if it isn't available in April as previously stated in the recall notification.

Suburu can sure as heck send me lots of marketing emails with cute dog accessories, how about an update on the fix for this serious issue? Suburu expects me to just fly their Boeing 737 Max Ascent until the SW programmers figure out a programming fix (which I am puzzled by, if in fact this problem has been fixed on 2021 model year Ascents) or until Suburu has, at their leisure, provided the dealers with the tools and diagnostics to inspect for timing chain and chain guide damage. I'm pretty peeved at the extended time this fix is taking to incubate at Suburu with no recourse available to owners of affected vehicles.

This combined with the multiple battery failures and ineffective fixes for parasitic voltage leakage have made the purchase of our 2020 Ascent Limited a mistake and the last Suburu purchase we will ever make.

This thread contains comments that are in the category of turd polishing that doesn't extinguish the stench of Suburu's laissez faire approach to fixing this problem.

 

I have to agree with Cosmo. I still love the Ascent and appreciate Subarus willingness to make these fixes, but these recalls are certainly annoying and now starting to get to me. Plus, I was just in the shop twice as the dealer cant replicate my banging strut noise. They better get this programming right as I think another 1 or 2 transmission recalls may mean this is my last Subaru, though I will have this one for awhile.

 

damn, looks like my ascent is part of the lucky group.

 

Following since mine is also included.

 

Recalls are a good thing...consider that "back in the day" manufacturers tended to sweep things under the rug a whole lot. A recall means something is being taken care of. It's customer service. Since Subaru has determined there is something potentially causing issues with a range of vehicles, including my own, I'll be very happy to bring mine in to get it addressed.

It might seem like there are "a lot of recalls", but this is not unusual for the entire industry at this point and while this one is Subaru specific, there are a lot of shared parts in the industry with "yuge" recall efforts across multiple brand names for essentially the same thing in some cases.

 

I truly agree! Anyway, most of us have the 100k or 10 year cvt transmission warranty.