Help us help you. By posting the year, make, model and engine near the beginning of your help request, followed by the symptoms (no start, high idle, misfire etc.) Along with any prevalent Diagnostic Trouble Codes, aka DTCs, other forum members will be able to help you get to a solution more quickly and easily!
Having some issues with a 2016 Subi Crosstrek with a 2.0L. Vehicle came in back in May for oil and coolant mixture we replaced head gaskets and had cylinders cleaned and checked. They passed! After installing new head gaskets customer drove vehicle less than 50 miles after repairs (We drove it 100miles) returned vehicle with a check engine light on. Checked timing all timing is in sync. Checked with PIDs and Labscope found no issues. Removed timing cover inspected again timing is in sync. Found TSB stating remove and replace PCM and also found 1 hit on Identifix for relearning cam paramotors. After doing relearn check engine light stayed off for 30 miles and came back on with the same code.
I don't know all the details, because I haven't had to fix one, but there is a lot of talk about Subaru PCMs needing replacement (or EEPROM work) to correct learned VVT values with worn timing components. I started to watch a video about board level repairs for this issue, and feel asleep, lol.
Have you seen Subaru TSB 02-163-16R? It's long, but it will walk you through the steps to determine if you have a base timing problem, or a learned value problem.
If I'm reading it correctly, chart (2)-1 is the one to follow for your Crosstrek (XV). (2)-1 does end in ECM replacement if everything else checks out, like Noah mentioned.
There's also a ton of info on Subaru VVT issues on Diag.net. Here's an example, with a YouTube link to a video showing an alternate way to clear learned values:
Hi, my 2016 Crosstrek 2.0 has p0016 and after 2 full days at dealership they are telling me that I need a new ECM since the current one won't forget the code. They did some sort of test on the cam alignment maybe (they said the good range was -10 to +10 and my value was -1, so we'll within spec) I have 137K miles on this car. Do you experts think the method in the video posted above could work? Also wondering if you have thoughts about whether it's even worth the $ to replace the ECM if it's actually the only way to fix code. Thanks so much in advance, Evan
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