Time to test that extended warranty ...

[Adam_E]

So, I'm driving home from work at, erm, highway speed in my MY08 Spec B when the dash blacks out and I lose all power.

It coughs and splutters and the dash lights all flicker on and off.

It does this a few times for a few hundred meters until I can pull over safely, by which time it has stalled completely.

I crank it , but no start. Ignition fully off for 30 sec, then it starts but runs like crap with the CEL and stability light on, plus the cruise and [S] indicator flashing. Put it into drive and the revs hunt up and down while I idle it into a safe parking spot. Didn't have time to even open the bonnet - had to get home.

Now, a CEL + flashing cruise could be anything really (I don't have an OBD), but all the other blacking out, etc has me worried. This sort of $#!+ shouldn't happen on a 50,000km car!

Any thoughts while I wait to talk to the service agent tomorrow?

[senator]

Going by your location….. How good is the fuel out there?

The CEL error should give them a very good idea of the issue.

Is your extended warranty through Subaru directly?

[Adam_E]

Subaru warranty ... not sure if this'll be covered though

CEL error codes didn't help much.
Others suggested fuel, too - but that wouldn't explain the blackout.

If I'd had time to pop the bonnet, I'd have spotted that the battery retainer had worked loose and come undone. Eventually it shorted the battery, sucking all the power from the ECU, etc. Enough of an arc to 'plasma-cut' clean through the retainer bolt.

What I may not have spotted is the arc-induced pin-hole in one of the steel oil return pipes. Could have been very messy after a few 10's of km. Lucky the whole thing didn't catch fire, really.

Hopefully it hasn't fried the ECU. The service agent was pretty confident that it is OK. Weird that it ran rough, though. I figured it would either be shorted = dead, or not shorted = OK. Car electrics can be weird though!

[kiks]

Groovy! Good catch I suppose, could of been disastrous