I had to reboot my Subaru Forester tonight. It threw literally every possible error message following coming up with the traction control, hill assist, and ABS warning lights on.
The fuse to reboot it is a 20 amp at the front center of the under hood fuse box labeled “Back Up” in the legend.
So here’s how you reboot a car. Note that some vehicles have this fuse labelled as dome light.
On certain navigation/audio systems you will need an anti theft code to reactivate them after this.
Either way, pull it, wait 30 sec, and reinsert. Be careful not to touch any hot parts under the hood if the car has just been running. A fuse puller is likely provided in the box, but if not, many replacement fuse kits come with one, or you can use small pliers to grab it.
After pulling the fuse, waiting at least 30 seconds and reinserting it, don’t be surprised if you get an errant horn honk, beeps, or clicks. Aftermarket alarms may start blasting and need to be turned back off with the remote.
Wait another minute or so, then restart the car. Check that the stereo comes on (or asks for the code…) to be sure its anti theft logic has cleared out. You will need to reset the clock and other settings may be gone as well.
In addition, it may drive differently at first as adaptive data has been reset.
Congratulations! You now know how to clear an automotive BSOD.
Now, if people would only stop arguing with me and trying to convince me that piercing guns are actually of acceptable design… Why has this happened like six times in the last week??!!