Subarunet Announcement
To: All Subaru Retailers
From: Subaru of America, Inc.
Date: October 8, 2019
New Subaru Safety Recall: WUM-98 Forester Passenger-side Front Airbag ODS
Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2015-2018 model year Forester vehicles to replace
the passenger-side front airbag Occupant Detection System (ODS) harness. A total of 365,515 U.S.
vehicles will be affected by this recall.
Affected Vehicles
Model Year
2015-2018

Carline
Forester

Production Date Range
January 20, 2015 – August 01, 2017

Vehicle count
365,515

Not all vehicles in the production range listed above are affected by this recall. Coverage must be
confirmed by using the Vehicle Coverage Inquiry function on subarunet.com.
Reason for this Recall
Over time, due to a decrease in contact pressure between terminals in the ODS sensor mat harness, a
temporarily unstable electrical connection may be possible. If the connection is temporarily unstable,
the ODS may not properly determine the status of the right front seat occupant.
Safety Risk
If the ODS is unable to correctly determine the status of a front occupant, the airbag warning light may
illuminate, and the front passenger airbag may deactivate even though the seat is occupied, increasing
the risk of injury to the front passenger in the event of a crash.
Description of the Remedy
For all potentially affected vehicles, Subaru retailers will replace the ODS sensor mat harness with a new
part at no cost to the customer.

UNTIL ODS SENSOR MAT HARNESS PARTS AVAILABILITY IS ANNOUNCED (UP TO 6 MONTHS), VEHICLES
EXPERIENCING THIS CONDITION, WITH CONFIRMED DTC CODES, MUST BE REPAIRED USING THE
CURRENT SUPPLY OF SEAT CUSHION REPLACEMENTS. PLEASE SEE SPECIAL RECALL CLAIMS ENTRY
PROCESS IN THE SERVICE, PARTS, AND CLAIM INSTRUCTIONS SECTION BELOW.

Owner Notification
Subaru will notify affected vehicle owners by first class mail in December advising them of this recall and
that parts are not yet available. Retailers will be advised when that notification begins.
Retailer Responsibility
Any vehicles listed in any recall/campaign that are in retailer stock must be:
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Immediately identified.
Tagged or otherwise marked to prevent their delivery or use prior to repair.
Repaired in accordance with the repair procedures outlined in the Product Campaign Bulletin,
once the parts become available.

Until the parts are available, this recall cannot be performed. If an affected vehicle is in for service,
please inform the owner that their vehicle is affected by this recall and that remedy parts are not yet
available, and that all affected owners will be notified by mail once the repair can be performed.
Service, Parts, and Claim Instructions
Remedy parts are not yet available. Detailed service, parts, and claim information will be forthcoming
and should be available in the WUM-98 Product Campaign Bulletin on STIS by early next week.
SPECIAL RECALL CLAIMS ENTRY PROCESS for seat cushion replacement
Inspection or replacement of the seat cushion assembly for a vehicle included in this recall should not be
claimed as a warranty repair. Since the current status of the recall is “Open-Remedy not yet available”,
normal entry procedures will cause issues when trying to submit a claim for this recall. As a result, please
follow the procedures below for submitting a claim under this Recall:
1. Gather a copy of the repair order for the inspection / replacement seat cushion. If it is an
inspection only, please make sure the repair order includes the supplier code and date in the
format outlined in the Inspection Determination section of the campaign bulletin.
2. Complete a claim entry form. The Subaru Claim Entry Form can be found on Subarunet: Service
Operations & Technical > Forms/Downloads.
3. Submit a warranty copy of the Repair Order along with a completed Claim Entry Form to
[email protected].
4. Upon receipt of this information, the Claims Team will enter a recall claim accordingly. In the very
rare case where the harness is OK, the claim will pay 0.2 hours of labor for the harness label
inspection ONLY. In the case where the seat cushion was replaced, the claim will pay 0.8 hours of
labor for the harness label inspection AND replacement of the seat cushion assembly, along with
the appropriate dollar amount for the part.
5. Allow up to 3 business days for recall claim processing. Once the recall claim is entered, the
Approved recall claim will appear on the Daily Claim Detail Report.
6. Please direct any inquiries regarding this process or the status of documents that were sent to the
Subaru Claims Helpline at: 866-782-2782, option 2.
REMINDER: The supplier code AND date code MUST be recorded on the document(s) submitted for claim
reimbursement. Use the following format example: 6578-18074.