You've properly done the battery disconnect reset and capacitor discharge, and verified the shutters are clear. The only other thing I can think of is checking electrical connections in the area. The fact that this happened the day after a rainstorm suggests debris or moisture in a connection somewhere; if it's the latter, hopefully it will eventually clear itself once the moisture dries out.

 

I wanted to post an update since I hate finding posts like this with no answers and nobody replies back with what happened.

Car is fixed I took the front bumper off and saw there was damage to the active shutter module it was cracked so I'm assuming moisture got in there and took out the circuit board.

Couple things I wanted to add for anybody who finds this post. From my experience I did not have to bring the car to the dealership to have it programmed after installing the new part. It would have cost $165 at my local Subaru dealership. It was plug and play, worked right away and the error code cleared itself.

Out of curiosity I did get a quote from the steelership of $618 to install a new OEM active shutter, labor and programming.

The route I took was I went to a local salvage yard and bought active shutters for $150.

Taking off the front bumper was a 20 minute job. The active shutters module is on the driver side. The ambient temp sensor is on the passenger side. Both attached to the shutters on each end.



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is there a way to permanent permanently disable the active grill shutters without any codes?

 

Not that I’m aware of.

 

Not surprising that this can be replaced without any need for the SSM. As far as "disabling", the only thing you can do is remove the shutters and just leave the motor module in place, as shown here:

Installing a Winch on Gen 5

Now for something completely different. I bought a winch and winch bumper and installed on the Gen 5. Terra 45 with synthetic line. Rated at 4500 lbs. The entire set up replaces the factory bumper beam and adds about 30 lbs. I'm not sure I would have bought it new. I'm sure there are...

www.subaruoutback.org

 

I will copy my post I just made on the forester forums as it should apply here as well.
Wanted to add my experience with this code on a 2019 Forester sport. My dad left the lift gate open on my moms car which ran the battery down and it would not start. My dad jumped the car with his battery charger/jumper and the car started but had the warning lights on.

I went to check it out today by testing the battery first after I charged it and it tested good. I then checked for codes and it had this code U0284 and it would not clear. I then searched and found this thread and read about the grille shutter and fog lights tied to the same fuse. I then removed the fog light fuse which was still good. Plugged it back in and I could hear what sounded like the shutter actuating. The CEL was then gone after I started it back up. I did try to turn the car off an on after attempting to clear the code and nothing worked till I removed and reinstalled this fuse.

The shutter sounded like it was binding almost when I put the fuse back in so hopefully that is normal and its not on its way out.

FYI on the 2015 outback it looks to have its own 7.5A fuse in the number 25 position in the under the hood panel.

 

is it a big deal to drive the vehicle with this error code? I've just started getting it, intermittently - I can clear it with an OBD scanner, but it eventually comes back. I'd like to try fix after this weekend as I have a trip planned... Do just get worse mileage until it's sorted? Any meaningful risk to the vehicle?