Just bought a 2008 Outback from a sketchy used car lot as a surprise birthday gift for our teenage son. On the test drive and the trip home, the airbag light was off, but of course the moment I started the car the following day, it popped an airbag warning light. Unfortunately, my basic OBDII scanner can't retrieve Subaru SRS codes and the clock is ticking leading up to his birthday.
Can anyone recommend a good scanner for this? A lot of the product descriptions claim that a given model will retrieve SRS codes, but then the scanner turns out to be incompatible with certain cars.
There's an issue with dry solder joints in the overhead console triggering airbag lights on that gen outback, if it's that airbag light..
https://www.subaruoutback.org/threads/2006-obw-airbag-light-on-my-fix.42574/
I went through this last year and the scanner market is really hard to understand.
I ended up with a foxwell nt604, and it was able to do airbag codes. It has done everything I've needed it for so far, which is not that much, but airbags reset on Porsche boxster and read and reset abs wheel speed codes on bmw 128i
Paul_s0, Thanks for responding. I was aware of the solder joints in the overhead console thing, I was really hoping that was the issue- I went over them and still no dice. That's a good tip though, maybe it will help someone else who comes across this thread later.
Robbie- that Foxwell is cheap enough that I'll probably take a roll of the dice on it. I can return it if it doesn't work. BTW, did that MGB front subframe ever prove useful for you?
Ah, sorry it wasn't anything that simple! Good luck, I've no useful advice for the scanner 
In reply to flat4_5spd :
Did I get my extra mgb front subframe from you? (I apologize for not remembering better!)
I do have both a cb one and a rb one, still deciding which I will finally use.
In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :
I gave you a CB front subframe from a '73B I scrapped. There's nothing to apologize for, we had maybe a 10min chat in my backyard about your BGT with the Miata engine swap and I was happy to see it go to a good home and get it out of my hair! Anyway, thanks for the scanner advice, I'll post back here with how it works out when it arrives.
Ha! I totally remember that but I didn't connect the memory to your screen name!
Since you're relatively close, you're welcome to try and use my foxwell instead of buying one. Just let me know
The advice here proved really solid on both counts.
The Foxwell scanner arrived before I saw Robbie's offer to use his.
I scanned it and the code is...for the overhead console airbag status indicators that paul s0 mentioned.
I pulled the console and checked the solder connections again. The first time I looked at it, I went over the solder connections to the SMD parts on one side of the board, but after looking over the other side of the board deemed it OK. I was wrong. Despite the connections looking good, I checked for continuity this time and at least one of them was wide open. I resoldered all the SMD resistors on the other side of the board and everything's fine now.
The irony of this is that I'm a professional electronics technician and do component level repair ALL THE TIME.
Thanks to both of you guys for your advice!
