'check engine' light, brake light flashing 3 weeks

[strathconaman]

2011 Outback with 17,000 km.

These three lights went yesterday afternoon. Took car to dealer, who replaced the "canister" in the emissions control system. They took it out for a test drive.

30 Minutes later they came back, pushing the car into the shop.

I am now in a 2013 loaner. They didn't call me today, suggesting they don't have a clue what is wrong, or what they did to my car.

[Wdtyler02]

We had a similar problem with our new 2013 Limited two times (1 week old). Shut car off, came back to car a few minutes later, and it wouldn't start. Dealer towed to dealership and replaced battery with bad cell. We'll keep you posted. We had check engine light flashing, cruise control light flashing, information (exclamation) symbol next to P symbol, and brake light flashing. E-brake wouldn't automatically release. Dealer said that everything was related to low battery voltage due to bad cell in battery.

[sf jakey]

My 2013 3.6 just did this and I lost all power and ability to drive. Being towed to dealer tomorrow, but at 1450 miles I am none to pleased. I have never had a problem with a new vehicle this soon, especially one so serious. All the reliability rumors aren't true for me so far. The fact that this has occurred in 4 model year cars suggest a major programming problem which hasnt been resolved. It is also very dangerous to lose power suddenly and unexpectedly. Has anybody ever had this problem repeat after having it fixed?

[se7enty]

This happened to me too. Here's my post
Brake,Check Eng. and VDC and Cruise Lights On

[G-Omaha]

Originally Posted by sf jakey

My 2013 3.6 just did this and I lost all power and ability to drive. Being towed to dealer tomorrow, but at 1450 miles I am none to pleased. I have never had a problem with a new vehicle this soon, especially one so serious. All the reliability rumors aren't true for me so far. The fact that this has occurred in 4 model year cars suggest a major programming problem which hasnt been resolved. It is also very dangerous to lose power suddenly and unexpectedly. Has anybody ever had this problem repeat after having it fixed?

Not normally a MAJOR programming or other problem. It may be something as simple as a loose gas cap or a loose spark plug wire - or sometimes even bad gas that causes a misfire. We had a couple of gas stations in the Omaha area that appeared to supplement the gas with water to increase volume - bad for Subaru's and I guess almost all other ICE's.

[dizzy2226]

Just experienced this problem with my 2010 3.6. (29,977 miles) We were driving back from our Thanksgiving visit and the dash lit up. Pulled into the closest gas station and realized I could only move the gear into Neutral. I couldn't engage the parking break and I was afraid to turn the car off for fear of not being able to turn it back on, so I was stuck there with my foot on the brake. Called roadside assistance and they told me all they could do was give me the number to the nearest dealership (1.5 hours away) and they would tow me, but it wouldn't be until Monday when there would be a tech there to look at it. (This was on Saturday) We called the dealership to talk to a tech and they had already gone home for the week. Luckily a salesperson was able to tell me he had someone experience the same thing. He instructed that it was ok to turn off (from Neutral) and then I could put it into park. He also told me it was ok to drive home (4 hours away) and I would need to take it in on Monday for a tech to reset the computer system.
I just tried opening and re-closing the gas cap, per suggestions from this thread, and I disconnected the battery for a minute or two. Reconnected and it seems to have taken all the error lights away. Fingers are crossed it stays that way. Will update if it happens again and what, if anything, the dealership will be able to tell me.