'check engine' light, brake light flashing 3 weeks

[sallyG]

While driving down the highway in my 2011 Outback, my 'check engine' light suddenly went on, the 'brake' light flashed, another light came on indicating a car sliding, another light that was a picture of a headlight, my remote was disabled, and my Nav system went on and off. My Subaru dealer couldn't take me for 3 weeks. The night before my scheduled appointment, I hit a small bump, and everything righted itself. Subaru dealer was mystified, but obviously couldn't care less, claimed they had nowhere to document this incident, and said they probably couldn't find anything wrong if I bothered to bring the car in (dealership is an hour and 15 minutes away so I decided not to). Has anybody had this happen to them?

[subiesailor]

Sounds like a wheel speed sensor that might have had a loose connection or bad read etc. That would trigger all the above lights

[fatabbot]

See this thread:

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...ight-came.html

Could be something as simple as a gas cap. It's beyond retarded to light up all of those warning lights as a result of such a simple (and non threatening) failure, but about par for the course.

[scoobydoo2]

...You're not the first person to have had this problem...and by the sounds of how many have posted about this issue with their OB....you won't be the last...hopefully it's just the gas cap....

I left mine loose just to see what would happen...nothing!

[Arron232]

I am having the same problem with my 2011 Outback. This morning while driving to work on the freeway my Check Engine, Traction, Cruise Control, and Brake lights appeared on the dash. The dealer told me to check the gas cap. I did and this did not correct the problem. The dealer is my next destination. I will post what they tell me.

[alanlotspeich]

Yep, mine did this when I was headed home with about 3.5 hours to go... It also disengaged the cruise control, which was a pain in the butt on a long trip! Turns out it was the gas cap... Dealer reset the faults, and replace the gas cap... no issues since. That was about 3k miles and 6 months ago.

[Mtn_man]

This happened to my parents brand new 3.6 during the first 3k miles while my mom was driving it to Montana for a family reunion. Dealer is replacing something on Tuesday, I will have to post up later with more info regarding the issue... Its bothersome this happens with BRAND NEW cars.

[psychokap]

This just happened to new OB I got in Dec 2010.

Is it just the lights that are on? or are some of the systems actually deactivated (for example the traction control)?

I hope that it is just the warning lights and not a malfunction, because I commute 45mi back and forth from work every day

[PRizzo]

On my 3rd trip to the dealership for this issue. Has happened twice during a first morning start using OEM remote start unit. Third was just during normal driving and use of cruise control. The remote starter would sense a problem and shut down after initial start. When I'd manually start it the dash lights would all start flashing. Service department said it is a 'known' cold start problem with a fix on the way soon. Re-flashing or reprogramming of ECU with new program is promised repair. So I'll see how close the new re-flash is to being released the 3rd time I bring it in.

[andrec10]

Originally Posted by PRizzo

On my 3rd trip to the dealership for this issue. Has happened twice during a first morning start using OEM remote start unit. Third was just during normal driving and use of cruise control. The remote starter would sense a problem and shut down after initial start. When I'd manually start it the dash lights would all start flashing. Service department said it is a 'known' cold start problem with a fix on the way soon. Re-flashing or reprogramming of ECU with new program is promised repair. So I'll see how close the new re-flash is to being released the 3rd time I bring it in.

This happenend to my 2 day old Outback, and new sw fixed it. You dealer should have it!