[MichmichSF11]

Hi, we replaced my Outback's battery today, because the car would not start this morning. It has been driven 3 times since, then on a fourth drive on the highway, the BRAKE and VEHICLE DYNAMICS CONTROL lights began to flash. Car was driving fine. 20 minutes into the drive, those lights continued to be on, and then the AT OIL TEMP light began to flash. When we arrived home, turned car off, then turned it back on, no lights on. Hubby took her for a test drive, within 10 minutes, the brake and VDC lights were on again. Car still was driving normally. Any suggestions for what is causing this????

 

[Radar]

The light show sometimes happens due to low voltage. Some electronic systems, such as ABS, freak long before the engine does. It could be that the alternator is not charging the battery part or all of the time. If you drive too long that way, the car may stall. Get a voltmeter on it to find out what's going on.

 

[MichmichSF11]

So, we hooked the car up to the trickle charger overnight, got a full charge on the battery (14.55 volts at initial start after the charge) then drove it and checked again (14.35). During the drive, the lights came on again. Turned car off, turned it on and let it run with high beams, AC, and stereo on for 15 minutes. The voltmeter showed 14.2, lowest it got during the run was 14.14 volts during that time, but no warning lights came on. We did notice that 2 rear brake lights are out, going to replace those. Hubby has a code reader... after the idling for 15 minutes, we turned it off, checked for codes (there were none), and he reset the computer. I took my son to school (2 eight minute drives), no lights came on. This is confusing! I'm about to go do an errand that requires longer driving, will see what happens.

 

[cardoc]

Check that the battery cables are connected tight and proper.

Scan for codes in the ABS/VDC and Transmission modules and post up here, they'll lead to the issue.

 

[MichmichSF11]

Final update, I hope! Once my husband replaced both of the tail lights that were out, the lights that were flashing on the dash have not returned. The link is to the LED lights we put in. (amzn.to /2Hxuw30)I have driven the car multiple times over the past few days for well over the 10-20 minute time frame it took for the dash lights to flash. Thanks to you who have replied!

 

[brucep]

Judging from your problem description, your original problem was NOT a bad battery and instead your battery was not being charged properly. The 'new' battery also indicated it was not being charged.

Then... .you say that a couple burned-out taillight bulbs were replaced and all the charging problems went away.

I find it hard to believe that burned-out taillight bulbs would cause your battery to not charge. Either, something else was done to resolve the issue.... or your charging problems are not resolved.

To test the charging system (alternator) Your voltage reading whilst the engine is running should be approximately 14.8V -to- 15.0V across the battery posts. (This indicates a good charging voltage) Turing on the headlights may drop the charging voltage a little at idle speed.

 

[MichmichSF11]

If you read back to my original post (car wouldn't start) and follow up post that we did connect a voltmeter and had just fine numbers across the new battery, then you will see that the only thing we did to the car otherwise is to replace the burnt out bulbs. If you do some other searches online for the exact same dashboard lights flashing, you will find that others also replaced burnt out bulbs and issue was resolved.

 

[DugsSin]

LED brake lights don't play nice with our cars. It can take weeks but have a set of stock bulbs on hand for the next WTF is going on now moment but it so often comes back to LED brake lights.