Just got this car a couple of weeks ago - love it! Yesterday during a trip across the Cascades the Check Engine light came on. After the initial freakout I notice the manual seems to indicate it's an emission control issue - or maybe even the gas cap not on tight (double checked it; seems good.) After turning the engine off and on a number of times the light is still there.

 

Any experience with this? Some of the posts I've read on check engine lights tell me there's a way to 'check codes' on this... How best to do this?

 

Outback is a 2.5 liter with 130K.

Check with your local Autozone they pull the codes for free!

Check with your local Autozone they pull the codes for free!

Thanks, I will look into that! Much appreciated...

Please let us know what you find out..

Any news on this? The same thing happened to me yesterday on my 99 Wagon.

 

I was to run it until the gas light came on. 319 miles and it still wasn't showing up. Then the Check Engine light starts blinking. After about 10 seconds of blinking it stays on. Check the manual, same thing he said, emissions or gas cap. So I fill the tank, tighten the cap, and 1 day and several starts later the thing is still on. Blink for 10 seconds earlier while driving, then stayed on again.

A blinking CEL can indicate a misfire. It may be something simple like new plugs and wires. It could be a coil pack. Hopefully that’s all it is.

 

 

Not to scare anyone but my CEL came on (99 Outback) and I put on new plugs, wires, coil pack and it would still come on once in a while randomly. It turned out to be a blown head gasket. The combo of no compression and coolant getting through the gasket was putting the fire out.

 

 

It can be a huge range of issues hopefully it’s a quick cheap fix, good luck.

HGs were both done 15k ago, so if its that I will explode.

 

I'll get the codes checked monday.

This used to happen to me a lot. I was told by a Subaru tech that it takes something like 15-30 starts for the light to go off.

If you can't find someone to pull the code, you can disconnect the battery cable for 10-minutes; that will usually turn off the check engine light. If your problem was a one-time misfire or some unusual one-time-only event, the light will probably not come back on. The code will still be stored in your computer and can be accessed with a scan tool at a later date. If the light illuminates again, you've got a problem that needs to be addressed. Often the problem is not expensive, so don't get scared yet (a loose fuel cap will trigger the light).

 

 

Just got this car a couple of weeks ago - love it! Yesterday during a trip across the Cascades the Check Engine light came on. After the initial freakout I notice the manual seems to indicate it's an emission control issue - or maybe even the gas cap not on tight (double checked it; seems good.) After turning the engine off and on a number of times the light is still there.

 

Any experience with this? Some of the posts I've read on check engine lights tell me there's a way to 'check codes' on this... How best to do this?

 

Outback is a 2.5 liter with 130K.