I have a 2011 Subaru Outback that I’ve had since new with 143,000 miles. Every year, I leave it for 4 months while I’m in Florida. When I come back I jump the battery and normally everything is fine. This year I bought a new Wal Mart battery before I left. When I got back, I couldn’t start the car. I tried jumping it with my 2015 Outback and using a jump pack. I called a service and they arrived with a bigger jump start package.
However, the VDC light comes on, the parking brake light comes on, and when you press the hill hold button it goes off. I drove the car over an hour after the jump started with the jump pack, and since that happened I’ve driven it several times with no problems – just the one mentioned above. In fact we’ve driven it over 100 miles without a single problem. Everything else works (navigation, fog lights, high beams etc). I searched this forum for answers and have done the following to resolve this issue:
1. Replaced all the burnt out bulbs in the car. There were about six bulbs that didn’t work when I checked (parking lights, side lights, a brake light, etc.)
2. Remove the gas cap and spread Vasoline around the gasket. Close the gas cap. Also, since this happened I have filled the car with gas.
3. Disconnect the battery cable, wait about 30 minutes and reconnect the cable. It made no difference – the lights were still on.
4. I checked all the fuses related to the lights and the other fuses recommended in the posts on this forum – all were still good
5. At first, the fog lights did not work. So I pulled each of the fog bulbs, checked if they were still good, and put them back in. Then the fog lights worked.
6. Pulled each of the brake bulbs and replaced each of the bulbs with new bulbs.
However, the VDC light comes on, the parking brake light comes on, and when you press the hill hold button it goes off. I drove the car over an hour after the jump started with the jump pack, and since that happened I’ve driven it several times with no problems – just the one mentioned above. In fact we’ve driven it over 100 miles without a single problem. Everything else works (navigation, fog lights, high beams etc). I searched this forum for answers and have done the following to resolve this issue:
1. Replaced all the burnt out bulbs in the car. There were about six bulbs that didn’t work when I checked (parking lights, side lights, a brake light, etc.)
2. Remove the gas cap and spread Vasoline around the gasket. Close the gas cap. Also, since this happened I have filled the car with gas.
3. Disconnect the battery cable, wait about 30 minutes and reconnect the cable. It made no difference – the lights were still on.
4. I checked all the fuses related to the lights and the other fuses recommended in the posts on this forum – all were still good
5. At first, the fog lights did not work. So I pulled each of the fog bulbs, checked if they were still good, and put them back in. Then the fog lights worked.
6. Pulled each of the brake bulbs and replaced each of the bulbs with new bulbs.
Not sure what else I can do without a trip to the dealer. No CEL lights, just VDC and brake light that blinks, and goes off when I press the hill hold button. One solution on the forums is to buy a new gas cap. I hate buying a new gas cap without knowing that would be the answer. In contrast, I have the extended 15 year warranty on the power brake actuator.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you
