OBD port not working?

I'm posting this here as an FYI since I could not find any useful information on this.

This past Saturday I took my 2005 Outback to get its original battery replaced. I chose Advanced Auto and went there to pickup my new battery and have them swap it.

The salesman that assisted me hooked up a battery booster device to the OBD port under the dash then proceeded to replace my battery.

Firing up the car yielded a solid 'CHECK ENGINE' light with a flashing 'CRUISE' light.

I thought maybe the car's computer threw a code when it sputtered earlier that morning as I tried to start it with a weak battery.

I hooked up my scan tool to the OBD port hoping to see what the problem was and to clear any codes, since the car had been running flawlessly before the battery swap.

My scan tool would not power up. I know the car is supposed to provide power to the scan tool, so I decided to find out if there was a fuse protecting the OBD port. Going through my owner's manual and looking through the fuse box schematics yielded no information on a fuse for either the cruise control (which really wasn't the problem) or for the OBD port.

Well, folks in my 2005 Outback I found a 7.5 Amp fuse in the engine compartment fuse holder. It was blown. This fuse protects the OBD port and once replaced, my OBD port was functional again and the 'CHECK ENGINE' light with the flashing 'CRUISE' light was cleared.

Hope this info may be helpful.

-J.

This exact same thing happened to me two weeks ago when I got a new battery for my 05 LGT. Same solution. 7.5 amp fuse in the engine bay.

Awesome- I was just looking for a way to cut power to that port when the car is off. I have a OBDII to USB adapater that sucks power all the time. If I put a relay inline with that fuse, I could disable that port when the ACC is off. I might fit the relay under the hood easier than cutting a wire under the dash.

This exact same thing happened to me today! I went to a battery shop and they hooked up an obd 2 thingy before replacing the battery to "save the settings" and so that the alarm wouldn't go off. I had never heard of this before, but since they worked at a battery shop I figured they should know what they were talking about. After they hooked the new battery up, car would just crank first try, then start second try. Every time. I replaced the 7.5 amp "EG1+B" fuse in the engine bay and the CEL + flashing cruise lights cleared immediately. I started the car a couple times and it seems back to normal.