Steady VDC + Flashing BRAKE Dash Indicator Lights

Strange thing happened today while driving back home, the Vehicle Dynamics Control turned on (at first as normal, flashing for a second or two) but this time remained on combined with a flashing Brake dash light.

 

I slowed down and continued to drive all the way home. Pulled over a few times, shut the engine off, lights stay on. Car behaved normal, ABS and brakes fully functional.

 

Got home and tried a few things - also no luck getting rid of the lights:

 

- tried using the VDC off dash button (5-10 seconds per manual)

- disconnected the negative battery clamp for 5-15 minutes

- pulled the VDC and ECU fuses, checked and replaced

- connected a Scangauge II (it didn't find any stored codes)

 

As-is the hill-holder doesn't work either and its dash button beeps when pressed.

 

A friend mentioned it might be a bad/dirty ABS, wheel speed or steering wheel angle sensor.

 

The manual suggests malfunctions of the electronic parking break and Vehicle Dynamics Control.

 

Has anyone had something similar happen?

Can I drive the car while these two systems are off?

 

Planning to stop by Subaru dealership ASAP (tomorrow morning) and/or Autozone to re-scan with a more proper scantool.

I don't have any issues...IMO just drop it off at the dealer.

Planning to stop by Subaru dealership ASAP (tomorrow morning) and/or Autozone to re-scan with a more proper scantool.

 

Out of curiosity, what scan tool did you use?

I had the same lights turn after I installed LED bulbs into my brake lights. Shutting off the car would clear the lights but they would eventually turn on again once I drove a couple of miles. Needless to say I replaced the bulbs back to halogens and that fixed the problem.

Does the parking brake still work?

 

Out of curiosity, what scan tool did you use?

I think he used one of these...

- connected a Scangauge II

^^^Thanks. Missed that in his post.

Old thread, but my 2011 Legacy started doing the same thing this morning.. any idea what was wrong?

The ECU threw a code. It may be as simple as a loose gas cap. Take it to Autozone or somewhere that has a reader to tell you what the code is.

 

You can reset the dash lights by doing the following:

 

Remove the negative battery terminal for over an hour. This will also reset all of the ECU learning. Takes about 100 miles for the car to relearn after the reset.

 

OR

 

Cycle the key from Off to On position four times. Leave it in the On position for a few seconds before returning to Off. When you start the car on the 5th time the lights should not flash anymore. Recalling this from a while back and could not find my reference. If that did not clear the lights, then leave it in the On position for 10 seconds.

This happened to me a couple of weeks ago with my 2011 2.5i.

 

I learned that it was the gas cap, so I got out and tightened it and the problem had still not gone away. Upon closer inspection I found that the seal around the cap had a crack in it and was causing all my dash lights to flash.

 

The manual says after you fix it, it may take a couple of trips to reset, but I wouldnt take the risk...

This happened to me as well about a year ago. I have no idea why it it, but it went away on its own and has not happened again...

Thanks guys. I'll check the easy stuff (gas cap) first. It's still under warranty, just a pain to take it to the dealer!

It was the gas cap gasket... dealer replaced it under warranty.

My brake and ABS light came on once when I had stopped for a minute on a steep decline to go into an underground parking garage. It disappeared when I turned the car off.

My VDC light is on and my BRAKE light is flashing because my dealer broke a sensor in the steering column. I'm not sure if my hill holder works because I don't use it, but my parking brake works fine. I think we have a ABS light, so I assume that is still working.

 

Funny a gas cap would cause this too

I had the same lights turn after I installed LED bulbs into my brake lights. Shutting off the car would clear the lights but they would eventually turn on again once I drove a couple of miles. Needless to say I replaced the bulbs back to halogens and that fixed the problem.

 

I went to LED tail lights as well, and I have the problem also. Maybe I'll switch back to the regular bulbs.....

There was a software update for the same problem on my 11 legacy ,dealer done it yesterday when they did the wiper motor recall.

There was a software update for the same problem on my 11 legacy ,dealer done it yesterday when they did the wiper motor recall.

 

Called my dealer on this, and it sounds like there is something out for 2010 cars....do you have a TSB number on what they did for your car? He said that all cars produced after a certain date SHOULD have the fix loaded in the computer.

 

He said that TSB 06-40-11R is for the electronic parking brake. But it doesn't say "here's the problem and here's the fix". It says "here's the problem, try a few of these things to see if it works". Not real confident that they'll get it. Car going to the dealership on Nov 7th (next Monday). Wish me luck.

It was the gas cap gasket... dealer replaced it under warranty.

 

Mine did the same thing; cruise, vdc, brake light all came on. Nice thing though, having it happen reminded me how nice it is to drive with no traction control.

 

When I took it in to the stealership they said the gas cap seal failed and replaced it........huh.

It was the gas cap gasket... dealer replaced it under warranty.

 

I had this happen on my 2010 GT and it was also the cap gasket. This is an odd bit of engineering If you ask me. Whole system depends of a 50 cent o-ring?

It does make you wonder... I felt the the edge & inside of the fill neck on my car and it does have a couple of rough spots. This probably contributes to the o-ring failure.

Bumping an old thread here...

 

I just switched to LED's for brake, f/r signals, and DRLs (using DRL module) and the flashing brake dash light/ steady VDC light occurred.

 

Anyone that has switched to LEDs have this problem?

 

Will resetting the ECU help?

Bumping an old thread here...

 

I just switched to LED's for brake, f/r signals, and DRLs (using DRL module) and the flashing brake dash light/ steady VDC light occurred.

 

Anyone that has switched to LEDs have this problem?

 

Will resetting the ECU help?

 

I converted all my lights to LEDs except the low beams, high beams (DRLs) and fogs. No issues at all. Did you use power resistors for the turn signals? I suspect however, that it could be the DRL module, if it's even related to it at all.

Bumping an old thread here...

 

I just switched to LED's for brake, f/r signals, and DRLs (using DRL module) and the flashing brake dash light/ steady VDC light occurred. Anyone that has switched to LEDs have this problem? Will resetting the ECU help?

Nope. It will come back eventually, especially when you have your lights on and apply the brake a few times. 3 DTCs are needed to trigger a CEL. You're probably throwing DTC P0724 or the like (one of the high voltage) conditions like this one:

 

http://tijil.org/Scion_Docs/05_tC_Shop_Manuals/Repair%20Info/Repair%20Manual/Diagnostics/Electronic%20Controlled%20Automatic%20Transaxle%20%28ECT%29/cip0724.pdf

 

Position or reverse lights won't be a problem. DRLs are your high-beams @ half voltage so unless you got the 9005 LED bulbs, you're talking about the 192/168 position lights. Also safe to run LEDs there. No codes.

 

Turn signals should be OK too, might just suffer from the hyper/ricer-flash if you don't have a special relay.

 

The dash Christmas lights you're seeings are likely coming from the stop/break LED bulb circuits.

 

For those, your only bet is to install those annoying in-line resistors for the tail/stop bulb circuits (mount them to metal because they get 'OE bulb' hot) and Scott's TapTurn relay for the turn signal bulbs.

 

Or to get the Ecutek tune and have John disable the DTCs you're throwing. More elegant but... implies taking the tuned map.

I used v-leds updated drl module for the 9005 LEDs. My 7443's are also from v-leds and didn't think I would need resistors for the brake lights.

 

I installed the tap turn flasher from Scott so the turn signals aren't a problem...I hope.

 

Strangely enough, after shutting off the car then coming back later for a drive, the dash lights were no longer showing the behavior.

 

Guess ill be looking into a different DRL module or consider getting resistors for the brake lights.

I used v-leds updated drl module for the 9005 LEDs. My 7443's are also from v-leds and didn't think I would need resistors for the brake lights.

 

I installed the tap turn flasher from Scott so the turn signals aren't a problem...I hope.

 

Strangely enough, after shutting off the car then coming back later for a drive, the dash lights were no longer showing the behavior.

 

Guess ill be looking into a different DRL module or consider getting resistors for the brake lights.

 

I have all VLED 7443's in my break/tail lights with no problems. Your issues a probably unrelated to your LEDs.