I know you don't care for Subarus, especially the 6 cylinder, but I have a problem I can't figure out or find an answer for. I bought the 3.0 liter Outback recently. It has 130,000 miles. It's automatic. First it was showing a P0305 and P0301. Since I paid a lot less for it, I replaced all the plugs and coils, since it seemed to have cylinders misfiring. That seems to be fixed so far. Only now, after driving for longer periods like over an hour the check engine lights flashes, the traction control disabled light is on steady and the Sport mode (S) is also blinking. It will not stay in Intelligent drive,keeps going to Sport mode. It does this and then goes back to normal, and does that over and over again. But seems to have started doing it when either it was on a bumpy road or uphill and on straighter smoother rides does not do this. There are also no codes thrown at all during any of this. It also runs rough and seems to lack power. If you go out and start the car and drive around it's fine. Makes no sense to me.
If the check engine light is flashing, the code is stored. Find out what the code is and start from there.
Used my OBD meter and there are no stored codes even after doing the same thing dozens of times.
Here's what it does. You're driving along. For no particular reason that I can tell, the check engine light starts to flash, the traction control disabled light comes on steady. It comes out of intelligent drive and goes into Sport Mode and will not go back into Intelligent mode again. It stays that way a minute or so then goes back to normal. And it does that over and over again for miles. There are no codes stored, nothing. Only thing I can say is that it seemed to do it on a slower bumpier road, and not only smoother highway.
If the check engine light flashes, there should be stored code(s). You need a higher level scan tool to retrieve the code(s).
The scan tool I have is a Craftsman OBD2 87702 and has always worked for every other problem I"ve had on my cars. Not sure what would be a higher level?
Something like this:
https://www.auteltech.com/c/www/mk2/3223.jhtml
Too much, not going to spend $500 for something I use rarely. I'll keep looking for someone who knows what is going on.
Yeah. Better to do that.
Scotty sees Subarus are OK cars, but none of us are particular fans of their 6 cylinders as they tend to be problematic. The automatic transmission on that thing was made by Jatco, notorious for making unreliable products. I don't know if this helps you at all but I wish you the best of luck with your problem.
Find a specialist Subaru mechanic, in your area. You need a higher/dealer level scan tool to diagnose your issue.
Quoted below, from this link - https://www.mikeshawsubaru.com/2013-subaru-outback-check-engine-light.htm
“If the check engine light in your 2013 Subaru Outback starts flashing, that means that the problem needs hasty attention and your Subaru should be brought in immediately. A flashing light indicates that the problem is precarious and if not taken care of immediately may result in large damage to the vehicle. This blinking light usually indicates a severe engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be dumped into the exhaust system. There it can quickly raise the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is likely, requiring an expensive repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can absolutely be the cause. A bad, old or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire.”
