Make sure the gas cap is screwed on tight

 

That's how it is. Check out item 7 in my Important Information sticky in the New Member Introductions Forum.

And, welcome! Please take a bit of time and fill in the rest of the info in your profile, especially your vehicle details and your city/state location. That makes it much easier for us to address problems, suggest good sources of parts and service, and even volunteer to help out on the big jobs.

 

Without codes, we can't help. Anything is a guess.

 

I have an 05 forester 2.5X and the check engine light is on solid and the cruise control light is flashing on and off about every second. I was gonna get the codes read but I figured I'd post on here to see if this is a reoccurring problem foresters.

The CEL and the flashing cruise indicator combination means that a diagnotic trouble code (DTC) has been logged and the cruise control has been disabled. This is normal operating procedure for modern Subarus.

Reading the code(s) via the OBD port will help identify the problem(s). Once the code(s) is/are cleared, the CEL and cruise indicator will turn off, and the cruise function will be restored.

See pages 3-13, 3-14, and 3-21 in your '05's OM for related info.

HTH, and welcome to the forum!
Jim / crewzer

 

I've had this problem a few times with my 2007 XT. The first time it happened when the car had only done a couple of thousand miles, they couldn't trace an actual problem and I was advised to switch off the engine and restart it a few times in succession and it should clear. It did but in subsequent years the problem has reoccurred. The first time it reoccurred the problem was traced to something to do with the emission control. The offending part was going to cost about 1500€ (in Finland) to replace but the Subaru dealer pointed me in the direction of tuning company who could remove the part and reprogram the ECU so the emissions were still legal. I saved About 700€ by going down that route.

The same combination of lights came on again a couple of months ago (now done 125k miles) and it was traced to corroded connectors on the wiring loom located under the battery. All now working ok again, touch wood!

 

I too, recently had a similar 'coding'...the scenario was this...driving along in cruise control at about 50 mph, coming up on a slower car about the same time as the road ahead became clear of traffic, I floored it which engaged passing gear (from 4th to 2nd) and turbo at same time. There was a surge followed by a "miss" and the flashing of Cruise Control light and a solid check engine light, which didn't go away. Not after turning off engine and restarting a few times in next town running errands. Not even after getting home and leaving engine off overnight. Engine was missing at mid-rpms at mid-boost settings under medium to hard acceleration.
My dealer mechanic, put a hand scope on it, and said that it was a function of temporarily getting to large a charge of turbo pressure (passing gear, turbo kicking in) which caused the cars computer to cut back. It also said that 2,3,4th cylinders had a "coil pack" failure (not sure of terminology here, but essentially, there isn't a central coil for all four cylinders, but one for each of the cylinders.
He didn't think that the latter was the problem, but told me to remove the negative lead on the battery for thirty minutes and step on brake pedal so that all data was dissipated. Then after half hour, reconnect.
I did so and the CC light was off, as was the check engine light.
It still misses some, but with Alaska premium at 90 octane, it often does that some. Will be visiting dealer Monday to see what scope reads after 'rebooting'.
-Quick

 

Did you plugged in any OBD scanner (ELM 927 etc..) while driving?

 

Nope...