Hi there:
Hoping someone can help with a securty issue that is (unfortunately) explained rather vaguely in my owner's manual.
Upon turning off the engine and removing the key, the red dashboard "security" light in my '06 Outback sedan flashes (one flash every three seconds).
If I set the alarm or lock the doors with the key fob, it changes to a rapid flashing for 30 seconds, then settles into a two-flash "armed mode" (this is correct as explained in the manual).
BUT: If I walk away from the car and do nothing (ie DON'T lock the doors or press the key fob) the security light will still keep flashing this one flash every three seconds.
The only reference to any sort of "single-flash" pattern in the manual is that the car is in "valet mode" (ie no alarm but the doors are locked), but I have not knowingly placed it into "valet mode."
When I follow the manual's steps to take it out of "valet mode," I can get the odometer to flash "alarm on" or "alarm off" as it should. But still, either way, the single-flash mode with the doors unlocked and ignition off never goes away.
So, am I unknowingly in "valet mode" or not?
Or, more importantly, is a single-flash security light "normal" for when the car is shut off--and the owner's manual just neglects to mention this?
Thanks for your help!