Taillights won't go off!
 

Walking away from my1998 Subaru Legacy L, I noticed that my taillights were still on on . I'm having to remove the fuse to keep from depleting my battery. Do I have to replace the brain, or is there a fix for this? :?: Thanks!

Flip the switch on the top of the steering column.

They are likely your parking lights.

taillight problem
 

When the key is removed all electrics are turned off in the car; lights, lighter, etc., so there is a problem somewhere.

Nope, not parking, interior & hazard lights, radio memory, door locks, ECU memory, security system, etc...

Since 1999 when I bought the car, when I have left the lights on, when I turned off the ignition, all exterior lights left on when off with the ignition. Now, when I turn off the ignition, the tail lights stay on, whether or not the lights are on.Therein lies my problem.

I understand, but the parking lights are not tied to the ignition, and accidentally hitting that switch and asking questions about lights being on is one of the most common Subaruisms in the known universe. Dealers actually cover it in the delivery speech so they don't get quite as many calls on it.

Do the front markers stay on as well?

If so, it is the parking lights and the switch is on top of the steering column.

Have you checked that switch?

:rolleyes:

If that is not it than you have a very unusual short on the hot side between the always on 12V and that circuit, probably under the dash or in the column.

Right, because the little switch on the top of the steering column has never been switched before. Check that.

THANK YOU! I feel silly not noticing it before, now that you have pointed it out. Problem solved. Buying the car used, no one pointed that one out to me. Thanks again!
Candace

Both?

:P Only foolin'. I bought my car new and still had to learn the hard way...welcome to the club. :D

No problem. I think everyone who is new to Subarus does it once, even if they got the speech. :)

Usually it happens when you wash your car and dust/Armor All the column.

We try not to steer folks wrong.

Welcome by the way.

The other good one is when someone buys a new Subaru that has back-lit gauges and DRLs, they drive around at night with their lights off.

Thats when I found it! :lol:

Dean, this thread reminded me of the time I was in your driveway and you looked at my car and said "how the hell did you get only 1 parking light to stay on?".

I think it's a right of passage or some such kind of thing.

It's just a long-running practical joke at FHI.

Not anymore. The new STI is missing the parking light switch on the steering column.

Guess they finally fired that guy?

This reminds me of the time when an unnamed "shop" on i-club posted "God damnit, I just bought a new Subaru and the parking lights won't go off. I had to disconnect the battery all weekend long. Going back to the dealership on Monday"

The Subaru light icon on the stalk confused me coming from a NEON.

:lol:

Thank you all for your experiences. I don't feel quite so stupid. I'm short enough that I cannot see the switch while driving, and didn't even know it was there!

Bought mine used and did it right away. So I did it before I got the speech and it only took once

Ha, I just did that like a month ago - it had been forever since I used the Parking Light switch, and forgot all about it. Fortunately, there were several related threads on the Intarweb......boy did I feel dumb.

Every Subaru that comes through our detail department. Every one. I've simply taken to walking by and automatically reaching in to shut off the lights after the detail guys do the interior.

they moved the light on the 08s... Its on the turn signal switch thing...