Thanks to all who responed on the Parking Ligts

Thanks to all who responded to the parking lights that would not go out.. I had misplaced my manual and although I thought it was strange that they would go on by themselves - I didn't think it would be a switch.. Can anyone explain the logic on having parking lights as a separate switch that is not run off the ignition switch. I thought that was what emergency flashers were for.... Again thanks to all - it saved me a trip to the dealer with a stupid question.

Reply to
Dennis Maher
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I actually called the dealer back in '98 on something equally simple on my Forester. Thread taught me a new saying:, "RTFM". I cannot wait to use it in another ng ;) Frank

Reply to
Frank Logullo

I think it is because the headlights and taillights are run off of the ignition. This was you can have the parking lights on without a key. I would probably just use the hazards myself.

Reply to
Henry Paul

Parking lights are (used to be?) big things in some countries. You had to drop down from headlights to parking lights when driving in a lighted town in France. I don't know whether it's still like that, as a lot of vehicle laws are becoming more harmonized across the EU. I can also recall older cars in Europe where you could set your directional lever to only turn on the parking lights on the outboard side, conserving your battery when you were truly parking. They seem to be pretty much a thing of the past now in the US.

Henry Paul wrote:

Reply to
BBB

Sometimes steady light is desirable when the key isn't there. The parking light switch works great when I need interior lights in my enclosed trailer, and the car itself locked. The trailer interior lights run off the taillight power. The flashers flash the turn signals, not the taillights. Not to mention, the inside of the trailer would look like a roller disco if I ran them off the flashers.

There may be other times when you wish to leave the parking lights on, not the annoying flashers, and still take the keys.

I look at this as another Subaru quirk that seems really stupid, until you come to a day when it's brilliant. My car has more of these features than any other car I've driven.

FWIW, my American vehicles don't have an ignition switched light system at all. Subaru gives us a choice!

Barry

Reply to
Bonehenge

That is one thing I love about my Subaru. I never have to worry about leaving the lights on. In fact, I just leave them on all the time to give me DRLs from the low beams.

Reply to
Henry Paul

I keep wondering on this NG why people ask questions here that they could find the answers in 10 minutes from a phone call to the dealer. ???

Even if it's a LD call, most have 800 numbers, and it's still cheaper than driving even 10 miles to the dealer.

Reply to
Don.

Hazard lights are intended to be used when, through no fault of your own, your car is abandoned in a hazardous position... not for indicating that you are illegally parked. Parking lights are intended for use when you are legally parked in a safe position, but where it may be sensible to show a light at night. For instance, in the UK they used to be legal requirement if leaving your car parked at night on a bus route. These days they have become something of an irrelevance in most of the world as urban roads where parking is legal tend to be well lit and lined with parked cars all the time.

All cars do, however, retain parking lights, which are I imagine are still a legal requirement in certain circumstances in some parts of the world. The advantage of the Subaru system is that you don't have to leave your ignition turned on to operate them and, therefore, all your lights are extinguished when you turn the ignition off. This means that - other than by using the separate parking light switch - you can't leave your lights on accidentally and flatten your battery.

Yet another one of those little things where Subaru does it better... or is this setup the norm on Japanese cars?

David Betts snipped-for-privacy@motorsport.org.uk

Reply to
David Betts

It's the Subaru secret "battery drainer" feature.

Reply to
Alan

Pray tell, what's that? My dealer won't be open for another 3 hours, and by that time I'll have forgotten to call and ask. ;-(

Several times in the last couple of months I've drained my battery by leaving a map lite on. After a home recharge the battery "seems" as good as ever. ??

Reply to
Don.

The big difference between DRLs and HLs is the tail lights. With DRLs the tail lights are off. I can't understand the logic of this. From the accidents I see on my daily commute, rear end collisions are more frequent than head on collisions. I run with headlights too, because I feel safer with the tail lights on too.

Reply to
harv

Living in a large US city, I used to think the same thing. Then I did some driving on remote 2 lane highways in Canada and Montana. A 50 MPH head-on is a lot more fatal then a 40 MPH rear-ender (100 MPH closing speed vs. 10-20 MPH). There was one road in Montana along the Gallatin River outside of West Yellowstone. It was really eerie seeing all the white crosses from fatal collisions.

Besides, they added the 3rd brake light here in the US about 20 years ago to help with rear end collisions. Unfortunately people seem to follow even closer now than before. Plus they don't realize rain make the road slippery.

Steve

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Reply to
steve ball

parking on the side of the road outside of a city you must have your parking light on in Holland. and since the world is bigger than just the US... these parking lights are also on your cars...

Reply to
04WRX

I'd like to know if all of the expense of the third brake light has been justified. Are there really fewer rear-end collisions? Or is the gov't unwiling to provide the stats?

Al

Reply to
Al

I wonder if they worked when they were a novelty, but now they're just as un-noticeable as the two lights were prior to 1986. Kinda like the new cars sporting LED taillights...today they stand out brilliantly, but in a few years...ho-hum.

-John O

Reply to
John O

So far it seems to be for the people who drive around with the left and right bulbs burnt out. At least I can see some sort of brake light yet. :)

Reply to
Henry Paul

Several times? Sounds like the charge on your battery might be questionable. Depending on how much it was drained, it might be entirely broken. I'm not a battery expert, but a modern car battery - even an el-cheapo one, should be able to handle an overnight map light. I remember my grandma's 1980's Cutlass which had a tiny bulb somewhere, I think it was inside the ashray in the passenger door, or in some other cubbyhole. Grandpa left that thing open on an almost daily basis and even as a child I remember grandma's car getting towed a lot and needing jumpstarts all the time. Batteries have improved a lot, and now 20 years later I've left my dome light on all night and been able to start my car in the morning. Headlights are often a different story, however. :)

-Matt

Reply to
Hallraker

The FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) requires the ability to turn on the parking lights without the ignition key. Since Subaru has the Lights set up to turn off with the ignition, they need a separate switch for the parking lights. The only other way to do it is using an electronic module to control the lights (cost more) or complicate the wiring harness with a bunch of diodes to keep the dash lights from operating with the ignition off (costs more).

HTH, Tom

Reply to
a

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