Help - parking lights will not go out

Came home to find the parking lights on in my 2003 OutBack - everything off and key out of ignition - but parking (front and rear) will not go off. Any suggestions as to what is causing this... I had to disconnect the battery to get them to go off..

Reply to
Dennis Maher
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There's a switch on top of the steering column that turns them on and off without the key.

Reply to
Henry Paul

Reply to
JaySee

Don't feel too bad, same thing happened to me a couple days ago. Cleaning the dash and accidently switching the parking lights on.

JG

Reply to
JG

Don't let the impolite folks get ya too upset on this one. This is a unique Subaru thing that's kinda odd.

The little switch on top of the steering column where many manufacturers put the parking flashers/hazards switch actually activates the parking lights. And, as parking lights, they aren't wired through the ignition switch.

My dealer makes a strong point about this uniqueness to every new purchaser because it's kinda buried in the manual.

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

2001 Legacy Outback Wagon, 2.5L H-4 Chicago, Illinois USA
Reply to
Todd H.

I think it's happened to almost every Sub owner that has a 'late' model. In our '97 you pulled the flasher button up (or pushed down) and it was harder to engage when wiping off the stearing post or setting the time. It only happens to normal human beings... ;-)

Don

Reply to
Don.

Happened to me about two weeks ago. I had just come from the carwash and when I put the car in the garage I did not notice that the parking lights were on. Fortunately I remembered reading something in the owner's manual.

Ray

2002 Forester S
Reply to
Ray

I think it's happened to almost every Sub owner that has a 'late' model? Happened in my 91 Liberty as well

Reply to
hippo

It was better yeara ago when most cars on the road were either Ford or GM.

You could drive any GM car and find the same controls in each.

Not futzin around in the dark to try and find the "lock" button.

The windows worked every time when you turned the little crank on the side of the door.

Didn't have to replace burned out motors in my seat adjustment.

The starter button was on the floor as well as the dim/bright headlight switch.

I could change the spark plugs myself without removing anything other than the spark cables.

Crank sensor? What's that?

Ah, the good old days.

Al

Reply to
Al

When's the last time you broke your arm when starting your car when the crank handle kicked back? That's an early form of "crank sensor". ;-)

When's the last time your windshield wipers stopped for loss of vaccuum when going up a hill in the rain?

When's the last time your windshield leaked on your feet when going up that hill in the rain?

When's the last time your distributor flooded out when going up that hill in the rain?

When's the last time you only got 16 mpg on the highway at 60mph because the car was dangerous to drive any faster?

Just a few "when's".

Be thankful for modern day engineering.

Don

Reply to
Don.

I wish we had some!

BTW, I was able to restart my '47 Pontiac when the battery went dead by having some guys push it and then then pop the clutch while in gear. Try that with your Suraru. (I'm on my second one, sooo, I'm a fan.)

And I think power steering and automatic transmissions have created the idiot drivers we have on the road now. I think those used to be great filters.

Al

Reply to
Al

NEVER EVER 'bump' start any modern car, cant remeber exactly why but a wrecked cat and a big bill at next MOT is the result.

Ross

Reply to
Ross

The old cars were built like tanks. They were way overdesigned. I was driving that '47 Pontiac in the mid-sixties while I was in college. It was bullet proof. I only drove it on weekends. As parking was scarce, you would get jammed in bumper to bumper. The way you got out was by bumping your car back and forth and pushing the blocking cars out of the way. No damage to those massive bumbers at all. You just had to remember to leave your car out of gear so the tranny would not get damaged when someone bumped your car.

Al

Reply to
Al

Yea it's written in the manual. But they dont explain why. Somebody knows?

Reply to
Gilles Gour

Not 100% sure, but I suspect unburned fuel would collect in the exhaust system and would likely damage the cat when it burned.

George Adams

"All good fishermen stay young until they die, for fishing is the only dream of youth that doth not grow stale with age." ---- J.W Muller

Reply to
George Adams

"Ross" wrote in message news:ckdje1$41r$1$ snipped-for-privacy@news.demon.co.uk...

I had a 64 Ford Fairlane 500 automatic when in the Army in Italy. Both the generator brushes and the battery were on their last legs, but before I got a chance to change them, I had to resort many times to jump starts. The combination of bad brushes and battery meant that there was only juice enough for about 10 revs of the engine when you hit the starter. At night, I had to pull off the road when I noticed the lights dimming, and turn off the lights to let the battery pick up a little charge. And if it was damp in the morning, the thing wouldn't start at all. One night when I miscalculated and the car died before I had a chance to pull over and turn off the lights for a quick charge, I was waiting by the side of the road holding my jumper cables, expecting that any passing GI would stop and give me a jump. The Italian Highway Police came by, and told me I had to call for a tow truck, but I told them that a friend of mine would be by in a few minutes to give me a jump start. They didn't know what a jump start was, since all the cars over there were standard transmission, and not too heavy, so push-starting the average car wasn't a problem for 2 or

3 guys. I explained the use of jumper cables. The cops said, "Would that work with our car?" I told them it would, so they head-ended the police car to my old Ford, I popped the hoods, and jump-started the car. They were amazed. Then, as I sat there charging the battery, they asked me why I wasn't heading home. I told them that I needed to charge the battery before I could turn the lights on, or it would stall out again. They asked me where I lived, and I told them. They said that I didn't need lights. They would escort me home. So I followed the Italian Highway Police home without any lights. I remember specifically that the 64 Ford owner's manual said that if you towed or pushed the car at 30 mph, then popped the auto tranny into second, it was a safe way to start, but not recommended. One damp morning the old Ford wouldn't start, and there was no other GI around to give me a push with his car. The local Italian handyman flagged down a passing Naples city bus, complete with passengers, and tied my front axle to the bus's rear axle with a huge nautical rope. I explained to the driver that he had to get up to 30 before I could start the car. We pulled out, got up to 30, and I popped it into 2nd, and it started immediately. I waved to the bus driver, he stopped, and I gave him 3 packs of Winstons for his trouble. I had an old beat-up Toyota 4-speed manual which had a defective oil light sender at a time when I was driving more than 1,000 miles a week. One day the car stalled at a toll booth, and when I checked, there was no oil on the dipstick. I addded 3 or 4 quarts. After that, the car decided it didn't like to be started with the starter, so I had to always park on a high spot, and let the car roll and pop it into second. It always started immediately. I drove that way for about 10,000 miles before I junked the car and got a new one. I wonder if these days any manuals for cars with automatics mention bump-starting as a possibility? Or do they even say anything about starting manual transmission cars this way?

Joe from Massachusetts

Reply to
joscurtin

If I remember correctly, the cars with the generators could be started in this manner as there was enough residual magnetism in the field to start generating a current. Alternators depend upon an external current source to energize the field suffienciently for this to work. Maybe alternators with field magnets instead of coils could be "bumb" started.

Al

Reply to
Al

What is "bump" starting? I've heard of "push start" but not "bump". A "bump" start had got to be hard on a manual tranny in any gear! Even when "push" starting a manual you should start in 2nd.

"Bump" start reminds me of the old joke about the gal that heard you had to be doing 35 mph before you could start an automatic. She got up to 35 before coming in contact with her hubby's car! ;-)

Reply to
Don.

This might explain why car *without* a battery (or at least functionally so) might not be successfully push-started. But usually a battery that's too dead to start the engine still has enough juice to run the fields in an alternator. And it doesn't explain why one should *never* attempt to bump-start a newer car. That admonition seems to imply some sort of damage that is likely to occur.

I'm still curious as to what that reason might actually be. I've forwarded the "NEVER NEVER bump start" message to an automotively-knowledgeable acquaintance, but he hasn't yet replied. And he's been having computer problems, so he might not *ever* reply. If I think of it, I'll ask him in person when I see him later this week.

- Greg

--

1983 Honda V45 Magna 2001 Chevy Astro AWD (wife's) 2004 Subaru Forester XT 5-Speed

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Reply to
Ignignokt

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