Why are parking lights staying on?

[campbell48]

I have a 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback that developed a strange problem; the
parking lights are staying on even with the key turned off. I washed and
vacuumed it and later I noticed them on. What could cause this???

 

[Edward Hayes]

Look at small switch on top of the steering column. Seems most everyone does
it. Cheers. Ed

 

[Richard Paquette]

I have a 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback that developed a strange problem; the
parking lights are staying on even with the key turned off. I washed and
vacuumed it and later I noticed them on. What could cause this???

look under the hood, probably a bad relay

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

My money's with Ed. very common issue with soobs after interior
detailing. That switch is crazy - I keep threatening to rewire it for
xtra fog/driving lights or something . I'll never use it for the parking
lights.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

[Florian Feuser /FFF/]

Look at small switch on top of the steering column. Seems most everyone does
it. Cheers. Ed

rather large switch, I should say. With an orange-ish face when engaged.
Something here makes me think you'd be aware of this one...

florian

 

[RankAndFile]

That switch got me once, too. Soon after getting the car, my wife was
trying to find the hazards. After she got home, she couldn't figure out how
to get the lights to turn off. Maybe someday I'll have a real use for this
feature.

 

[Jim]

Had my car in once for some minor body work and somehow
they unknowingly bumped it while cleaning up and were baffled at why
the parking lights were on and the battery was dead in the morning.

I personally see no use for this switch.

 

[guyinottawa]

This switch has gotten me a couple of times actually!

I was told that the switch was designed for europeans who often double
park their cars. Turning this light on indicates they will be back
shortly...

 

[a]

guyinottawa wrote in message

This switch has gotten me a couple of times actually!

I was told that the switch was designed for europeans who often double
park their cars. Turning this light on indicates they will be back
shortly...



"RankAndFile" <(e-mail address removed)> wrote in message

Why are people so surprised at parking lights being used for parking?

Perhaps a warning beep when the switch is turned on, along with a couple of
beeps if the ignition is subsequently turned on to remind you to turn it off
when getting back in the car, would be an improvement.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

People are surpeised that;
A. There are TWO ways to turn on parking lights

B. That ONE of those ways could drain your.

C. The switch is in an unusual, easily overlooked position.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

[JW]

I have a 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback that developed a strange problem; the
parking lights are staying on even with the key turned off. I washed and
vacuumed it and later I noticed them on. What could cause this???

Up on the top of my steering column there are two rocker switches, one for
the 4-way flashers and one for park lights. These will both work with no
key in the vehicle and are intended for just that type of emergency use.

 

[oothlagre]

There's a rocker switch on top of the steering column. It's hard to see, but
it lets you turn on the parking lights with the key off.

The reason for the switch is the headlights go off with the ignition, so you
can't leave them on and kill the battery. The parking light switch is so you
can turn the lights on if you are by the side of the road or somewhere where
you need the lights.

Of course, you could just use the hazard blinker too no?

I leave my headlight switch on all the time as a consequence so I have
daytime lights for safety. I never have to worry about forgetting to turn
them off.

-Henry

 

[Ignignokt]

oothlagre wrote:

I leave my headlight switch on all the time as a consequence so I have
daytime lights for safety. I never have to worry about forgetting to
turn them off.

You don't drive with your high-beams on during the day do you?

- Greg Reed

 

[Don]

For auto enthusiasts only:

I used to love one feature of the 356 Porsches: when ignition was off and you
flipped your turn signal on the front& rear turn signal lights on that side
of the car would be turned on -- in series. This, of course, cut the power
drain by ~60%(*), made the car more visable at night when parked on the side
of the road.

(*) the restance carbon filaments of a bulb are non-linear as a function
of current.

The other thing thing I've fussed about with my subarus is that you must
Turn On the Cruise Control before you can use it. Not so with Porsche,
it's 'on' at all times and all you have to do is Set at the speed you want.
I tried to modify the On switch of my Outbacks and evidently there's a
delay between Ignition On and the ability to Turn On the CC unit.

But, I did manage to blow a fuse in my meddling around. ;-)

Enough, this isn't a Porsche NG! Sorry folks,
Don

There's a rocker switch on top of the steering column. It's hard to see, but
it lets you turn on the parking lights with the key off.

The reason for the switch is the headlights go off with the ignition, so you
can't leave them on and kill the battery. The parking light switch is so you
can turn the lights on if you are by the side of the road or somewhere where
you need the lights.

Of course, you could just use the hazard blinker too no?

I leave my headlight switch on all the time as a consequence so I have
daytime lights for safety. I never have to worry about forgetting to turn
them off.

-Henry

Username munged by FixNews

 

[Edward Hayes]

Gee: I used to have a 356 1951 Porsche, a 356A coupe and a 1965 Coupe. Great
cars to drive.

 

[Don]

Ed, I had a '58 TR-3 then a '62 356; universes apart. Then a '68 912 for
13 years. Didn't have one from 1981 to 1998 and then a 1988 Carrera for
4 years; universes apart. Just an unbelievable car! Can't imagine what the
2000's are like, but can't afford one. Sigh...

Gee: I used to have a 356 1951 Porsche, a 356A coupe and a 1965 Coupe. Great
cars to drive.

Username munged by FixNews

 

[Ignignokt]

The other thing thing I've fussed about with my subarus is that you
must Turn On the Cruise Control before you can use it. Not so with
Porsche, it's 'on' at all times and all you have to do is Set at the
speed you want. I tried to modify the On switch of my Outbacks and
evidently there's a delay between Ignition On and the ability to Turn
On the CC unit.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's annoyed by this. The Audis I used to
own didn't have a cruise toggle -- if you hit the "set" button it would set.
Period. My Olds Intrigue did have a cruise toggle, but it would stay
physically pushed in (and therefore "on") between starts and stops of the
car. That button got touched exactly once in the 4 years I owned the car --
when I turned it on the day I bought it. AFAIK, it's still pushed in and
hasn't been touched by the new owner.

Tell me what you learned about the cruise button. I'm wondering whether an
electronic delay circuit might do the trick. (Feel free to e-mail me if you
think this is too OT for the group. My hotmail name is DoctorSnoopy.)

Of course, Subaru happily lets drivers set their fog lights to stay on all
the damn time. Fog lights should only be used in the rain or fog, people.
If it's not raining and it's not foggy, turn them off. IMHO, Subaru should
swap the cruise and fog light buttons. Let people leave the cruise on if
they want to, but force them to make a conscious effort to turn on the damn
fog lights.

- Greg

 

[Don]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's annoyed by this. The Audis I used to
own didn't have a cruise toggle -- if you hit the "set" button it would set.
Period. My Olds Intrigue did have a cruise toggle, but it would stay
physically pushed in (and therefore "on") between starts and stops of the
car. That button got touched exactly once in the 4 years I owned the car --
when I turned it on the day I bought it. AFAIK, it's still pushed in and
hasn't been touched by the new owner.

Tell me what you learned about the cruise button. I'm wondering whether an
electronic delay circuit might do the trick. (Feel free to e-mail me if you
think this is too OT for the group. My hotmail name is DoctorSnoopy.)

Of course, Subaru happily lets drivers set their fog lights to stay on all
the damn time. Fog lights should only be used in the rain or fog, people.
If it's not raining and it's not foggy, turn them off. IMHO, Subaru should
swap the cruise and fog light buttons. Let people leave the cruise on if
they want to, but force them to make a conscious effort to turn on the damn
fog lights.

- Greg

Sorry, Greg, I did a brain dump with my initial message at the top. I popped
the switch and tried to by pass it (short it out) and that did nothing. (That's
not how I popped the fuse.) I learned about the necessity of time delay from
someone here about 2 years ago when I first fussed about this "problem." But,
I did kinda prove it to myself by starting the engine then shorting out the
switch. It was in trying to apply the short quicker and quicker after starting
that my fat finger fumbling managed to blow the fuse. I quit at that point.
Sigh...

I thought about an electronic delay circuit but decided against it for several
reasons, where to get the power, where to put the circuit board, etc. I've
gotten lazy in my old age, 75.

In 1962 I bought a Chev Impala 409 with 4-speed and positraction; va-va-voom!
I had a catamaran I raced in Long Beach, CA. I didn't like the way the flasher
sped up to almost "always on" when the boat trailer was hooked up so designed
an "electronic" flasher, if you can call a 1,000 mfd, 25V, capacitor and a relay
"electronics" . Used the coil of the relay for the inductance to form an LC
time delay. Worked great at 1 flash per second, regardless of load! Had that
car through 2 engine replacements, 1 year. But, I sure enjoyed it.

Designed an "electronic" pointless ignition that had a 2N174 power silicon
transistor that replaced points and drove a Porsche blue 20,000:1 turns
coil. One day the engine started missing going up a hill, got home and
pulled the plugs. The center electrodes were burned down inside the ceramic
insulator giving a 3/8" gap. Lost that ignition in southern Utah on a trip.
Switched back to the regular ignition to get home and took the transistor
apart to see what had happened, it was "ratting". Turned out the heat of
Canyon Lands had melted the solder that held the transistor chip on the
base and ripped the EBC leads off with it's flopping around. Sheeze, I
remember while switching back to the regular ignition that I heard the
battery boiling!!!

Learned the benefit of Michelins on that trip. Pulled into a filling station
for gas and another car was on the apron with a blown! tire. Overheated and
pressure build up popped the casing. I quickly slapped my Michelin to check
it's temp, expecting it to burn my hand. No, I could actually lay my hand
on the tire. Been a Michelin fan ever since!!

Enough stories of long ago... ;-)


Hehehe
Username munged by FixNews

 

[Ignignokt]

Sorry, Greg, I did a brain dump with my initial message at the top.
I popped the switch and tried to by pass it (short it out) and that
did nothing. (That's not how I popped the fuse.) I learned about the
necessity of time delay from someone here about 2 years ago when I
first fussed about this "problem." But, I did kinda prove it to
myself by starting the engine then shorting out the switch. It was in
trying to apply the short quicker and quicker after starting that my
fat finger fumbling managed to blow the fuse. I quit at that point.
Sigh...

I thought about an electronic delay circuit but decided against it
for several reasons, where to get the power, where to put the circuit
board, etc. I've gotten lazy in my old age, 75.

That's quite alright. Just the idea has gears turning in my head. Which is
dangerous, because there really isn't as much lubricant up there as there
should be...

- Greg Reed