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facts:91 Turbo Legacy 5spd, Canadian Import, thus daytime running lamps
problem: The four corning lamps stay on after I leave the car and shut the lights off, why would this happen. Is there a relay that could have gone bad?
Thanks again
Eric
Yeah, so I was cleaning my car with my father, and he hit the parking lamp switch that I was unaware of. Shows how closely I read the manual.

I was freakin' out, thought I had a major electrical problem. I called a buddy who's family used to own a Subaru dealer, he said check the switch on the column. What a relief!

ahhh...and I thought I was the only one silly enough to get stumped. After I cleaned the inside of my car one day, I had the same problem. And I drove around for a day disconeecting the battery wherever I went, thinking I had shorted something out....


Then I found the switch.

its amazing hows many noobs come on here and ask that question. its all good though. welcome to the board

I'd say the majority of sooby owners do this. I've been forgetting to turn that switch off recently, one of my co-workers usually tells me about my lights being on though

Hah! Hadn't seen the n00b pic in a while, thanks Jim!

I have heard stories of Subaru geeks like us who have bought perfect cars for a couple hundred bucks on the notion that there was an "electrical problem" in which the parking lights wouldn't go out!! It pays to know your stuff...

Hehe...

A few months ago I went to the local supermarket and parked next to a BD Legacy. I noticed the parking lights were on, so I left a note under the windshield wiper saying "Hey, just so you know, the switch on top of your steering column controls the parking lights when the ignition is off." The guy left a note back on my windshield (I suppose he guessed which car was mine) saying, "Thanks, it's been driving me crazy! I'd been pulling the fuse!"

That's pretty funny I never really had that problem because after I got the car it was one of the first thing that I was like "what the hell is this?" It seemed like it should be a hazard light switch. I have however accidentally hit it before and ran the battery dead because I didn't notice I hit it.

Same here. I was fascinated at why in the heck that button might be there. I have not yet run my battery down because of that though.....luckily.

It's because in many jurisdictions you're required to be able to leave your parking lights on when you park the car. Since Subaru has auto-off headlights they need another way to allow you to turn on your parking lights separately.

It's mainly a Euro thing isn't it?

I think so, yes. It may be a requirement here in the US, too, though... since all other cars with auto-off headlights I've seen in the US also allow you to leave parking lights on.

I know in Germany you have to be able to turn on the left and right parking lights independently when the car is parked. My old Benz could do it (it was German-spec).

I just bought an '87 wagon and the guy had been pulling the fuse... got tired of it... and hooked up a switch in the fuse box

vrg3 wrote:I know in Germany you have to be able to turn on the left and right parking lights independently when the car is parked. My old Benz could do it (it was German-spec).

When I first got my 300CD, the first time I turned off the lights, I actually turned on the parking lights, I believe it was the left side. I spent the longest time trying to figure out what the problem was. I know that my brother's old BMW didn't have the feature which allowed for the independant control over the parking lights. The main reason for the indepenant control is to conserve the battery, and only light up the side that is along the street...

I think the legacy setup is the best ever made.
I NEVER turn my headlights off.

I think it would be slightly better if instead of having the parking light switch on top of the steering column, they just had an override switch that let you operate the lights with the ignition off. That way if I want to use my headlights to illuminate something I'm doing I don't have to have the ignition on.

But, yeah, I also leave my headlight switch in the "on" position at all times.

Ya I leave mine on all the time too. It's one thing I really like about Subarus. I do wish they had an override switch like vrg3 was talking about though too, it's a pain to have to use the keys if you want the headlights for a quick look around.

Uhh,,, they do have that.

When the car is off next time pull the headlight/turnsignal bar towards you.

On my car that doesn't do anything... On your Legacies that turns the lights on?!

My plan was to rewire the parking light switch into an override switch.

Thanks again LegacyCentral for an exellent and informative archive! This has been bugging me for awhile but I was too stupid to notice the little red switch thingy sitting there right in front of me! Been pulling the fuse also.