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"stop lamp" light
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 5:45 pm
by subaru girl
when i turn on the lights it comes on until i tap the brake pedal then it goes out until the next time the lights are turned on. their are no lights out?
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:57 pm
by Manarius
You might have a short in the system. I definitely think one of your lights is out.
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:07 pm
by subaru girl
i will recheck them but i think they all work
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:26 am
by jake15
mine does the same thing..... all my lights work, i just haven't figured it out yet
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:41 pm
by rallysam
Well, before you do anything - make sure your E-brake is down and also check your brake fluid.
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:20 pm
by subaru girl
e-brake is good and i will check the fluid
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:43 pm
by vrg3
The "STOP LAMP" light is different from the "BRAKE" light, so it probably doesn't have anything to do with the handbrake or brake fluid.
This may be a dumb question, but have you each (subaru girl and Jake) checked every brake light bulb? Make sure every single bulb is lighting up, including the individual ones in the center light? Maybe try reseating them? Make sure the bases are clean, and use dielectric grease when reinstalling them?
I don't know exactly how the "STOP LAMP" indicator works. It seems odd that it would go away after the first time you actually operate the brake lights. Are all your brake light bulbs the same? Maybe it acts upon differences between the left and right lights.
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:11 pm
by subawhatsubawho
Do either of you have a trialer wiring harness installed by any chance? I only ask because I had that problem when u-haul installed one on my old legacy.
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 8:27 pm
by rallysam
vrg3 wrote:The "STOP LAMP" light is different from the "BRAKE" light, so it probably doesn't have anything to do with the handbrake or brake fluid.
Oops! My bad. I need to work on my reading skills!
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:48 pm
by professor
In my experience this is either caused by a faulty connection, so clean as vrg says, or sometimes even by having differing bulbs in one side versus the other
the system looks at the resistance so if it varies a lot due to corrosion or dissimilar bulbs, the idiot light comes on. I usually clean the bulb housings and clip and unclip the wiring a few times, and if that fails, throw both bulbs in the trash and replace with new, matching ones
BMW owners know all about this one, those cars will trip the idiot light sometimes when you use anything but "BMW" bulbs, which are admittedly good and not expensive.