Lighting problem: 6 rear bulbs stay on when car off...'96 Legacy L AWD wagon
06-22-2004, 07:27 PM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Atlantic City, NJ
Posts: 113
Car Info: NSX, 3 WRXs :eek:, '98 Outback, '96 Legacy wagon
Lighting problem: 6 rear bulbs stay on when car off...'96 Legacy L AWD wagon
Well, I walked out of work today to find a dead battery in my '96 Legacy L AWD wagon.
Turns out that the left rear tailight had 2 bulbs illuminated, both liscense plate bulbs were illuminated, and the two central lights immediately below the rear wiper were also lit up.
Result = Dead Battery
Sounds like some electrical gremlin, which probably won't be fun to track down. Anybody seen this? Suggestions?
The car does have a Viper ESP 550(?) alarm system. It's had it for a good 3 years now, but recently the switch to toggle between normal and valet mode broke, and it was stuck in valet mode for the past 6 months. Then mysteriously, the car switched to normal mode again. I have a replacement switch, but haven't had a chance to wire it in. Electrical things can have weird connections, and since the alarm system is tied into the lighting, I'm curious if it may have some connection. Otherwise, I have NO IDEA why certain lights in the back now stay on no matter what. Hopefully a wiring diagram will illuminate more about that circuit.
If anyone else has encountered a similar situation, your insight would be helpful.
Thanks,
Mark
Turns out that the left rear tailight had 2 bulbs illuminated, both liscense plate bulbs were illuminated, and the two central lights immediately below the rear wiper were also lit up.
Result = Dead Battery
Sounds like some electrical gremlin, which probably won't be fun to track down. Anybody seen this? Suggestions?
The car does have a Viper ESP 550(?) alarm system. It's had it for a good 3 years now, but recently the switch to toggle between normal and valet mode broke, and it was stuck in valet mode for the past 6 months. Then mysteriously, the car switched to normal mode again. I have a replacement switch, but haven't had a chance to wire it in. Electrical things can have weird connections, and since the alarm system is tied into the lighting, I'm curious if it may have some connection. Otherwise, I have NO IDEA why certain lights in the back now stay on no matter what. Hopefully a wiring diagram will illuminate more about that circuit.
If anyone else has encountered a similar situation, your insight would be helpful.
Thanks,
Mark
06-24-2004, 08:48 AM
#2
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Posts: n/a
it could have some connection (no pun intended). i assume yr alarm sys flashes lights on arm/disarm? try pulling the main fuse on the alarm (usu inline in the main power wire to unit) (you'll have to reprogram transmitters and any preferences you've set in alarrm unit) and see if that affects the problem.
have you been able to replicate? is it persistent or intermittent?
other signif possibility is headlight switch gone wonky. if you can find one cheap enough on ebay, might be easier to just try swapping stalk b4 you spend lots of yr free time crawling around with multimeter??
speak sternly to car, explain this is the sort of crapola you expect out of British or Italian cars, not a stalwart son of Lafayette, Indiana...
have you been able to replicate? is it persistent or intermittent?
other signif possibility is headlight switch gone wonky. if you can find one cheap enough on ebay, might be easier to just try swapping stalk b4 you spend lots of yr free time crawling around with multimeter??
speak sternly to car, explain this is the sort of crapola you expect out of British or Italian cars, not a stalwart son of Lafayette, Indiana...
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