doris

The advice is helpful. I will try not to mess it up. The plugs have not been out 'for a long while'. I daresay Doris Jr. will not survive the rapidly ensuing ice age. She says she will be sure to blink her brights if she should have the pleasure of meeting your RHD in the great Subaru beyond. Much obliged as always.

I'm okay with $10 for the part. The peculiar thing is that I did not find any of the old stopper on the floor, and I am wondering if the stopper is an optional part since if adjusted correctly the pin 'could' touch the brake pedal. Anyway, I am going to send a dealer the VIN later to verify the part is correct for my '96. It seems 'generic' for Subarus of more recent vintage, so to speak. I'm okay with noodling...it's just the part where you scratch off a layer of skin and fill it with encrusted oil that I don't look forward to. Thanks as usual.

Thanks, again! I'm happy to say it was simpler to fix, i.e., I rolled a wad of gorilla tape and stuck a penny in the middle. It fit fairly well into the place where the 'stopper' had apparently been. The brake pedal now rests against the penny pushing the plunger in, i.e., the brake lights go off when car isn't running, cruise control works and everything is working as well as can be expected from a 96 Outback with 306,000 miles. The next project is changing plugs and that will require removing a few parts, apparently. No worries and thanks again for your help...

Thank you everybody who has offered help. It has been a learning curve, i.e., what should have been obvious in 5 seconds has gradually sunk in after almost a week. I did not understand how the brake switch worked. I thought it was strictly 'internal'. I have learned about the 'plunger'. I hope to design a fix using gorilla tape and a penny. In short, I replaced the brake switch and it didn't help. Then I realized that the plunger needs to make contact with brake pedal. Pretty bright. That took 4 days for me to figure out. I am now trying to find a real brake pedal stopper: https://parts.raffertysubaru.com/p/Subaru_1996_Legacy/STOPPER-PEDAL-B/49247386/36036AC001.html . I am going to try the gorilla tape and penny fix that I found online assuming I cannot adjust the brake switch to make it work as is. I don't recall finding any pieces on my floor and so I'm not entirely sure that this model uses a brake pedal stopper! Anyway, thanks again and I'll forward any additional details after the attempted 'fix'.

Rather remarkably I came to the same conclusion by the same means. What I think are the tail lights are perhaps actually the brake lights, or, since there are 4 of them perhaps 2 are tail lights and 2 are brake lights...in which case, both tail lights and brake lights are on all the time. I will check the switch one way or another and thank you very much for your help.

Rather remarkably I came to the same conclusion by the same means. What I think are the tail lights are perhaps actually the brake lights, or, since there are 4 of them perhaps 2 are tail lights and 2 are brake lights...in which case, both tail lights and brake lights are on all the time. I will check the switch one way or another and thank you very much for your help.

Thank you. I would certainly try if I could get the metal bracket off the steering column. I will need to find the world's tiniest wrench apparently. Two of the supporting bolts are microscopic and the two main ones might as well be soldered. Thanks in any case.

i'm a little bit behind you folks and have no idea what you are referring to. i'm not planning on shipping the subaru to oz if that's what you had in mind. https://autosparky.com/ taking her to the mechanic is 'least painful' option for me and my wallet. if they can fix it, i won't need to buy another one. my car would like to try for 400,000. a lot of heart. thanks for your help. maybe you can tell me what auto sparky really means.

Thank you, all, for the advice. I will try the least painful option under the circumstances, i.e., take it to a mechanic. I'll post the results asap! Best wishes.

Thanks, Brus Brother. It isn't the switch. That controls the 'valet parking lights', for whatever that might be worth. This is a different problem. There was no problem last week, but a combination of tail lights not turning off, cruise control not working and brake lights also not working is the issue. Could it be a faulty stop light switch? [https://www.autozone.com/electrical-and-lighting/stoplight-switch/duralast-stoplight-switch-ja4229/467757_567129_0] I'd certainly be grateful for any follow-up and thanks in advance.

Greetings. I am seeking advice re: '96 Legacy Outback AWD. The car has 305,000 miles, but still runs pretty well. The problem is/are: a] tail lights do not turn off even when key is removed from ignition; b] brake lights are not working; and c] cruise control doesn't work although light on the dashboard button is lit. Can anybody help me to determine if this is a problem with faulty stoplight switch? The fuses seem to be okay. Thanks in advance.