Peter Shaw Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 My son called me last night from several states away with a headlight problem. 96 subie legacy wagon. Head lights out, brights only when holding the switch in the "flash" position. I am not really familiar with the car, its several states away and doesn't visit often. he said the fuses all look good. Switch? Is it a switch that you turn with your left hand (assuming US vehicles) or right, as opposed to something on the dash? How do you go about getting one off/out? my experience with these cars is only with the engine going into my vanagon. any suggestions that I can pass along? cheers peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcoaster Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 My son called me last night from several states away with a headlight problem. 96 subie legacy wagon. Head lights out, brights only when holding the switch in the "flash" position. I am not really familiar with the car, its several states away and doesn't visit often. he said the fuses all look good. Switch? Is it a switch that you turn with your left hand (assuming US vehicles) or right, as opposed to something on the dash? How do you go about getting one off/out? my experience with these cars is only with the engine going into my vanagon. any suggestions that I can pass along? cheers peter Replace the bulbs first. It might be something as simple as that. If that doesn't work, the next step would be to check the relays. They're located on the fuse block in the engine bay next to the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Did he notice whether both bulbs went out simultaneously (relay/switch) or possibly one bulb was out but undetected until the other died? . Go have breakfast out on the pier there in Santa Cruz and by then, someone else here will hopefully chime in with more technical info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanski06 Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 change the bulbs....thats happened to my impreza already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99obw Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 That's what happens in our outback when one of the relays dies. I have replaced them several times with OEM parts. In a pinch I have substituted other relays that are in the same box, but that is risky as they run important things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 [...]Head lights out, brights only when holding the switch in the "flash" position.[...] Two questions: 1) Just to verify, are you saying that the brights only come on when flashed, but not if the switch is in the constant "high beam" position? 2) Does the car have DRL (Daytime Running Lights, usually on Canadian-market models)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Shaw Posted September 5, 2006 Author Share Posted September 5, 2006 Two questions: 1) Just to verify, are you saying that the brights only come on when flashed, but not if the switch is in the constant "high beam" position? 2) Does the car have DRL (Daytime Running Lights, usually on Canadian-market models)? Question 1, correct, not in the high beam position but only flashed, and Q2 nope, no daytime lights on the vehicle. I think he said both lights went out at the same time, instantaneously, a bit foggy for the pier this am, but not a bad suggestion! I had not thought of the relay, Would the relay be just for low beams and high on constantly and not for flashing? Where is the relay box? Can they be tested? cheers peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
99obw Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 As rcoaster said, the relay box is on the driver's side between the battery and the windshield washer bottle. They are easy to test with a 12v supply and an ohmmeter. The other way to test them is to plug them into another location in the relay box with the same relay and see if they work. I have found that all of mine have failed in the same way, they develop intermittent connections in the base. If I wiggle them the lights will come on intermittently, but at that point they are too unreliable for continued service. My experience has been that one relay failing causes these symptoms in one headlight, so your son's problem may be different, but this gives a place to start, and testing them is easy. If I remember I'll look at the wiring diagram at home tonight, then I can be more certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Nipper, Cougar... where are you? It's after 9AM. Must we direct this question to a call center in Bangalore?? Press 1 for Nipper... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Nipper, Cougar... where are you? It's after 9AM. Must we direct this question to a call center in Bangalore?? Press 1 for Nipper... Here in Alaska the time is a bit earlier than 9AM and the big cats are just beginning to awake from their slumber for another day of prowling around. After looking at my info for non-DRL lighting it looks to me that the most likely suspect for the trouble is the light switch. It makes a ground to energize the headlight relays. There is a Blu/Blk wire that ties to the relay coils from the switch. To see if the switch or the wire to it is the problem you can ground that wire with a jumper to ground. If the lights turn on then you need to check the switch and the wire to it. You could also measure the voltage at that point. If the voltage doesn't drop to near zero volts with the light switch ON then you know that there is a open connection to ground on the line. The switch would be the first suspect but it may just be a bad wire connection and a easy fix so check the wire connections. Checking the voltage along the lead will tell you which direction the fault is on the wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Question 1, correct, not in the high beam position but only flashed, and Q2 nope, no daytime lights on the vehicle.Okay, thanks, that allows me to look at the correct wiring diagram. I had not thought of the relay, Would the relay be just for low beams and high on constantly and not for flashing?[...]The relays have to be energized for any headlight usage on the model in question; if brights work in "flash" mode, the relays are operational. Cougar's info is correct; completing a ground connection is what the switch does to energize the relay coils. If that isn't happening with the switch in the headlight position, then either the switch is bad or the blu/blk wire connected to it is the culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Shaw Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 Hey guys, i am the son of Peter Shaw and i just want to say thanks for your replys. i just want to clear some things up... i checked all the fuses and the main fuse box under the hood all seems fine.... the lights just wont turn on, and its not just the headlights but the tail lights also. i was wondering, like my father said is this a switch problem? or somthing else. it just seems weird that all 4 would go out at the same time (front and rear).... thanks again doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 Hi Doug, The light switch controls both the front and the back lights. Follow my instructions in post #10 of this thread. I'll bet the lights will turn on. Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjer Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Ok, on a simpler and luckier note... my 96 Outback does the exact same thing on occasion. One headlight out, but the brights work just fine. In my case, it is simply the connection from the harness to the bulbs. Mine actually look like they have overheated/melted at some point. Have him idle the car with the lights on and go remove the connection between harness and bulb... wiggle it... in my case it comes on like 99% of the time. Its irritating, but its cheaper to wiggle stuff than it is to replace it! I just figure its one more joy of an 11 yo car with 223 k on it! badjer Hi Doug, The light switch controls both the front and the back lights. Follow my instructions in post #10 of this thread. I'll bet the lights will turn on. Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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