tail lights on - not the Parking Light Switch

[waikiki]

Hi all,

 

I got a 2007 Legacy Wagon Limited 2.5i about 6 weeks ago, and I only noticed today (after seeing my cars's reflection) that the tail lights are always on.

 

I did some research, and found the issue with new Subaru owners is accidentally flicking the Parking Light switch....

but this is not the case, I've checked the switch on top of the steering column, and it is definitely off.

(when I take the key out of the ignition, all the lights are off)

 

I've double checked, and the headlight switch is definitely off too...but my tail lights are on...

there is no change in tail light brightness, whether I turn on the headlights or not.

 

I can also see (by reflection) that when I step on the brake pedal, that all 3 tail lights do light up.

actually, not sure if this is relevant or not...but when stepping on the brake pedal....

I noticed the left and right brake lights turn on a split second after the spoiler brake light turns on.

 

At first I thought the tail lights being on constantly was a unique characteristic of Subaru's, but I noticed other Subaru's on the road do have the tail lights off, so obviously this is not the case.

 

Anyone have an idea what the issue could be?...thanks in advance.

[r.lee89]

Could be the tail lamp relay stuck on find that relay and tap it. If it goes out then the relay is bad. This relay maybe under the hood.

Or it could be the switch on the column is bad like it maybe shorted out inside. Try rocking it back an forth.

[08SpecB_DE]

^^^ What he said.

[Merc6]

...I can also see (by reflection) that when I step on the brake pedal, that all 3 tail lights do light up.

actually, not sure if this is relevant or not...but when stepping on the brake pedal....

I noticed the left and right brake lights turn on a split second after the spoiler brake light turns on...

 

The spoiler is LED so it and the mirrors (GT) are gonna be faster than the incandescent bulbs. What is beyond logic is the 4th Center High Mount Stop Light in the back window for the sedan.

[waikiki]

@ r.lee89

thanks I'll see if I can locate the relay...btw, I'm located in Toronto too.

 

@08SpecB_DE

thanks also

 

@Merc6

ahhhh! thanks for clarifying...didn't know that about LED lights...now I'll be looking for it on cars ahead of me.

[waikiki]

@ r.lee89 -- I found the relay, tapped and rocked it back and forth...but no difference.

 

 

after a little more research and reading the manual...it looks like the reason my tail lights are on all the time, is because my Daytime Running Lights is on.

 

since I bought the car, whenever I turn on the car, there's a yellow indicator in the instrument panel between the speedo and fuel gauge on the bottom

(on US models its "DRL" and on Canadian models it looks like a letter "D" with 3 dashed lines on the left)

 

being new to Subaru's, I thought it was lit to simply let the driver know that the daytime headlights were on...

it would turn off when I switched the actual headlights on, and the green headlight indicator would light up instead.

I thought this was just part of the normal operation of the car.

 

I always thought Daytime Running Lights were only for the headlights...

I did not know that on Subaru's, it also meant the tail lights and license plate light would be on too...also, my instrument panel lights are always on.

 

being an automatic, I don't use my hand brake...but after reading the manual, I can confirm that when I pull the hand brake on, the DRL indicator

light on the instrument panel turns off and the tail lights/license plate light turns off.

 

 

so is the Daytime Running Lights feature on by default from the factory for all Subaru models?

I have seen many Subaru's on the road with the tail lights off...unless of course, all those drivers disabled it?

 

there's a few videos on Youtube on how to disable DRL...is this what everyone does?

I can't imagine all those drivers I've seen on the road have done this procedure.

 

my car is a Canadian 2007 Legacy Wagon Limited 2.5i....so am I missing something here?

was the Daytime Running Lights turned on permanently by accident somehow?

the manual says, the DRL will automatically come on at reduced brightness, is there a sensor that's possibly malfunctioned and turned on my DRL permanently?

or is this a feature specifically turned on permanently for Canadian 2007 wagons?

 

it seems odd to have the tail lights on in the middle of a sunny day...however, if this is the normal operating function of my car,

then I'm fine leaving it as it is...hope to get some clarification, thanks.

[r.lee89]

Maybe someone wired it up that way. My legacy is from the US the DRLs i think turns on from the high beams but at a lower voltage but thats it no park lights.

I have worked on many Legacys they've always been just the headlights.

[waikiki]

well, I guess it's possible that one of the previous owners did some re-wiring.(I hope that's not the case)

 

Not sure if this might explain things....but, I found this on cars101com...

there's detailed information on Legacy's year by year, here's some of the changes for 2007:

 

"new DRL daytime running light indicator when headlights are off"

"new 'DRL' displays in center instrument panel to indicate when daytime running lights are on. DRL light is off when the headlights are on."

"DRL are standard with auto-off headlights. DRL indicator light is on when headlights are off"

 

nothing specific about the tail lights being on all the time though.

 

hopefully someone can chime in with more info on the DRL(specifically for 07's)

I'm curious, is there a sensor that activates it?...is this sensor known to malfunction?

 

anyways, thanks r.lee89 for responding.