Subaru - Legacy :: Electrical Surges - Headlights Turned On Suddenly While The Car Was Turned Off
Dec 6, 2015
Sitting in my living room I noticed that suddenly my headlights on my 97 Subaru ob turned on. First thought was someone was stealing my pos. Knife in hand I went to investigate. No one there. The keys were in the car, in the off position. The headlights all of a sudden turned off. I noticed that the dash lights were flickering on and off. I removed the keys yet the dash lights remained on. Not wanting my battery drained I disconnected the positive cable, which obviously corrected the issue for the time being. When I was disconnecting the battery I heard a mechanical whirring noise coming from the passenger side of the car just behind the headlight. Have never heard this noise before. NOT the intake fan or the AC. Did not investigate extensively due to darkness, wind and rain.
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I've had my Subaru for 8 yrs and never had a problem with the A/C, even in 100+ degrees of Arizona. I always had to turn down the temp. I've been in Maryland for nearly 4 yrs and it's worked fine even on very hot and humid days. In March I noticed that it didn't seem as cold as usual. I also didn't hear the compressor coming on when I turned it on. Mechanic checked it out and said the compressor was working but it probably just needed freon (I hadn't added any since I bought the car). They added a dye in case there was a leak and said I'd be able to tell in 2 weeks if it was leaking, but that the dye is greasy and might actually fix a leak if it's just due to a dry seal somewhere. They didn't charge me for the freon. (These are honest mechanics. I've been with them for several years and they've had numerous chances to bilk me but never have.)
Couple weeks went by and it seemed okay, though maybe not quite as cold as when I picked it up. Sometimes I'd drive and it would be very cold so I'd think it was fine, but a few minutes or some time later I'd know for sure it wasn't right. The weather vacillated between hot and cold too, which made it harder to tell. Finally the past 2 weeks it got really hot and I knew for certain it wasn't putting out cold enough air. Yesterday was in the low 90's and I was sick from the heat while driving. Only felt like a fan blowing. I left it at the mechanic's today. They just called and said the vent temp is normal and there are no leaks. They're going to check for an electrical problem, as I also have a brake light that blows on a regular basis. (Though he said those aren't on the same circuit)
As far as my operating behavior, I don't turn it on and off all the time, and once it's going for a few minutes I put in on recirculate. I'm the only driver.
1999 Subaru Legacy sedan, 160K miles
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I have a 2004 Subaru Forester, today when I turned on the heater fan I noticed that electrical (melting) smell, and the fan thus only ran very slowly on setting three and mostly okay on setting four, but not really at all on setting one or two. I found where the fan is located, but was wondering if it is the blower motor or the blower motor resister. I think on high, the blower motor by-passes the resister, and it seemed as though the smell really only occurred when I had the blower set on a lower setting. The resister is about $45 and the blower is about $145. If I can get by with only replacing the resister, that would be cool because I am assuming a new blower motor does not come with a new resister attached and I would have to buy that separately.
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The truck has a 300 straight 6 and runs pretty good until you turn the headlights on or anything that uses current for that matter ie. Radio , Fan ect. But is worst with lights. Just got the truck last week and can't seem to figure this one out.
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After replacing my battery cables (Pos and Ground),My Truck stalls every time I turn on the headlights. The truck stays running with the parking lights on or if no lights on at all. Could I have mixed up the 2 positive accessory wires?
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headlights on 2001 Forester not working. I checked the fuses ,bulbs and they look good. The highbeams,taillights,and interior lights all work. I do hear the relays click when I turn on the switch.
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While driving I turned on my headlights and my car became possessed. My warning lights started to flicker on and off, my car was dinging out of control. The speedometer, gas, and RPM gauge went to zero. My brights light would not come on. My dinging for the lights being left on, or the key being left in the ignition, after the car is parked, and the door is open, will not go on either. I turned my lights off and all was well. Turned them on again and the same thing happened.
Now, the following day, it is doing this periodically every couple of minutes while I'm driving, whether the lights are on or not. My radio and head lights work fine. I checked all my fuses and they all seem to be AOK. I disconnected my car battery and reconnected it to see if it would reset and it still did the same thing. One other strange occurrence. The last month or so while I've been driving my battery light came on for a few minutes. I had the battery checked and it is not bad. Then last week my gas-cap warning started to randomly appear. I changed my gas cap, and guess what.....it still came on, at random.
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Today I had a flat tire. Noticed because the warning light was on. Fixed flat. Tire pressure light is off. Now the brake light is blinking. The cruise indicator is blinking. The skid control light is on and the check engine light is on.
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My AWD 1996 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon suddenly loses power while I'm driving......
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I have a 2002 Saab 9-5 with a 3.0L turbo with 125k miles. The cruise control works fantastic UNLESS the headlights are on... huh??
I can replicate 100% of the time. It is getting dark earlier now - and my wife will not drive it anymore to work (35 miles) without the cruise control working.
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This evening I drove our Subaru Legacy Wagon (1999) about 3 miles or so to the gym. When I pulled into the lot, I noticed my radio (tuned to NPR, no less) had gone off. Curious! A few seconds later, dashboard lights come on (ABS, maybe others). After that, engine goes quiet, car is dead -- turning the key does nothing at all, and the car is completely without power. Only the dome light works, and barely. I get a jump, and eventually the car starts back up --- but it took a while, and several tries, before I could get the engine going.
On the way home, I kept a careful eye on the RPMs -- when I was close, I noticed the ABS light pop back on, and the RPM needle go down to zero. I tried my best to keep the RPMs up by staying in first, and managed to park. Of course, the car was unresponsive when I immediately tried to restart it. Some quick internet searches suggest alternator, bad connections to the battery, and some other ideas. We've never had this problem before. The twist is that we're literally on the brink of selling this car -- we've got one more than we need. Thus, we'd be pretty bummed if we had to put much, if any, cash into the car just so we can get rid of it days later.
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Yesterday on my way home my engine turned off. I had just turned onto a side street so i went to give it some gas. Nothing. I tried again and still nothing. I looked down to make sure i was actually pressing the gas and not the brake and and thats when i noticed that the speedo and rpm gauges both were at 0. They were still lit up and the radio was still on and the windows still worked. So i pulled over and a few minutes later i tried to start it back up and it started up fine. I have been driving it all day and i have not had any problems.
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I have a 2008 Passat 2.0t 4-door. It has 35,000 miles with 12,000 of it coming in the last ten months. I always use 91 premium gas. The car has been running great but last night as I turned a corner the engine stopped.
All the lights work and after waiting a minute the engine turned over but after 20 seconds it stopped. The car was towed to my place and it stayed outside in temperature in the low 20's (F). With the temperature outside around 30 degrees the car turned on and stayed on for over a minute before I had to go to work.
Could the battery be the problem? I turned the car on and drove it for five minutes and it worked normally. The temperature outside is 54 degrees Fahrenheit.
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I have a problem with my 1994 Volvo 940 GL. When I turn on the headlights (light knob pointing to the right) the headlights do not come on, the rear lights aren't on, the dashboard lighting turns off, etc... I don't know about the brake lights, i bet they work fine...
What's odd is that if i set the knob to the middle (pointing up), the rear lights come on, dashboard lighting works, and front-side lights come on as usual. In order to drive at night, I have to set the knob to the middle, and hold down the brights (which work fine).
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My 2004 Santa Fe has something failing, but I need to know which direction to go. When the defroster or air conditioner is turned on the idol fades momentarily and my headlights dim. This does not happen when the heater, alone, is on.
This is my 2nd Santa Fe; I have my 2003 in my barn. The transmission gave out at 204K miles and this one was in my neighborhood so I just swapped. So, I have lots of parts.
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I have a 2006 GS300. I have had a few oddball issues with my car (the engine rattle at start up....the water backing up in the floor behind the passenger seat etc.... ) but this one has me baffled. I turn on the headlights and one or both will randomly go out. Sometimes its the left and sometimes its the right. When this problem started, I thought it was the bulbs so I tried changing the bulbs but that didn't work.
When I turn them on, they both come on and then I leave the house and drive for a few miles, then I will notice that one of them goes out, so I turn the lights completely off and then right back on and they both come back on. Then a few minutes later one or the other will go out again. Sometimes they both go out while I am driving, so I need to flick them off and back on. I have no problem with the high beams or the running lights. I don't drive too much at night so it hasn't been a huge hassle, but it is definitely a problem.
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For some reason my front fog lights in the headlights are stuck on when I turn my headlights on. Even the green light on the euro switch indicating the fog lights are on is lit up. But the euro switch is not pulled out to that position. This just happened a few days ago. I was not messing with or touching any of the wiring. Just happened out of no where.
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I woke up this morning to rain and a very sick Phaeton. The car is locked, however the headlights turned on automatically. The car has a smell of burning electrical components. The wireless unlock doesn't work, so I had to open the door with the key. This set off the alarm. I was unable to shut it off by putting the car key into the ignition. Now the key is stuck in the ignition. Various lights are flashing, but I cannot start the car. The batteries are less than 2 years old.
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The headlights have been giving us fits because we can't shut them off when we turn off the car. We have to start the car, sometimes drive it around and shut off lights before shutting off the car. And this process has to often be repeated several times before it works. Yesterday the lights came on by themselves when my husband turned off the car in the garage and he couldn't get them off so he disconnected the battery.
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I just got a 2003 1.8T Passat about a week ago. I have already installed a new HU and put some subs in it. I haven't really had the chance to test the headlights while driving because I haven't driven after dark since I got the car. When I used the headlights today some strange things were happening.
When the headlights are turned on the right signal comes on and stays on until the headlights are turned off and doesn't pulse. If I try to use the right signal while it is stuck on it makes the indicator clicking noise once then the noise stops but the light stays solid the whole time.
If the headlights are off and I try use the right signal the signal works fine but the instrument lighting pulses with the signal and I assume I haven't noticed this because driven only in the light I probably just never noticed.
The left signal behaves completely as it should as far as I know in all conditions. The hazard lights are also behaving oddly but I'm thinking it's because of the problem with the right signal.
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I always take care of my car oil changes on time. And in the last week my check engine light turned on for a few hours then turned off. And today it turned on again. I kinda regret getting rid of my scan gauge now.
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