Kaptain Kouta Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 I have a MY02 wagon which I love dearly (one day, I'll tell you all how much I got in trouble by telling my girlfriend to get out of the way when I wanted to photograph the car in the snow the first time I took it there.....for those who want to see the pic, go to my website: Zeitgeist Photography it's in the gallery), but I tend to run with the headlights on, which runs through globes pretty swiftly, and I've just noticed that one of the park lights is out. What I would like to know, however is: is there a way to replace the park light without removing the whole headlight assembly/cluster? The owner's manual says not, but I suspect that with a little mechanical nous it should be achievable. Thanks in advance, Eliot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sios Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Although my Subaru is an Impreza Outback Sport somehow I doubt there'd be another way. Seems the placement of the connector is behind the fender or front frame of the engine compartment. Maybe there's another way, if so I don't know it, sorry. I just didn't even try after looking it over, the removal of the assembly wasn't terribly difficult. Grille unclips, then some clips holding the upper part of bumper and a single bolt then some pulling in the right way (on Impreza). You might consider using amber* LED's instead, when you do change the bulb(s), which is what I did (along with red LED for tail lights), so I could leave the parking lights on longer without worrying about battery drain. Ones I got are called inverted cone to help with shining sideways. Also, each tail light is a red LED, 15 total with 6 of those around side edges, plenty bright. * Not white behind the colored lens, because white LED's are inherently bluish and would produce a greenish color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaptain Kouta Posted October 17, 2004 Author Share Posted October 17, 2004 I was thinking LEDs might work. There isn't actually a coloured lens over the park light. When you installed LEDs, did you find ones which slotted into the same wedge globe space, and didn't require any adjustment to the assembly itself? The gripe I have with the procedure of changing the park light globe (and indicator globe, for that matter, is that it requires the removal of the headlight assembly cluster, which could end up requiring the headlights to be realigned. Such a simple owner-reachable part, and it should be able to be replaced by the owner, as all the globes should be, shouldn't require a trip to a dealer to be done properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sios Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Yep, mine are the 'wedge' type. Nothing extra needed to be done, as opposed to turn signals which usually require resistance applied to make them blink. I didn't need to realign or anything, just popped the headlamp assembly out and back in afterward. However, you're going to need someone with that model/year to speak up here. Checked on this now and see that yours are type 1157, not wedges(??), whereas mine are the small 194 type. Anyway, the replacement LED's you find online are most likely to fit, since they fill about the same exact space a globe bulb does. Without any heat from them they can be very close to the plastic, too. The Impreza OBS parking light connector goes in sideways, pointed out toward the side of the car but the lens is still forward-facing. Yours could be totally different. You'd want to know that before getting the LED since if they need sideways direction you should use a kind like: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7928678768&category=33713&sspagename=WDVW Check around for prices of these things, really varies a lot. BTW, this is also my first car that I had to pull the lamp assembly out in order to change a bulb but it wasn't always easy to do when left in, which is why I think it's about the same amount of difficulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaptain Kouta Posted October 25, 2004 Author Share Posted October 25, 2004 Those "1157" aren't like the ones in my OB. The ones I have are listed in the Owner's Handbook as "W5W" which is a little wedge globe, similar to the "194" you mention. Maybe the MY02 Headlight cluster is different in the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coloradosubarules Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 Greetings fellow Subaru lover from down under. I do not have anything to add to this thread as far as info goes but I would like to take a second to point out just how different we are from land to land but how much we are alike. It struck me as odd that you would call a lightbulb a globe, but this was before I glanced over and saw where you are writing from. At that split second it occured to me that two different points of the planet are drawn to one single point....this website and the love of Subarus. So what if they drive on the wrong side of the road. As they say in Ausie...G'day. I used to chat with a girl in Australia. She would send me pictures and cute little things from there. I kept bugging her to send me a Koala bear but she just kept sending me these stuffed bears instead. She lived in Perth, and said there were alot of French restaurants there. Go figure. Wish I was there...... Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 Bulbs are different in the states. You guys just have to be different, don't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaptain Kouta Posted October 25, 2004 Author Share Posted October 25, 2004 Greg, it's a Koala, not Koala bear... And for the record, it's you (y'all?) who drive on the wrong side of the road..... The thing which bewilders me, is given there's economies of scale, why would they change minor details like that market to market? The W5W Wedge globes (bulbs) are the same as the number plate (Licence PLate) illumination globes in the tailgate. I might research this further with some of the Auto modification type places which service the boy-racer markets. I'll let you know how I go, and for the information of fellow Aussie Subie lovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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