Vic Thrume

I tested the original bulb in a different vehicle and it was fully functional. Didn't test the NEW sealed beam outside of the Brat, but since other bulb was doing the same thing, and it is NIB, I figure it is likely fine and the issue is still in the Brat. Halogen bulb is a Hella H4, sealed beams are 6054's, I think... So there is a separate relay for each headlight? One on each side? Is it a little "brass/gold" colored box just to the rear of the battery on the inner fender sidewall of the engine bay for the pass side? That box was making a click when switching the lights on and off or the brights on and off-did not hear any clicking from anything on the other side of the engine bay. So, NARU says the tester does not draw enough current-is that does not draw a strong enough current to show the malfunction? As I said, test lights show good ground on wires at the headlamp connector as well as good power to them as well. How about this... When simply using a test light set up, I got positive (light) out of ALL 3 prongs with the lo-beam switch on. Is that normal, or should the ground one not have lit the light? Is that my problem?

But when using a tester, we ARE getting ground exactly where we should on each setting of the dimmer! Green light, ground, red light, juice... However, the case sounds like an interesting idea, though not sure how/why that would happen!!! And we have tried it with the old halogen system someone had installed, as well as a new sealed beam headlight-shouldn't be a case grounding out in a new sealed beam, should it? Thanks!!!

Okay, as I have done at other times, posting this on a couple of different threads dealing with headlamp switch-ish issues... Okay, have a lot to add in here, and still QUESTIONS! Did some very thorough testing with one of my mechanics today. It is a woman, so don't be surprised at the use of "she" when speaking of her. She is the real deal, ACE, has been in business for a LONG time, etc, and will work on anything, but specializes in imports. Where she is, Soobies and Toyotas are EVERYWHERE, and she knows as much or more than anyone I've ever dealt with for all Subarus since they have been coming over here! So, to repeat my problem, have both brights, but neither low beam. '82, single head light, Brat. Light switch is the angled turning knob mounted to the left of the steering wheel. Bright switch is on the column/turn sig indicator. Well, we tinkered and cleaned and sprayed and tested. All the same. Looked for the relay to test it, but then she decided it was probably in the dimmer switch assembly, so we started playing with that. I have five manuals, (one factory, HOW TO KEEP YOUR SUBARU ALIVE manual, 2 different Hayes that cover it, and one other that is not factory, but is well-known, prestigious, respected and expensive (the company is slipping my mind right now!)), so we started poring over wiring diagrams. We went through everything, I removed the switch so we could get at it and look at it/rebuild it, whatever it took, etc. After analyzing the wiring diagrams, we started testing again. We got to the point where EVERYTHING we tested down to the headlight connector was acting EXACTLY as planned/should be. Ground and power where it should be, etc. But when we plug in the bulb/lamp, it stops working right and we get brights on the bright setting, nothing on the lo-beam setting, and brights on the "flash" setting (pulling the stem toward you). However, something else we noticed was that the "flash"/pull the dimmer switch stem toward you action gets NOTHING, when the lights are off, though it does work when the light switch is in the, "on" position, though I am pretty sure it should, and though she didn't have any that old to check, it was her belief as well that most vehicles since the advent of the stem dimmer switch did that. Another piece of info is that one of the prior owners had put in the halogen bulbs, as opposed to the sealed beam headlights. So we tried both. We tried rerouting the wires at the headlamp connector to see if they had been altered to deal with the halogens (we set them to factory/wiring diagram alignment, and literally tried every combination of the three wires just to see what was happening/if ANYTHING would work. So, we are back to square one. The BEST we have gotten is brights in both high AND lo beam settings. But, again, when tested with testing lights/probes, it acts perfectly normal at the connector to the headlight, but does NOT work with the current halogen, a brand new sealed-beam, or another brand new halogen, though I did check both of the halogens in another vehicle to make sure the bulbs were good, and they were. ANYBODY got ANYTHING for me here???? Thanks! Vic!

Okay, have a lot to add in here, and still QUESTIONS! Did some very thorough testing with one of my mechanics today. It is a woman, so don't be surprised at the use of "she" when speaking of her. She is the real deal, ACE, has been in business for a LONG time, etc, and will work on anything, but specializes in imports. Where she is, Soobies and Toyotas are EVERYWHERE, and she knows as much or more than anyone I've ever dealt with for all Subarus since they have been coming over here! So, to repeat my problem, have both brights, but neither low beam. '82, single head light, Brat. Light switch is the angled turning knob mounted to the left of the steering wheel. Bright switch is on the column/turn sig indicator. Well, we tinkered and cleaned and sprayed and tested. All the same. Looked for the relay to test it, but then she decided it was probably in the dimmer switch assembly, so we started playing with that. I have five manuals, (one factory, HOW TO KEEP YOUR SUBARU ALIVE manual, 2 different Hayes that cover it, and one other that is not factory, but is well-known, prestigious, respected and expensive (the company is slipping my mind right now!)), so we started poring over wiring diagrams. We went through everything, I removed the switch so we could get at it and look at it/rebuild it, whatever it took, etc. After analyzing the wiring diagrams, we started testing again. We got to the point where EVERYTHING we tested down to the headlight connector was acting EXACTLY as planned/should be. Ground and power where it should be, etc. But when we plug in the bulb/lamp, it stops working right and we get brights on the bright setting, nothing on the lo-beam setting, and brights on the "flash" setting (pulling the stem toward you). However, something else we noticed was that the "flash"/pull the dimmer switch stem toward you action gets NOTHING, though I am pretty sure it should, and though she didn't have any that old to check, it was her belief as well that most vehicles since the advent of the stem dimmer switch did that. Another piece of info is that one of the prior owners had put in the halogen bulbs, as opposed to the sealed beam headlights. So we tried both. We tried rerouting the wires at the headlamp connector to see if they had been altered to deal with the halogens (we set them to factory/wiring diagram alignment, and literally tried every combination of the three wires just to see what was happening/if ANYTHING would work. So, we are back to square one. The BEST we have gotten is brights in both high AND lo beam settings. But, again, when tested with testing lights/probes, it acts perfectly normal at the connector to the headlight, but does NOT work with the current halogen, a brand new sealed-beam, or another brand new halogen, though I did check both of the halogens in another vehicle to make sure the bulbs were good, and they were. ANYBODY got ANYTHING for me here???? Thanks! Vic!

I posted this elsewhere as well, but this is a fairly similar situation to my problem. so posting here as well for some good feedback. 82 Brat: No lo-beams on either side, but hi-beams work fine on both sides every time. With a test-light set up, I was able to get light going to ALL 3 wires on the female/switch side of the headlight plug on the driver's side with the switch in lo-neam position only. Put a new bulb in, same behavior. Have read some things here, but suggestion that it is relay doesn't seem right, as it says the relays are set up side to side, which would make this case peculiar that both had gone bad in much the same way. Because it IS affecting both sides, should I definitely be looking at column dimmer switch? Dash knob (the turning "wheel" style knob to the left of the steering wheel is the type this has)? Thanks for any advice!

Hmmm... Glad I searched this topic. I am having a similar problem with my '82 Brat. Both lights, no low beams, but high beams work on both sides. I ran a test light and got positive for power on ALL THREE PRONGS of the female side of the connector when attaching the ground wire to a ground on the engine. This was only on one side that I started trying this, as I figured if one side would work, it was likely the same problem on the other side. Put in a new light (this has the replaceable bulb, not the whole fitting), plugged in, no low beams, but working high beams. Input? Thanks!

I guess all of the confusion comes from the continued production of the EA81 hatchback. Since it was still produced/imported along side the EA82 body cars. It also carried similar badging (DL, GL). I apologize for mixing you you up. Not at all-you didn't mess me up-unless it was one of your posts I read several days ago from some time ago that said the wagons stayed the same until '87. So, went and looked at the parts car I mentioned today. Actually not in TOO ad a shape, considering how it was being marketed. Needs a driver's front CV shaft, but biggest concern was lack of power. Now granted, this town it was in was at about 8400 feet. It is an '86 4x4 wagon, 1.8L, manual. It started, moved, ran, and 4wd DID work (deluge just before and LOTS of mud around-got to test it. BUT, and the guy had admitted this, someone had tried to do some work and removed a lot of vacuum lines, hoses, etc. I did not know if this was enough to make it as gutless as it was. It would run down the road all right, but took a LONG time to even work its way up to 40-45, and until we hit a little downhill stretch, it never hit 55. No funny noises or smells, no backfires, no misses, etc, just sluggish and gutless. Tranny felt fine, brakes were fine, oil pressure fine, temp didn't fluctuate over about 2/3 for the 20-30 minutes of driving, etc. It had been sitting for some time, but once running sounded okay, no excessive smoke, etc. It came from the border of Mexico and Texas, which was likely several thousand feet lower, too. And it only read 129K with a working odometer. So, main question, is there some logical reason to explain the weakness? Could a couple vacuum lines and hoses from the carb(?)/air cleaner area make it lose that much power? Thanks for the advice, gents!!!

ih scout 64 said: "At a loss to the SPFI." Okay, I'll bite... What is SPFI? And so was I correct about the wagons being the same until '87 as well, or did I misunderstand something? That would make Brats the same until '87, Wagons the same until '87, and hatches the same until '89? Or no on the wagons. As I said, somewhere in this forum someone said the wagons stayed the same until '87 as well, which is why I thought the '86 would swap some parts. However, my answer here says, "No." Thanks for the help!

Hi! I'm a newbie on here-first post. I am a long-time tinkerer, with my favorite vehicles being old IH, Toyota and Subarus. I recently came across a remarkable 1982 Brat, mainly because it is almost all original, rust-free and straight. It is NOT mint or perfect or anything, but solid! The decals and paint are sun-faded (Santa Fe, NM), and the interior has dash cracks from the sun and seat cracks as well. The heater vent louvres are dry and cracking and breaking. I HAVE done MANY internet searches, and it is always hard to pick the exact correct key search words to find the right information, but I am wondering what interiors were the same as the 1982 Brat. I know they say the wagons, hatches and Brats stayed similar from 1982-1987, even though the coupes and sedans changed, but I did not know if that meant only the mechanicals and some body panels, or if this went for the interiors as well. There is an 86 Wagon parts car about an hour drive from here, but I don;t want to make the drive until I know if the interior is going to match up. I would LOVE to be able to clean up these few little issues because this car is SO good that this could make it even better! So, if this is info I should have found easily, I apologize. I tried my best! I found LOTS of info on mechanical interchange and body interchange, but just didn't see anything on interior layout. Thanks! Even when I was just searching the internet at large before I signed up for this site, this site was almost ALWAYS at the very top of my search results and I have gotten a LOT of great info from here! Fantastic community and fantastic forum!