1998 Legacy tail lights and license plate lights out. Help!

[The Chad]

1998 Legacy 4 door, 214K and runs great, we maintain it well. 

 

Problem:  Tail lights and license plate lights suddenly quit working.  Brake lights work fine. 

 

I read a couple of similar threads, though no solution was ever listed (that I'd seen). 

 

Sounds like this is somewhat common, what should I look for?  Need help from the experts.  Driving at night without rear lights is officer bait! 

 

Thanks guys, appreciate your responses.  Really can't afford to take this to a Subaru dealer. 

[The Chad]

Parking lights aren't working, either.  The parking lights switch does nothing. 

[gbhrps]

The Chad,

 

The one good thing about your problem is that it suggests that one fix will have all of the running lights working. Check the fuses and relays for the lighting system. On a car that old, physically take the fuses out and test them, then clean their blades and reinsert them into their positions. (Had a local fellow lose his heated seats from just slightly dirty fuse blades.) Pull the light relay and do the same tests and cleanup. There are YouTube videos on how to test car relays to see if they are working.

 

Another culprit could be the light switch itself, or the parking light switch on top of the steering column.

 

From the way you wrote your post it appears that you have little or no electrical diagnosis experience. If the above suggestions don't work for you, you'll need an auto shop that does electrical work (such as rebuilding generators, etc.), usually called auto electric shops, at least here locally they are. There are just too many places to search and check, that unless you know what you're doing, you'll just end up chasing your tail. Good Luck!

[upnorthguy]

Here are some other discussions on tail light problems with suggestions for chasing it down:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/107346-tail-lights-out-but-interior-on/?hl=%2Btail+%2Blight+%2Bshort&do=findComment&comment=902227

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/141734-fuserelaytail-lightslicense-plate-lights-problem/?hl=%2Bparking+%2Blights

 

There are so many experienced people here...many times there is already a discussion saved on a topic, which makes it worth running a few searches.

 

Good luck!

[The Chad]

Thanks guys.  I had already done the searches before posting, didn't see any solutions however.  The fuse is holding again right now, don't understand what's making it blow. 

 

Right on, my only electrical experience relates to guitar wiring which is much simpler!  Lots with turning wrenches, however. 

 

If it happens again and I happen to nail a solution, I'll be sure to post it here. 

[Cougar]

You seem to indicate that a fuse is blowing out. Trailer light pigtail wiring is a common place for shorts to occur along with other external wires go to the lights.

[ivans imports]

had two in one week that had a 1156 bulb in a 1157 hole If this has been done will short the taillight fuse and short brakelight fuse one car had no taillights other brake lights would not go off when lights were on and tails did not work both had 1156 bulb jammed in a 1157 hole and check taillight fuses both under dash and under hood