I have a 1996 Subaru Outback Legacy. Actually my wife bought it when I was gone but that is a different story. I want to fix it but I need to fix this problem first. Whenever I hook up the battery, the parking lights come on and will not go off even when turning the switch off. There is a switch on the top of the steering column behind the steering wheel. I have turned the switch both ways and it does not turn the lights off.  I have to disconnect the battery so the lights go off.  How can I fix this?  Thanks

You were correct in trying that switch on the steering column; that's what it is meant to do (turn off the parking lights).

The switch could be faulty.  Try prying the switch up and out; then disconnect the switch from its wiring to see if that solves the problem.

Otherwise, there could be a problem with the wiring deeper down in a wiring harness.

make sure the rotating switch on the stalk is turned all the way off as well.. 

but otherwise, yeah.. what forester2002s said

Did you try hitting a button on your keyless remote?

Do you have a multi meter if needed to check Volts and OHMS?

If the head light switch is ok, the problem should be one of three things, a short somewhere in the wiring harness, contacts in the relay shorted (burned together) or the rocker switch is not opening. Those rocker switches rarely go bad. When most headlight switches go bad they normally will not turn the lights on.

Power is fed to the Tail Illumination Relay and the rocker switch behind the steering wheel. (the two are basically connected in parallel) When the relay closes (using the headlight switch) or the rocker switch is flipped the parking lights go on.

Try this first.

The Tail Illumination Relay is located at the top center of the under dash fuse panel. There should be 3 relays there side by side.

Remove the center relay, connect the battery and see if the lights are off. If the lights are off, then replace that relay with one of the relays right beside it. Did the lights stay off or come back on?

I spoke to a guy who is a Subaru mechanic.  He is pretty sure it is the keyless entry module.  He is going to get one for me.  The switch itself is fine.  Thanks for all the input.

You may be activating the alarm. Find the micro-switch to put it into programming mode and hold it down while you turn on the key. This will cycle the locks and turn off the alarm. 

GD