High Beams turned on turn the headlights off completely!

S

Smokediggle

New member
I have a 93 Impreza Wagon, needs to be inspected this month but I'm having some issues.

I bought the car from a kid in Kennebunkport this summer, car runs like a champ, although the body is a little beat up, I can get over exterior looks right now. Anyway.....

The lowbeams work just fine, when I turn on the highbeams, my headlights turn off completely, I'm having a really hard time trying to figure out where the problem is. All my interior lights, signals, and parking lights still stay on, the headlights are the only thing that run off completely, this is only when I turn the high beams on. It's really driving me crazy. I've talked to a couple mechanics who told me it could be a lighting relay or the switch itself on the column but they also told me usually when that is the case you won't have interior lights or any lighting at all. I have, of course, checked all the fuses, under the hood and under the dash, none are blown.

This is my first Subaru, although I've always loved them, being this is Maine, the AWD really does make it the perfect car if you don't want to spend half your pay check on gas if you drove a truck.

I'm also looking for a dependable mechanic that knows Subaru's well enough in the Biddeford/Saco/OOB/Portland area, I'd really like to avoid taking it to a dealership to get fixed, the car is a total beater and I don't want to spend an atomic assload of cash to fix a smallish problem just to get it inspected for another year.

-Jeff

 
Where do you live?

First: Check the bulbs themselves. They are High and low on that car I believe

Second: Check the fuses

Third: you will need a helper, but check that the high beam relay clicks when you turn on the high beams.

Good luck.

 
I would start with checking the bulbs, then check the connectors to make sure everything is still good. They are a bit finicky on my 95. If it is the bulbs and you want good lighting look at the Silverstar Ultras. Yes they are 45-50 for 2 but they work great. Simple stuff that might not cost much. The connectors release by squeezing the sides.

 
Some of these connectors get a bad contact and melt, causing issues, so the first thing I'd check is the connectors.

I really doubt both high beams burned out at the same time... but anything is possible.

make sure you don't have any blown fuses in the box in the car, under the hood, and make sure all fusable links are good.

Also, do the high beams work when you pull the lever back? like if you're going to flash them?

That engages a different circuit on some subarus, not sure about yours... worth a try.

 
get yourself a chiltons or haynes manual and find the diagram, if you cant ill pull it up at work and get it to you.......but if i were you id verify power at the socket....should be three prongs, one ground constant and two powers..... if its there its a simple bulb, if not youll need to back track the wiring to find the fault.

 
matt00rs2.5 said:
get yourself a chiltons or haynes manual and find the diagram, if you cant ill pull it up at work and get it to you.......but if i were you id verify power at the socket....should be three prongs, one ground constant and two powers..... if its there its a simple bulb, if not youll need to back track the wiring to find the fault.
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It's actually one positive and 2 grounds.

It's a negatively switched system.

 
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Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it.

I have checked all the fuses and links previously, as well as the lights themselves, all the connections at the light end seem to be fine, although I'll double check again. I've been to the library and to a couple auto parts stores, it seems as though the Chiltons and Haynes guides for my car are quite elusive, everyone has a Forester/Outback guide for my year, but no Impreza guide. Going to have to get one online, I don't think Haynes makes one for my car at all.

Where do you live?
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I live in Biddeford, ME

Also, do the high beams work when you pull the lever back? like if you're going to flash them?
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One of the first things I checked as well, same thing happens, lights go out.

 
Smokediggle said:
Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it.

I have checked all the fuses and links previously, as well as the lights themselves, all the connections at the light end seem to be fine, although I'll double check again. I've been to the library and to a couple auto parts stores, it seems as though the Chiltons and Haynes guides for my car are quite elusive, everyone has a Forester/Outback guide for my year, but no Impreza guide. Going to have to get one online, I don't think Haynes makes one for my car at all.
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I have a Chiltons that goes with your car. Let me know what you need and I can scan it. Unfortunately I am 3-4 hours away.

 
buy the relay from autozone, it is most likely that. you can always return it if it isn't the problem.

 
I really appreciate all the help, gonna try and swap out the relay under the hood first, I'll let you guys know how that works out.

 
regarding the Impreza shop manual situation...since early Foresters were based heavily on the Impreza platform, MOST of the Foz info translates well to the GC Impreza....however this is not to say that everything does. still it's better than nothin. mechanically, the early Foz is basically identical to Impreza (spring/strut specs excepted) and electrically it's largely the same but there are some detail differences.

 
I kind of figured that, but I didn't want to buy the Outback/Forrester manual because I figured if anything would be different it would be electrical, which is where the issue was heh.

 
actually, I've found the Foz/OB manual to be pretty good on electrical stuff the wiring diagrams are easy to figger out and the wire colors are like 98.75% same-same

 
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