Rear running lights not working

541 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by KennethMcNutt, 2 mo ago

KennethMcNutt

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

Can anyone help with the location of the rear running light connector that would be near the rear of the car? I have a fuse (well two) that blow out every so often.. I put a resettable fuse in (power seat type) just so I had lights that would come back on ( cuz it is hard to tell if they aren't working "while driving".. and of course that was bound to fail.. ) So a year and a few dirt roads later they no longer work.. So I plan on a bypass if I can find that connector and disconnect that wire from it. (dead short) I could just run a new one from the relay.. I'll probably need to disconnect it from the front also some how.. If I want to use that oem fuse.. Otherwise I could tie into the front they don't seem to have this issue.. I am usually fairly good at reading wiring schematics but I can't seem to wrap my head around the one I have seen and can't seem to find the location's for the connects either.. I would truly appreciate any help, anyone could offer.. Thanks... 2001 outback

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KennethMcNutt

Discussion Starter · #4 · 2 mo ago

Sorry I have been busy.. I still don't know the exactness of the fuses. But When I first started dealing with this there were two fuses that would blow. One Outside under the hood.. The other is Under the Dash.. This was over a year ago ..It would blow the outside fuse and or the inside when I turn the lights on... The odd part was that my fix was to bypass the dash fuse by pulling power from another "always hot fuse" and feed it to the same "issued" fuse just bypassing the "power" side... OOODDD I know, but it worked so the issue seemed to be somehow a part of the relay system.. I never did understand what it was that would make that happen.. It was fixed so I just gave up on the Why.. What I do know is that after that I got a new feature.. I could turn the key off and it would stay running!! It was kinda nice

if I wanted to shut it off I turned off the lights

It was back-feeding the relay so once off it open the relay and it would not close it again without the key... I will get out there and look at What it was I did Fuse numbers and locations.. But as for now I just haven't driven it at night.. Well just to the corner store.. Thank for your replies..

1 Lucky Texan said:
the wires in the 'gaiter' from the body to the hatch

Where is that located exactly?? Is it the rubber boot between the two?? How would I access it to run a new wire if so.. ??

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KennethMcNutt

Discussion Starter · #5 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

plain OM said:
Exactly which fuse(s)?

The rear tail lights, license plate lights and front clearance lights are all powered from the same fuse, so if that fuse blows, all those lights are off. The fuse is #5, 10 Amps, in the cabin fuse panel. (See page 12-6 of the 2000 Owners Manual, available at Vehicle Resources )

In that generation, the most common cause of the fuse blowing is a short in the #1157 dual filament tail/brake lights at the back. The contacts on the bulbs flatten over time and short to ground, blowing the fuse. There's four of these across the back. If the bulbs aren't new, any one could cause the short. See I have a very perplexing electrical issue.

View attachment 562141

I came across a really odd case where the bulb socket had developed a mechanical short: See 2003 H6 clearance light fuse blowing due to unusual...

Bypass what, which connector, and which wire has a dead short?

At first, it was only the rear running lights.. Now all running lights.. the turn and brake lights are not affected.. the fix I talked about "Keyless run time".. well after I had put some hard backroad miles on it to a friend's house.. (20 miles of primitive road after it just flooded) It as it was, now was an issue.. The engine would no longer turn off with the lights. It stayed running so I had to pull my bypass and the lights have not worked since.. As far as your odd find goes ... The lights all work, when they work.. So with that and the off-road part of my issue. This leads me to believe I will find my fault in a passthrough somewhere.. The harness has either worn through or a factory crush that has become a short.. I guess I should look for that .. anybody got some locations to start looking.. Otherwise, I need to find a point after the short so I can disconnect "cut" it and restore the power with a separate wire from the relay or just a new add-in switch..

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