Radio and A/C Controls not lit up 2005 GT Wagon

test drove a 2005 Legacy GT wagon last night and noticed none of the control buttons in the center console had any lighting, at night with the headlights on are they supposed to have lighting for the radio and heater/ac controls ? the dash lights work fine

You need to make sure the headlights are turned on at night.

 

You have forward headlights on with your daytime running lights. Your interior lights aren't on at the same time though.

 

The headlights do automatically turn off when you remove the key from the ignition even though the headlights are in the ON position.

you need to make sure the headlights are turned on at night.

 

You have forward headlights on with your daytime running lights. Your interior lights aren't on at the same time though.

 

The headlights do automatically turn off when you remove the key from the ignition even though the headlights are in the on position.

 

+1

so they should be lit and they are either broken or i didn't have the headlights and was running the DRLs? i swear i had the headlights on, is there a dimmer like some cars have ?

Yes, they should be lit when the headlight switch is turned on (or when the just the parking lights are turned on too). There is a dimmer, but I'm not sure you can set it so they are totally off. The dimmer also controls the gauge lighting in the dash so those would have been noticeably dark as well.

so here's an update, i do not have rear running lights or center console lighting at night with the headlight switch on , the headlights work normally on low and high beam , the brake lights work , the rear running lights only light up when the switch on top of the steering column is used

 

i'm thinking bad fuse or bad headlight switch, anyone else seen this problem?

 

Tim

2005 GT Wagon

checked the fuses and they look fine, still have no rear lights with headlights on, no center console backlighting ,,,, only time the rear lights work is with the park switch on top of the column on

Are you buying from a dealer or private party? If dealer, have them check it out. If private party, ask them if they did anything to the electrical system. Sounds like some wiring is fubard.

That - or a bad connector.

so they should be lit and they are either broken or i didn't have the headlights and was running the DRLs? i swear i had the headlights on, is there a dimmer like some cars have ?

 

The DRLs are almost as bright as regular headlights. The first night I had my car, I drove across town thinking how dumb it was for Subaru not to light up the climate controls or radio buttons.

 

The headlights go on and off with a twist of the end of the stalk on the left side of the steering wheel. Have you tried all positions?

 

There's a dashboard dimmer knob to the left of the steering wheel, next to the rear view mirror aiming joystick. Have you tried scrolling it up and down?

Has the car been in an accident before?

i don't have any paper records or history on the car, the last page of the owners manual has some hard to read handwritten notes about an accident and a body shop's phone number ,, why do you ask ?

Has the car been in an accident before?

 

+1

 

He asks because oftentimes, when repairing major and even some minor collision damage, electrical gremlins manifest because you have to understand, body shops do not always have the mechanical ability to reassemble cars properly, especially where wiring and and other electrical is concerned.

 

Do you have a carfax history report for this vehicle?

I did pull the carfax prior to purchase,

Your Vehicle Checks Out! AutoCheck's database for this 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Limited (4S3BP6768xxxxxxxx) shows no negative titles or other problems. When reported to AutoCheck, these events can indicate serious past damage or other significant problems.

 

The notes in the book say 10/2006 so its been a couple years.

so here's an update, i do not have rear running lights or center console lighting at night with the headlight switch on , the headlights work normally on low and high beam , the brake lights work , the rear running lights only light up when the switch on top of the steering column is used

 

i'm thinking bad fuse or bad headlight switch, anyone else seen this problem?

 

Tim

2005 GT Wagon

 

Did you buy the car w/o verifying that all of the electrical gremlins were gone? If you did.........take it back ASAP and have the dealer make it right.

dropped it off this morning, we'll see what they find !

vw dealer can't figure it out so they sent it to the subaru dealer , preliminary guess is that it has a bad lighting control module? anyone know what they're talking about?

i have the same issue with an 05 lgt wagon.

 

did you get a solution?

I started my car the other day and had no power whatsoever to the center console. Thought the radio was turned off but when pressing the on button nothing happened. So I restarted the car and then I had power. Weird.

actually i only just got the car and i's the 1st with DRLs.

1st that's not a VW/AUDI/Porsche. and only the 3rd ive ever bought that's wrong hand drive not Right Hand Drive

 

it could be that i was just driving around with the lights off

 

 

ooops!

it was loose wiring at the lighting control module in my case .

 

I've also experienced the issue devobuzz posted.

I had this problem the other day while driving. Everything in the center console went blank. Threw it neutral, turned off the car, fire it back up, and everything came back on. On a side note, my interior roof lights went out a few days ago, and my headlight bulbs burn every 4 months or so...The gremlins my electrical system are angry...

Yeah, this happens to me as well, its quite rare.

 

Once it happened when hitting a huge pothole.

 

It would be nice to figure out what's making this happen.