Recently purchased 1999 Subaru Forester, cheap (of course). Old battery crapped out, and after replacing it, flashers come on. No big deal, owner's manual told me that they would. But my base model has no alarm or power locks, and no reset button on dash. So how do I get them to stop flashing (and still leave the battery connected)?
Where are you seeing these flashing lights? If in your rear view mirror...Pull over.
Does that year still have the switch on top of the steering column for the hazard lights?
It's required by law to have a hazard switch somewhere. Just flick it on and off once or twice.
The hazard switch is in the middle of the dash. The flasher relay is under the steering wheel, behind the footwell fuse box.
If you've got problems, it's probably stuck on or partially inserted. Or the switch itself is somehow bad.
Or the alarm system is freaking out, which is weird if you have non-power locks (I didn't know you could get manual locks on a '98 Forester). If you had remote entry, the procedure would be push Unlock on the remote -> Turn ignition to ON -> Push programming button on the remote entry module on the wiring harness near the hood release under the steering wheel. But again, if you have manual locks, you probably won't have a remote entry module.
The switch on top of the steering column is the parking lights; if you turn it on your lights won't turn off when you turn the car off, but they shouldn't be blinking. If that's pushed forward (showing red) you might want to click it back and see what happens.
OK, it DOES have power locks, no remote... and no reset button on lower dash panel (as per manual). checked the parking light and emergency flashers, all working as should. I think it is an alarm type of malfunction, because it's the parking lights that flash, not the emergency flashers. I can mess with it and they go off, but come back on in about 10sec, flash about a minute, then off another 10sec. it has to be something simple, wasn't doing it until I changed batteries...hmm.. Oh, car still starts and runs fine.
No luck, crap! That used to work on my Cherokee... And Driven5.. since my car has been parked in the backyard since I got it in March, the only other flashing lights it's seen is the twinkling of the solar patio lights on the patio bar...
some quick Googling shows:
disconnect battery ground cable
insert key in ignition, turn to ON position and leave it there
reconnect ground cable
No more flashy flashy. Subaruforester.org is your friend, for that rig.
Success!! No more flashy! Thanks to all for your advice, especially ValuePack! I knew it was something simple. I will for sure bookmark that website. If you PM me your mailing address I'll send you a free David Higgins Subaru rally poster I snagged at the 100 Acre Wood Rally.
Here is you another tidbit. When the Right Rear Wheel Bearing goes, replace it with the Outback one. It is a couple of mils wider and slows down the R&R schedule
In reply to Eb4Prez:
Holy crap, I helped! All set with the poster though, I bet I've got multiples picked up at NEFR.
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