i have a jdm 1995 import classic when i have lights on and go to turn car off i can take keys out but engine stays on, as soon as i turn lights off car turns off

any idea?

 

Almost certainly a short or crossed-wiring somewhere under the steering cowelling. Does your car have an after-market steering wheel or headlamps?

 

I would think a dodgy earth. Check ALL lights for corrosion at their connections.

 

yea both lol whats worth checking

 

Take the cowelling and steering wheel off, and methodically trace all the wires from their connection points at the switch stalk and lock barrel, back to the next connector block along each set of wires, which will be around halfway down the steering column. Look for breaks in any of the wires, or frayed insulation on any of them, or any places where someone's obviously patched in new wiring. At this point you just want to make a detailed note of which wires are affected and how (which colour wire coming from where - 'blue and silver from switch stalk has extra red wire attached', 'green and yellow to lock barrel has frayed insulation', or whatever), before you take anything off or move anything around. Once you've done that, you'd want to either begin repairing any broken or frayed wiring you've found, or follow back the patched-in wiring and see where it goes at the other end.

If you're feeling very methodical, you could also try to match up any of the wires you wrote down with similar coloured wires for that component in the circuit diagram section of the Impreza manual, and make a note of the exact pin function of each relevant wire. There's online copies of these available to download (do a search on here to find links), but I'm not sure if that includes JDM models or if the wire-colours are even the same for JDM as for UK, so you might not get very far with it.

 

also when i turn key to position 2 befor start sidelights come on, this is not normal i gather aswell

 

No, it's not, but could be due to a dodgy light switch, or have you got the front foglight switch on?
Edited to say: it's beginning to sound like a dodgy light switch, second one in ten days. Can you swap it out for a known working one?

 

right been out all day had dash apart and i can not seem to find a problem no wires where split and i put tape over anything that looked like i could cause additional problems

still at lose end, i have front fog but switch is off and ive checked visual aswell at front of car, when you say light switch you mean the stalk? if so i dont have another to try no

 

Yes, I mean the stalk. Do you know anyone nearby with a Scoob? It takes only a few minutes to change one.

 

nope dont know anybody with another scooby