WRX cd changer in my Legacy
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WRX cd changer in my Legacy
Today I installed a WRX cd changer because my crappy sony deck stopped playing CDs. I took a few pictures so I thought I'd share.
All 93+ Subarus use the same harness/plug. Except for SVXs, and 93-94 Legacies. So this isn't a plug and play type deal and you'll need to make a harness.
To do this you need a Legacy harness and a reverse harness for a newer Subaru. I used the harness that was hooked up to my old deck and bought a reverse harness from David Carter for $17 shipped. I highly recommend you buy one from him because it has the extra illumination wire and he's very helpful if you have any problems.
So I guess the first step is to take out the old stereo and harness. When you take out the cup holder you'll see these two screws. Undo them. And also take out the ashtray. There are two more screws holding the trim piece and the ashtray rail in place so you'll need an offset screwdriver or something to get them.
Then undo the 6 screws holding the din rails in place:
There are two more farther in that Best Buy convieniently forgot to replace when they installed my old stereo.
Then you'll end up with something like this after you take the old harness off. You can see how best buy really does top notch work what with the crimp on connections and all.
Cut that apart or buy a new harness and you'll have something like this.
Now you need to put it together. I went to Radio Shack and spend about $40 on a soldering iron and soldering iron accessories. They had a kit for $20 and then I bought more solder, tip tinner and cleaner, heat shrink tubing, and some zip ties. Radio shack irons are crap so what you should really do is go to home depot or frys and get a weller for the same price.
What I should have done is spent that money on a photography book because apparantly I suck. Actually my screen is broken so I have to let the camera take it's best guess.
If you want the dimmer to work, you'll have to modify the legacy harness. Vikash recommended moving the ground wire to illumination (+) awhile back and then directly grounding the wire on the reverse harness to the stereo body. So that's what I did. If you don't have a power antenna you could also use that wire (which I realized after I'd already started soldering).
the black wire is the one I moved. I jammed a small scredriver in there and it popped out. There's a little tab on the terminal that rests on another tab in the plug. After I bent it back down it snapped into the new position.
All my wires were labelled correctly, but you may want to take a look at some pinouts just in case. Here is a Legacy pinout that Vikash made, and here is a WRX pinout that David made. This nasioc thread also has useful Subaru stereo information (and guess who posted it).
To solder you'll want to twist the wires together like this:
Then use a clean soldering iron to heat up the wires. Don't forget to slide the little shrink wrap tubes over the wires beforehand. Then solder. There are plently of guides how to do that online like this. The important part is to keep the iron clean and to use what you're soldering to melt the solder and not the iron itself. I found I had to help the solder melt though because the wires weren't staying hot enough.
Tadow:
Don't use too much.
Then after awhile you'll have something like this:
Use a lighter on the heat shrink, throw on a zip-tie or two or some fancy cable wrap to keep things organized, and you should end up with a pretty nice looking harness:
Put the new CD player in the DIN rails, connect the harness, and take it to your car:
Plug it in:
Screw everthing back together, put on the trim, and you're done:
I found that my front speakers weren't working, so I pulled everything out and re-checked the harness. No problems there so it must be a speaker problem of some sort. Fade and balance work right for the rear.
I have a little piece of black plastic I can put in that 1/2 din spot but I'd rather have something cool. Any suggestions?
All 93+ Subarus use the same harness/plug. Except for SVXs, and 93-94 Legacies. So this isn't a plug and play type deal and you'll need to make a harness.
To do this you need a Legacy harness and a reverse harness for a newer Subaru. I used the harness that was hooked up to my old deck and bought a reverse harness from David Carter for $17 shipped. I highly recommend you buy one from him because it has the extra illumination wire and he's very helpful if you have any problems.
So I guess the first step is to take out the old stereo and harness. When you take out the cup holder you'll see these two screws. Undo them. And also take out the ashtray. There are two more screws holding the trim piece and the ashtray rail in place so you'll need an offset screwdriver or something to get them.
Then undo the 6 screws holding the din rails in place:
There are two more farther in that Best Buy convieniently forgot to replace when they installed my old stereo.
Then you'll end up with something like this after you take the old harness off. You can see how best buy really does top notch work what with the crimp on connections and all.
Cut that apart or buy a new harness and you'll have something like this.
Now you need to put it together. I went to Radio Shack and spend about $40 on a soldering iron and soldering iron accessories. They had a kit for $20 and then I bought more solder, tip tinner and cleaner, heat shrink tubing, and some zip ties. Radio shack irons are crap so what you should really do is go to home depot or frys and get a weller for the same price.
What I should have done is spent that money on a photography book because apparantly I suck. Actually my screen is broken so I have to let the camera take it's best guess.
If you want the dimmer to work, you'll have to modify the legacy harness. Vikash recommended moving the ground wire to illumination (+) awhile back and then directly grounding the wire on the reverse harness to the stereo body. So that's what I did. If you don't have a power antenna you could also use that wire (which I realized after I'd already started soldering).
the black wire is the one I moved. I jammed a small scredriver in there and it popped out. There's a little tab on the terminal that rests on another tab in the plug. After I bent it back down it snapped into the new position.
All my wires were labelled correctly, but you may want to take a look at some pinouts just in case. Here is a Legacy pinout that Vikash made, and here is a WRX pinout that David made. This nasioc thread also has useful Subaru stereo information (and guess who posted it).
To solder you'll want to twist the wires together like this:
Then use a clean soldering iron to heat up the wires. Don't forget to slide the little shrink wrap tubes over the wires beforehand. Then solder. There are plently of guides how to do that online like this. The important part is to keep the iron clean and to use what you're soldering to melt the solder and not the iron itself. I found I had to help the solder melt though because the wires weren't staying hot enough.
Tadow:
Don't use too much.
Then after awhile you'll have something like this:
Use a lighter on the heat shrink, throw on a zip-tie or two or some fancy cable wrap to keep things organized, and you should end up with a pretty nice looking harness:
Put the new CD player in the DIN rails, connect the harness, and take it to your car:
Plug it in:
Screw everthing back together, put on the trim, and you're done:
I found that my front speakers weren't working, so I pulled everything out and re-checked the harness. No problems there so it must be a speaker problem of some sort. Fade and balance work right for the rear.
I have a little piece of black plastic I can put in that 1/2 din spot but I'd rather have something cool. Any suggestions?
Last edited by jamal on Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:30 am, edited 4 times in total.
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- quasi-mod-o
- Posts: 6000
- Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2002 7:06 pm
- Location: Tampa, FL
Your write-ups are always very informative Jamal. Good work!
I will likely be doing this in the near future. My head unit is throwing in the towel, and I'm sick of having to change CDs everytime I wanna listen to something different (well, I'm sick of CDs in general, but I don't have the money for an iPod right now...).
I will likely be doing this in the near future. My head unit is throwing in the towel, and I'm sick of having to change CDs everytime I wanna listen to something different (well, I'm sick of CDs in general, but I don't have the money for an iPod right now...).
2000 Subaru Legacy B4 RSK
"Der Wahnsinn ist nur eine schmale Brücke/die Ufer sind Vernunft und Trieb"
*Formerly DerFahrer*
@entirelyturbo on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok
"Der Wahnsinn ist nur eine schmale Brücke/die Ufer sind Vernunft und Trieb"
*Formerly DerFahrer*
@entirelyturbo on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok
Thanks!subyluvr2212 wrote:Your write-ups are always very informative Jamal. Good work!
I will likely be doing this in the near future. My head unit is throwing in the towel, and I'm sick of having to change CDs everytime I wanna listen to something different (well, I'm sick of CDs in general, but I don't have the money for an iPod right now...).
I went the whole summer without a CD player. Although because of it I was forced to listen to the radio so I'm a big fan of Tom Leykis now.
Update:
I swapped for an 02-03 deck yesterday. My itrip doesn't work worth a crap in LA so I thought I'd try a tape adapter. So far it's better. Also I machined a piece of delrin and glued it to the trim to fill in the hole:
The 05 deck had better tone adjustment, a nicer display, and was less cluttered due to the lack of tape deck. The new one lets me play my ipod in the car and matches the interior better.
Also I bought a set of new speakers and was pretty disappointed with the work I'd done back in high school to put the old ones in: twist on wire connectors and electrical tape galore. Plus they were all either blown/disconnected.
I swapped for an 02-03 deck yesterday. My itrip doesn't work worth a crap in LA so I thought I'd try a tape adapter. So far it's better. Also I machined a piece of delrin and glued it to the trim to fill in the hole:
The 05 deck had better tone adjustment, a nicer display, and was less cluttered due to the lack of tape deck. The new one lets me play my ipod in the car and matches the interior better.
Also I bought a set of new speakers and was pretty disappointed with the work I'd done back in high school to put the old ones in: twist on wire connectors and electrical tape galore. Plus they were all either blown/disconnected.
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- Fourth Gear
- Posts: 1947
- Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2003 6:22 pm
- Location: Fargo, ND
jamal... Do the buttons light up when the lights are on on your 02-03 deck? I have this one and the display dimmer works but no lights for the buttons.
~Spencer
94 Legacy Turbo (550 Robtune/ej20h v2 Sti RA drivetrain)
94 Legacy Ti Wagon (5mt ej22e)
91 rhd Legacy GT Wagon (factory 5mt, ej20g)
93 rhd Legacy GT type S2 Sedan (4eat, ej20g)
91 rhd Legacy Ti Type S 1.8
03 Lincoln LS V8 Sport
08 300 SRT8
94 Legacy Turbo (550 Robtune/ej20h v2 Sti RA drivetrain)
94 Legacy Ti Wagon (5mt ej22e)
91 rhd Legacy GT Wagon (factory 5mt, ej20g)
93 rhd Legacy GT type S2 Sedan (4eat, ej20g)
91 rhd Legacy Ti Type S 1.8
03 Lincoln LS V8 Sport
08 300 SRT8
Well... It must be a problem with my wireing because I have tried another 02-03 deck and the dimmer worked but not the button lights...
Dammit
Dammit
~Spencer
94 Legacy Turbo (550 Robtune/ej20h v2 Sti RA drivetrain)
94 Legacy Ti Wagon (5mt ej22e)
91 rhd Legacy GT Wagon (factory 5mt, ej20g)
93 rhd Legacy GT type S2 Sedan (4eat, ej20g)
91 rhd Legacy Ti Type S 1.8
03 Lincoln LS V8 Sport
08 300 SRT8
94 Legacy Turbo (550 Robtune/ej20h v2 Sti RA drivetrain)
94 Legacy Ti Wagon (5mt ej22e)
91 rhd Legacy GT Wagon (factory 5mt, ej20g)
93 rhd Legacy GT type S2 Sedan (4eat, ej20g)
91 rhd Legacy Ti Type S 1.8
03 Lincoln LS V8 Sport
08 300 SRT8
update 2:
I made this neato machined ipod holder out of lexan:
http://jamalb.net/pictures/IMG_2679.JPG
I need to trim off all the extra material or just make a new one that's better.
And stupid me was impatient and decided to sand off the protective paper so I ruined the nice clear finish.
Actually I'm going to try to make a molded urethane part later today I think.
I made this neato machined ipod holder out of lexan:
http://jamalb.net/pictures/IMG_2679.JPG
I need to trim off all the extra material or just make a new one that's better.
And stupid me was impatient and decided to sand off the protective paper so I ruined the nice clear finish.
Actually I'm going to try to make a molded urethane part later today I think.
Last edited by jamal on Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Sorry to resurrect a dead post, but I can't find any website for David Carter relating to car audio. And the only other harnesses I can find are Metra's and Scosche's, neither of which have the dimmer wire (WHY?!?!) I'll probably end up just splicing my own wire into the dimmer, but if he sells them for the same price 100% complete I'd rather go with that.
93 Touring Wagon (EJ20G 5spd Swap) -- Finally back and running strong as ever!
05 Outback 2.5XT 5spd -- Now the wife can have her SUV and get in on the turbo Legacy goodness at the same time.
05 Outback 2.5XT 5spd -- Now the wife can have her SUV and get in on the turbo Legacy goodness at the same time.
I'll finally be working on this this week, as soon as I have the trans back in the '92.
Where can I get the reverse plugs for the '90? Schucks, Walmart, AZ, etc don't have them. I got the stereo side with the head unit I bought, but it's the Scoche type without the dimmer wire. I'm going to just cut the dimmer wire out of the parts car at the wrecking yard and pin it in, then splice everything.
Where can I get the reverse plugs for the '90? Schucks, Walmart, AZ, etc don't have them. I got the stereo side with the head unit I bought, but it's the Scoche type without the dimmer wire. I'm going to just cut the dimmer wire out of the parts car at the wrecking yard and pin it in, then splice everything.
'90 Bermuda Blue L Wagon (Wife's),
Auto, AWD, Now with 275K + miles!
2005 Outback, 2.5 AWD (wife's new daily)
Auto, AWD, Now with 275K + miles!
2005 Outback, 2.5 AWD (wife's new daily)
This should have the same info
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... iodiag.jpg
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... iodiag.jpg
Josh
surrealmirage.com/subaru
1990 Legacy (AWD, 6MT, & EJ22T Swap)
2020 Outback Limted XT
If you need to get a hold of me please email me rather then pm
surrealmirage.com/subaru
1990 Legacy (AWD, 6MT, & EJ22T Swap)
2020 Outback Limted XT
If you need to get a hold of me please email me rather then pm
Just to bring this thread back to life agai, I bought Jamal's harnes (yes the one in the thread) and am finally installing my 6 disc player this weekend.
Since I have the other harnes parts I had already bought I'll steal a couple of wires to put the ground and the power antenna wires back in.
It will be nice to have the CD capability, and not to have the driver side speakers cutting out, although I did dis-assemble the old head unit and tightened the volume knob. That got me by until last weekend before it cut out again...
Since I have the other harnes parts I had already bought I'll steal a couple of wires to put the ground and the power antenna wires back in.
It will be nice to have the CD capability, and not to have the driver side speakers cutting out, although I did dis-assemble the old head unit and tightened the volume knob. That got me by until last weekend before it cut out again...
'90 Bermuda Blue L Wagon (Wife's),
Auto, AWD, Now with 275K + miles!
2005 Outback, 2.5 AWD (wife's new daily)
Auto, AWD, Now with 275K + miles!
2005 Outback, 2.5 AWD (wife's new daily)
Okay, so here's the wrap up on my 6 disc install:
I transfered the black ground wire and the blue power antenna wires from the new adapters I had and spliced them into the harness I got from Jamal to provide the factory ground and power antenna circuits.
On the initial install the stereo wouldn't work unless the antenna cable was plugged in (strange, must have done something wrong...). A quick recheck of the harness showed I had pinned the new ground wire into the wrong spot, after swapping it to the opposite side everything works perfect.
Many thanks to Jamal, and all the others who figured out the wiring to get the lights, etc to work right.
I transfered the black ground wire and the blue power antenna wires from the new adapters I had and spliced them into the harness I got from Jamal to provide the factory ground and power antenna circuits.
On the initial install the stereo wouldn't work unless the antenna cable was plugged in (strange, must have done something wrong...). A quick recheck of the harness showed I had pinned the new ground wire into the wrong spot, after swapping it to the opposite side everything works perfect.
Many thanks to Jamal, and all the others who figured out the wiring to get the lights, etc to work right.
'90 Bermuda Blue L Wagon (Wife's),
Auto, AWD, Now with 275K + miles!
2005 Outback, 2.5 AWD (wife's new daily)
Auto, AWD, Now with 275K + miles!
2005 Outback, 2.5 AWD (wife's new daily)
Re: WRX cd changer in my Legacy
jamal wrote:All my wires were labeled correctly, but you may want to take a look at some pinouts just in case. Here is a Legacy pinout that Vikash made, and here is a WRX pinout that David made. This nasioc thread also has useful Subaru stereo information (and guess who posted it).
Vikash's Cornell account finally went away, but he's posted his pin-out on a new site here. He also corrected information about the two illumination/dimmer wires.tahiti350 wrote:The link to Vishka's Legacy stereo pin-out isn't working ...
Here's the drawing:
(view is looking at the contact pins side of the car's harnesses, wires pointing away from you)
See my WRX pin-out or my homepage for information on getting the newer Subaru harnesses with all 14 wires.
Last edited by SVXdc on Mon Oct 26, 2009 6:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
David C.
1996 SVX L AWD Laguna Blue Pearl
1996 SVX L AWD Laguna Blue Pearl
lol I kept searching for male adapters but I was suppost to type reverse harness!! Is this the right one?
long ebay link
long ebay link
1993 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon R.I.P
1994 Subaru Legacy SS R.I.P :(
2004 Nissan Titan LE 4X4
2007 Subaru Legacy GT :)
1994 Subaru Legacy SS R.I.P :(
2004 Nissan Titan LE 4X4
2007 Subaru Legacy GT :)
That's the right style of harness, but you need to have the seller confirm that the one he'll send you has all 14 wires (has both Orange and Orange/White illumination/dimmer wires). Many harnesses don'tericem wrote:lol I kept searching for male adapters but I was suppost to type reverse harness!! Is this the right one?
[ended ebay link]
The newer Subaru HUs must have both wires for the backlighting to work.
Also, I've edited my previous post -- Vikash has a new site with the pin-out information.
David C.
1996 SVX L AWD Laguna Blue Pearl
1996 SVX L AWD Laguna Blue Pearl
Hey got my radio in works awesome and looks good. Now need to understand how I was suppost to wire the dimmer.
I am reading this
There are two pins related to dash illumination -- 1 and 7.
Pin 1 ("Illumination +") is +12 volts when the parking or headlights are on; open-circuit otherwise.
Pin 7 ("Dimmer") changes voltage as you adjust the dimmer knob. It goes from close to 12 volts (with knob at the dimmest setting) down to 0 volts (with knob at brightest setting). This pin is also called "Illumination – (minus)".
The radio's illumination lights (like the Subaru's instrument panel lights) are connected between these two lines. So the bulbs effectively "see" a range of 0 volts (dimmest) to 12 volts (brightest).
from
http://www.geocities.com/svxdc/WRX-pinout.htm
I think my harness only had 13 wires if I recall. I guess ill just shove a wire into the connector and tape it from sliding out? Not to hazardous of a idea. Yet seems like I am slacking since I soldered the whole harness lol.
I am reading this
There are two pins related to dash illumination -- 1 and 7.
Pin 1 ("Illumination +") is +12 volts when the parking or headlights are on; open-circuit otherwise.
Pin 7 ("Dimmer") changes voltage as you adjust the dimmer knob. It goes from close to 12 volts (with knob at the dimmest setting) down to 0 volts (with knob at brightest setting). This pin is also called "Illumination – (minus)".
The radio's illumination lights (like the Subaru's instrument panel lights) are connected between these two lines. So the bulbs effectively "see" a range of 0 volts (dimmest) to 12 volts (brightest).
from
http://www.geocities.com/svxdc/WRX-pinout.htm
I think my harness only had 13 wires if I recall. I guess ill just shove a wire into the connector and tape it from sliding out? Not to hazardous of a idea. Yet seems like I am slacking since I soldered the whole harness lol.
1993 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon R.I.P
1994 Subaru Legacy SS R.I.P :(
2004 Nissan Titan LE 4X4
2007 Subaru Legacy GT :)
1994 Subaru Legacy SS R.I.P :(
2004 Nissan Titan LE 4X4
2007 Subaru Legacy GT :)