2nd gen after market stereo install?

so ive done a bit of research around here and i plan on installing an after market deck. im going to follow this thread but im a little confused about this part.

~buy a radio wire harness and solder wires the wires to the new radio and wrap them in electrical tape or heat shrink tubing.

exactly what type of wire harness is he talking about and where can i find one? is this really necessary? sound sketchy. ive done this before on a honda but it was one after market deck to another and it was plug and play.

 

also, i have a 6 disc changer under the passenger seat and sub/amp combo under the driver seat, is this going to complicate things? i plan on ditching the disc changer but want to keep the sub/amp working.

 

any advice appreciated.

This wire harness from http://www.metraonline.com is what you will solder to your new radio wire harness and then this part goes to the car harness.

 

70-8901

 

You may want to check on http://www.metraonline.com or even http://www.crutchfield.com for information. Crutchfield is great for information.

 

good luck.

You can get one from any car audio shop, eBay, amazon etc.

 

You connect the harness to the tail of your aftermarket deck and then it will plug right into the factory harness. The colors are pretty standard so you can pretty much match colors, but be sure to also make sure the descriptions match. Any connection will be ok, but solder is best.

im heading to auto zone soon gonna ask some questions and hopefully they will have the correct wire harness for me. im confident in my soldering skills but i heard you can get a wire harness adapter so theres no need for soldering. anybody know what im talking about?

 

also thinking i will need a face plate as the CD changer control unit is coming out and there is going to be an empty space there. again, hoping auto zone has one that fits.

You don't have to solder anything if you don't want to. Your new deck should come with a plug that has 10 or 12 wires coming off of it, can't remember exactly. What you need to buy is a reverse harness from metra, then you can match the wires between the two single sided harnesses to make one harness with a plug on each end, these can be either soldered, or can use butt connectors or male/female spade connectors. This will allow you to plug directly into the factory stereo harness. If this isn't clear I can dig up some pictures for you.

Yeah the new deck comes with a harness...

thanks nick, im hoping i can get this done today, dont wanna wait for a harness to come in the mail. though that does sound easier and i wish i would have planned it like that from the beginning... anyway my cars center console is in pieces right now so im committed.

 

i plan on using the harness that came with the deck im installing but im a bit confused as i have no idea which wires match which wires.. just saying it sounds confusing. think im in trouble..

Go look on crutchfield.com they have a lot of good step by step install diagrams that are pretty thorough and should be able to help you out.

Basically you need to stop into a stereo shop, or even Best Buy and ask for the Car Specific Harness (98 Legacy GT). This will plug into the same harness that you unplugged when you disconnected the Factory Stereo. It will outline (Color Coded) all the wires. After that you simply match up the wires to the After Market Stereo Harness and connect them together (Left + Speaker Harness to Left + Speaker Stereo, etc...).

 

You can Solder the connections (Timely, but recommended) or use crimp connections.

 

You may also ask about a completed Harness (Factory to After Market Stereo). There may be one that is already available with the proper connections on both ends, which would then be 100% 'Plug and Play'. Not sure but with many older cars it is out there....

ok bought the subaru harness at best buy but i cant find a match for the orange "illumination/dash light" wire on the subaru harness. ???

 

also, on the new stereos harness i have two blues neither of which were in use on the honda i pulled it out of. sony wire diagram says the blue w/white stripe is "amp rem" and solid blue is for "ant rem". rem = remote id guess? the sony does come with a remote control.. doesnt look like theres a plug for it on the subaru harness though.

 

heres a link to the sony xplods wire diagram http://esupport.sony.com/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=CDXGT520

 

im gonna start soldering the wires i know and hope for a reply by the time i get to the blue and orange ones..

 

and heres a pic of the two harnesses if that helps

 

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/3963/harnessib.jpg

 

oh and what about this bad boy?

 

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7084/0418011944.jpg

 

no idea where it was attached.. does it matter?

You won't be using the orange wire(illumination). You won't be using the orange/white wire(dimmer). You won't be using the solid blue wire(pwr ant), Unless your subaru has a power antenna (either motorized or amplified). You will use the blue/white(amplifier). Here is a usefull link that has all Subaru factory wire colors/pin locations/functions http://ae64.com/Legacy-pinout.htm

You won't be using the orange wire(illumination). You won't be using the orange/white wire(dimmer). You won't be using the solid blue wire(pwr ant), Unless your subaru has a power antenna (either motorized or amplified). You will use the blue/white(amplifier). Here is a usefull link that has all Subaru factory wire colors/pin locations/functions http://ae64.com/Legacy-pinout.htm

too bad i didnt see this before i started soldering.. i get anxious sometimes. i said screw it and soldered the orange to one of the blues :spin:anyway the deck is in and works great!

 

now i just need a proper faceplate so i dont have a gaping hole under the deck like i do now. its ugly but i just wanted to be able to drive and have music until i get around to finishing it on my next days off a week from now. oh and i broke my cup holder kinda.. was already broke but i really broke it now.. so gonna need a replacement eventually.

 

thanks for the help everybody! and is it bad i left that ground wire loose? im gonna have to take everything out again to put the faceplate in so i figured i wouldnt worry about it for now. like i said everythings working.

"i said screw it and soldered the orange to one of the blues http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/images/smilies/spin.gifanyway the deck is in and works great!"

-until you turn your lights on, do not connect them! just insulate and dont use

-you should use the ground wire, electronically it won't hurt that you didn't, your ground is being achieved through the radio chassis mounts and/or the antenna ground.

whats supposed to happen when i turn my lights on? so far so good..