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cd changer wiring


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I was hoping an owner with a 1997 Legacy with a factory installed 6 disk under seat cd changer might be able to help me.

I accidentally pulled the wires out of the connector socket, rather than pulling the socket out of the cd changer. There are 11 wires, all solid colors. The CD changer is a Panasonic model CX-CF1410F. It also says Subaru on it.

It would be great if somone with the same changer could look under the passenger seat and send me/post a list and/or picture of which colored wire goes in each socket. Maybe the hookup be the same for nearby model years?

I've tried calling Panasonic and Subaru for help. Pansonic says take it to the dealer. The dealer says they don't have the info I need. A new harness is $280, though! The info on the web I've been able to find shows different colored wires than mine, e.g. red with black stripe, etc.

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There was one in my 96, which I'd think that the odds of it being the same as the 97 are pretty good. The changer has been replaced,but I think that the old harness is still there. I'll check it out and let you know.

 

That would be great. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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Wow, thanks, man. Thought I'd never find this out. This info seems to be guarded like it's the keys to the kindgdom! Just a small clarification since the pic is a little underlit- is there an empty slot between the black and the next wire ( i think it's gray) in the row of 6?
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There is a blank,and I believe it is in between the dark gray and light gray wires. I did take a couple of pictures with the flash,but the flash was so close,it kind of washed out the shot.

If you right click on the picture and open the link, you should be able to see the terminal more clearly.

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Thanks for the wiring info. Before I could even hook it up though, the radio has stopped working! Worked one day,the next day it didn't. Didn't touch anything. The fuse is ok. The screen lights up but it's blank. The local dealer service dept. says they have seen radios fail, but not often. Might be forced to buy a replacement I saw on Craigs List.
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Thanks for the second fuse suggestion. I had considered that and had already taken the unit out of the dash to check, without much hope. No obvious external fuses. Replacing the radio would be of limited use as I have an unrelated, more long standing problem that the power antennae won't go up. Explains why I've been desperate to get the CD player working. The number of stations I can pull in or their range, even within the Rochester area, is limited and even less so on the open road. Wish I leave it up, but there is nothing to grab hold of to pull or push it up.
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Don't I feel stupid. I found that the radio was not broken at all! Either one works when not connected to the CD player head unit. So it seems there is some electrical malfuncion in the cd unit which affects the radio. Just hadn't thought to try it alone. Anyone want to to swap me a factory P611 CD Changer Controller (cd head unit) for the extra radio? The junk yard Legacy's from where I got the radio were picked clean of audio, as you might expect.
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Im a little confused on the head unit, you say its panasonic but has subaru written on it as well? Is the unit brand new? Did you keep the factory cd changer and just add a new head unit? Send us a pic of it powered on so we can see what ur talking about. I agree with there probably being a second fuse in the head unit but if the fuse is blown I would imagine the head unit wouldn't turn on at all. If you can return it and get a refund you might want to go that route and then order from crutchfield. I ordered my speakers off ebay to save money but I ordered my head unit from crutchfield. I returned two of em cause they were bad, they asked absolutely no questions. "What, its not working? Send it back sir and we'll get a new one out to you right away." And there tech support kicks ass, spent an hour on the phone with some dude who walked me through every step of wiring my stereo. It was totally worth the extra 10-15% i paid for the product.
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Will the radio work with the CD controller connected to the radio,but disconnected from the changer at the controller? Thought...wires from controller to the changer may have a short. (pinched between seat track,screw through harness, etc.) Unplug the CD harness at the controller and see what happens. Also check that the controls are set correctly.

 

Don't I feel stupid. I found that the radio was not broken at all! Either one works when not connected to the CD player head unit. So it seems there is some electrical malfuncion in the cd unit which affects the radio. Just hadn't thought to try it alone. Anyone want to to swap me a factory P611 CD Changer Controller (cd head unit) for the extra radio? The junk yard Legacy's from where I got the radio were picked clean of audio, as you might expect.
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Regarding RedLegGT's questions, the whole audio system is factory equipment. It came with with the car when I bought it used. The head unit is actually two separate modules, one for radio/tape(P114), one for the cd changer controller(P611). The radio/tape and the underseat cd changer are both labled with Subaru/Panasonic. The cd controller says only Panasonic but it obviously is factory equipment.( same color, style, etc).

If there is a second fuse it must be internal to the controller, since the radio will turn on when the controller is not connected. I had the controller cover off for a look but no fuse was visible.

I agree with your feelings about Crutchfield- they've helped me with advice/research even though I have never purchased anything substantial from them.

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Regarding Guest User/Maui's suggestions: Good idea. Can't recall if I've tried with just the radio/controller connected, and the changer harness disconnected. Guess I'll have to take it apart one more time to verify.

Update-radio does not work if the controller is connected, changer disconnected at the controller.

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Regarding Guest User/Maui's suggestions: Good idea. Can't recall if I've tried with just the radio/controller connected, and the changer harness disconnected. Guess I'll have to take it apart one more time to verify.

 

I don't think you need to take much apart. I believe you can reach the plug on the back of the changer controller by reaching up from the driver side of the radio console,but don't hold me to that. And It'd be a real pia to get back in.

If you have a multi tester,check each wire in the harness for a short to ground while you have it disconnected,even though it should blow the radio fuse if it has a short. Unless its just grounding out the speaker amp.

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something else you might want to look into is buying a 6-disc in-dash unit from a newer impreza, you will be looking at about $50-70 but otherwise it is a very nice upgrade, better audio quality, etc...

 

mine is from an '05 WRX

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4696/img0525r.jpg

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Interesting idea re the Impreza. So the Legacy bezel fits around the Impreza's changer, and the wiring harness in the Legacy works with it as well? Did you own the Impreza or get the in dash unit from a junk yard, CraigsList, ebay, etc? I'm also wondering generally how interchangeable the radio/cd units are from other Subaru models and years. e.g: would something from an Outback work in mine?
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