ZinFreak

OBP LGT Wagon north bound on US-101 exiting on to US-12 around 10:15AM this morning... I was in the dealer shuttle van after dropping off my LGT for the recall

Call SOA, that's what I did.

Sweetness, well in it goes Thursday. I'll just have to remember to bring all the keys no? Aren't the chipped keys tied to the ECU?

Hmm, I just scheduled my appointment at the dealer and they want the car for 3 hours so it can cool down completely to test it prior to swapping the relay and possibly the ECU. I don't think my ECU is toast, the fans come on after start up, but then shut-off shortly there after.

Andyjo, 14.5V during charging sounds a bit high, I think 14V is the right number. Your alternator may be working a bit harder than it should. Now when you measured the voltage (12.5V) across the battery when the car was off, did you measure the OCV, that is disconnect the negative, then measure the voltage across the terminals? If you measure the voltage with the negative connected, it will be wrong. You need the OCV. Next did you temperature correct the voltage? I posted a temperature correction for the battery voltage vs. battery temperature. Not sure what to what to say on the parasitic draw. No one has posted any numbers on this, however, I would think 20 to 50 milli amps is probably in the right ball park. The parasitic draw will include the radio (presets), the automatic lock radio, plus the alarm, and the blinky light on the dash.

Well, there are two ways to do it... Hard and easy Hard - Strip off some insulation from the red and black wires that connect to the lighter. Solder on the power leads from the iPod cable, then wrap with electrical tape. Easy - Go to Ace, Home Despot, Lowes, etc. and look for inline splice taps. It is like a vampire that will clamp on to the existing wire, teeth will cut the insulation and connect to the wires. I think 18-22 AWG splices should work dandy. They are pretty self-evident in how they work. The through hole goes around the existing wire, the non-through hole takes the wire from the iPod cable. You need two, one for each wire. I like easy!

Curious why you want to keep the GLI accessible? It ain't pretty and there isn't any reason to keep it accessible.

Joe, it sounds like something is not right in the hookup. I have no such background sounds. Now, that being said, can you explain your set up a little bit more. Are you running an iPod through the line in? Do you have another device connected to the mini-jack? Remember that this will allow bleed through if you are listening to AM or FM. e.g. If I play my iPod, and set the radio to AM, I can hear both. Are you getting background noise bleeding though. Without understanding what is connected to the input(s) and what you are listening to, I'm just guessing. Do you have a schematic of "as-installed" that you can scan and put up for someone to look at. All I have to say is mine is very clean. The sound quality is superb. I've even played MP3's off my Garmin Nuvi via the mini-jack and it sounds fine too.

Holy Crap That qualifies as DEAD!

The +14V across the battery when running means that the charging system is functioning fine. What you'd really need to do is measure the voltage across the battery when it is disconnected (the open circuit voltage). Moot point now with a new battery. I bet you'll be fine now.

Look at the vehicle and find the build date. I assume you bought it new. Determine how long it sat before purchase. There is a good chance you are in the same boat I was. My battery had almost six months of sitting around with the radio and security system nibbling away on the battery before I purchased it. That scenario is really bad for the life of a lead acid battery. I replaced mine and have had no problems since. A Suby dealer should replace it under warranty, but I just went to Costco and bought another. The time it would have taken going to the dealer and let them screw around with it wasn't worth the $50 I spent for the new battery.

Yup. It isn't PC to call them cigarette lighters anymore since no one smokes. They are power outlet/adapters The power adapter has a +12V (the red lead) and a lighted ring (one of those should be ground). Get some inline wire tap splices from Home Despot and attach the power leads there.

There are red and black power wires with that connector. You can use the power outlet +12V and ground right below the unit. Note, you can actually end up with two inputs in the vehicle with that. One is the (Hirose(?)) wide iPod connector for line level, the other is the mini jack. The two RCA's are the outputs to the filter or radio. If you need help I'm just up Hwy 101 in Windsor.

It isn't hard, just a bit frightening to start pulling the car apart! Read the directions a couple of times before you start. Go slow. Like someone said, the strangest and hardest part is getting the face off the radio. It wasn't what I expected. You end up with a circuit board in your hands, yes one side is the face with the display and push buttons, the other side is a circuit board with a set of connectors. The instructions are pretty much dead on. Just block out 2 hours to do it, you should have enough time for a beer afterward before the 2 hours runs out. If you get stuck PM a couple of us that have done it. We'll take a phone call to help you.

It would be really interesting for someone with a 2007 Legacy and integrated XM to get a volt/current meter and measure the parasitic current draw off the battery. Then pull the fuse for the radio/XM unit and note the difference in current draw. Just a hunch, but I bet we'd see that the XM satellite unit isn't powering down or sleeping properly. This is really easy to do and would take about 15 minutes.

I'm using the GLI and both the line level input off the iPod or the mini-jack stereo for mp3's when using my Nuvi. I don't experience any cut-off. Do you have a sub?

I just went through this, however, my problem was that I had a bad battery. Doesn't sound like that's your problem. To find the current drain. 0) Get a voltage/amp meter that reads up to like 1 A or more. Set the meter to read amps 1) Remove the (-) 2) Put a thick stranded wire across the meter (basically a short across the meter probes) and now close the circuit from the battery to the terminal cable. You want to do this to avoid the large transient across the meter when you complete the circuit again. 3) Remove the thick stranded wire. The meter should now read the current drain. 4) Start pulling fuses one at a time and note any change in current draw. Make a table by fuse and current draw without it. This should pinpoint the faulty circuit if in fact you've got a wiring problem. You should also check the OCV across the battery while you've got the terminal removed. Also check the voltage across the terminals when the car is running. I've got another thread with my battery woes that has a table showing what the temperature corrected OCV is for a healthy battery. Charging voltage across the battery when running should be ~14V. Good luck, electrical problems are a PITA. (So says the Mechanical/CS Engineer)

^^^ To run the iPod, the PAC iPod cable that Jazzy sells does the trick. Wire the + & - into the power adapter below the HU/climate control and into the stereo to mini converter. Charging and line level input, no fuss no muss with the volume on the iPod. Finally dumped my camera today. Here's the iPod connected up and my new Spec.B steering wheel (still wrapped up in plastic). http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/ZinFreak/Legacy/audio-goodness.jpg

No, I just got the eye-roll She doesn't ask anymore after she found me installing the boost gauge about 2 months after I got the car (brand new). I was hoping to finish before she got home from work, but that didn't happen. So she found me again with the bowels of the interior ripped out and radio on the work island in the kitchen. It was my neighbor that stopped by when I had the garage door open that asked "what are you doing to your new car?" I think I need that 12-step program. Must not mod wife's FXT, Must not mod wife's FXT.

That's OK, just as I called, my son wanted me and the wife walked into the garage want to talk to me too. I was lucky at the point of interruptions I could remember my name Thanks again for the sanity check!

You can add me to the list of Jazzy's satisfied customers. How cool my ride is now with Jazzy's aux audio input and my new Momo Spec.B steering wheel. Install is very easy, instructions are unambiguous. I never scratched my head once on the install. Popping off the faceplate was a bit frightenting, not what I expected. Just go slow. The PAC iPod charging cable that Jazzy ships ends up having two inputs, one for the iPod (line level) and one with a stereo mini plug. Turns out both are active for input and I can plug in my Garmin Nuvi into the mini plug and use the MP3 player and get verbal driving directions through the HU. Saweet! Thanks Jazzy!

Big time props to Trabbic and Brady. I got the steering wheel replaced today. Quick phone call to Brady to check my sanity, and it works. I was a bit thrown by the fact that I've got the sub installed, so I needed to use the most rear-ward wiring block. The roll connector isn't a big deal. Just don't let it rotate when you swap wheels. I was able to keep it in position with one hand, and use the other for the wheel swap. Also, I found a T-30 bit on a socket at Home Despot. Made airbag removal a snap. I couldn't make it budge with a T-30 driver. Weak hands of a guitar player. Some things to buy beforehand to make this really easy T-30 Torx bit on a socket ($4.00) 17mm socket ($4.00) 5 inch socket extension ($8.00) Qty 8 - Tap Splices #18-#22 AWG 3 feet - 4 conductor solid core hookup wire #22AWG Skip pushing the wire into the blocks and just use the tap splices. It is far more secure and much easier (I think). It is much easier to work on the wiring below the steering column by pulling the wire bundle loose from the tie down. Cut the black band after you get it down, then re-use it with a tie wrap when you put it back up. You might as well get Jazzy's mod for aux in and do it at the same time. You'll have the radio mostly in your hands, just spend the extra 30 minutes and drop in the aux board. It is a really cool mod! Why couldn't SOA just do this on the GT LTD? Thanks again guys!

You are correct, I remember reading this now. '07 Legacy/Outback -> Center console '07 Forester -> Ashtray Why? Why mush they be different? I guess I should not complain, at least the FXT has one. Jazzy's board is going into my Legacy in about 2 weeks, I can't wait.

Yeah, that's where it is in our new '07 Forester XT. What a stupid place to put it! This must of taken about 3 minutes to think up. We are about to head off on a multi-day, 1400 mi trip with a new Garmin Nuvi plugged in to that spot for MPEG music and voice directions. We'll see how it does. It certainly isn't clean. If you are mod happy, I don't see why it can't be relocated to some place sane.

So, installation pics? No problems with the roll connector?