SubieAA

I too a very close look a the loader mechanism, and it looks like the plastic piece might have a piece that broke off on the initial load when I heard that little snap. Net, net, I have ordered a used CD unit through a junkyard. Hope I am all set by the end of the week.

I know more about my CD changer than I cared to earlier. After eliminating everything, I decided the top CD slot cover (covers the CD slot) was jammed in the platic groove of one of the plastic columns. That did the trick! Finally am set up 1.5 weeks later. The only issue now is why the sound amplification is not as high as I wanted, but the sound is clean and nice, and satellite radio, radar detector, and iPhone are wired for power and sound directly with hidden wires. Nice. Do this install carefully. I will look up the amplification issue.

Actually the fuse is fine, the radio shack 3 into 1 outlet expander is what shorted. Back to square 1. If anyone has any thoughts on the load button not working, please contact me or post.

 

Thanks!

I too a very close look a the loader mechanism, and it looks like the plastic piece might have a piece that broke off on the initial load when I heard that little snap. Net, net, I have ordered a used CD unit through a junkyard. Hope I am all set by the end of the week.

I realized I had shorted the fuse related to my armchair cubby hole when testing with a voltmeter. I did nor think it would be related to my dashboard cD player, but maybe it is. Hopefullly replacing this fuse also gets my CD loader motor working. I will let you all know. Now I have to identify the right fuse; the armchair outlet is not called out in the manual if I recall.

Actually the fuse is fine, the radio shack 3 into 1 outlet expander is what shorted. Back to square 1. If anyone has any thoughts on the load button not working, please contact me or post.

Thanks!

I have the exact same issue. I have done everything, including splicing my wire into my car charger successfully, but the CD player failed to load afer counting the CDs. I have connected the grounding cable in the back (both ways) and I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting a few times. The CD player counted the CD slots as described but did make a strange click on the 5th or 6th CD, although the player was empty of any Cds as per instructions. I will try taking apart the player again tonight, and re-put together and hope the CD player starts working so I can use my iphone and satellite directly wired to my stereo. But any suggestions? Thank in advance all.

 

L

I realized I had shorted the fuse related to my armchair cubby hole when testing with a voltmeter. I did nor think it would be related to my dashboard cD player, but maybe it is. Hopefullly replacing this fuse also gets my CD loader motor working. I will let you all know. Now I have to identify the right fuse; the armchair outlet is not called out in the manual if I recall.

I took the radio back out to install the noise suppressor and decided to do some digging and figure out why I had the problem with the CD changer initially. As it turns out, the instructions that accompanied my unit weren't exactly correct when it comes to the "testing it out" phase.

 

The instructions call for reassembling the CD changer into the radio, replacing the controls on the front of the unit and taking it out to the car for testing. The instructions call for plugging in ONLY the white wire harness and testing for proper operation. In my case, this allowed the CD changer to cycle and count CDs when plugged in, but would not allow a CD to be loaded.

 

I discovered that if I connected the chassis ground wire as well, everything worked fine. The chassis ground wire is a single black wire coming out of the same wire loom as the white wire harness. It simply clips onto a metal tab on the back of the radio. I'm guessing that the motor that loads a CD grounds itself through the radio chassis and wasn't being grounded properly in my case. If you happen to set the radio into the dash in such a way that the chassis is grounded anyway, everything probably works fine. But, I had mine sitting out of the dash far enough that it wasn't grounded at all and that led to my problems.

 

So, when testing the unit out, make sure you attach this extra wire and you won't end up pulling your hair out trying to figure out how you screwed up this simple installation! :-)

 

Anyway, hope this helps someone out in the future ... now to order one of those fancy cubby mounts!

 

-Bob

I have the exact same issue. I have done everything, including splicing my wire into my car charger successfully, but the CD player failed to load afer counting the CDs. I have connected the grounding cable in the back (both ways) and I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting a few times. The CD player counted the CD slots as described but did make a strange click on the 5th or 6th CD, although the player was empty of any Cds as per instructions. I will try taking apart the player again tonight, and re-put together and hope the CD player starts working so I can use my iphone and satellite directly wired to my stereo. But any suggestions? Thank in advance all.

L

Stage 2...soo smooth..power earlier..just do it!!

After stage 1, I will do it. Loooking forward to it once I save some money.

The JDM rear sway is what is stock in Japan, I believe. It is tubular, which is nice because it is light. That was the first mod I did. Still pleased with it. Some folks want more, and go with Cuscos front and rear, very stiff. I have heard Whiteline are also good, and the rear is adjustable. Check out the other threads out there.

Will do. Thanks.

The rear sway is really easy, took about a half hour. Do your struts and springs at the same time, not piecemeal. You can thank me later.

I just went stage 1 tonight.. I am impressed. The car handles well as well; I am coming from a Saab 9-3, so stock LGT is a different level suspension. Still, I am curious about a rear sway bar. Rallitek sells three rear sway bars. Is the Japan 20mm rear sway the one for our wagon?

I have spent hours in the last week reading this forum on suspension and the Cobb AP maps. Funny enough I was washing my car today and using Armorall to wipe the interior down, and an Audi quattro 3.0 wagon pulls up next to mine. A bad ass car you can tell immendiately. The fact that that I can upgrade my car to compete both for power and handling, with less weight of course, made me feel I am going to have to get to that place where I am happy knowing I have some fairly serious capabilities hidden in the benign form factor of my car.

So looking at the first link, and thanks for the information ( I hope I can do the same for a newby one day if I ever know enough), it looks like $969 for the Bilsteins and STI pink springs plus probably another $400 for the sway bars. Obviously I want to profit as much as possible from the experience of people like you.

The funny thing is that I bought my car used about two months ago. It rides really low, so I wonder if the guy before me has lowered it. I will have to measure the height on level ground and comapre to others using the same tires. But the handling does not fell tight when I drive agressively.

I like the info provided - And I look forward to going into my garage and putting a stop to the annoying Seat Belt Beeper. It almost sounds like a nagging mother or wife - (put your seat belt on you idiot! NOW, or i will beep constantly until your brian is ready to explode)

 

Here are a couple things to also consider when tuning your LGT.

 

If you decided to run Stock Calipers on your ride (which I feel are inadequate) you may want to upgrade to the following:

 

G-Stop Braided lines.

Slotted Rotors from AP or other manufactures that produce a similar sized rotor as your stock ones. Helps ventilate better and reduces warping / weight. Please note - Not all after-market cross drilled rotors are indeed better then your stock ones so you want to pay a little more, and do some more research with the top brands. Ask questions.

Hawk Performance Pads ==> good for the moderate street racer and daily driver. Make sure NOT to Run Race Pads on your daily driver - they take a long time to heat up and they will wear out your rotors faster and poor output in the cold. (not safe)

Use a Premium fluid as well ==>any of the ones suggested in the above threads are good.

 

Helpful hints: If you can find a WRECKED WRX STI with Front and Rear Brembos - buy them! as they fit your car given you have an after-market wheel with more clearance then the 05/06 LGT stock rims. The Brembos do not Swell so basically they do not hold heat like the stock ones do which means all you need is a credit card spacing between the rim and the spokes of your wheel. The weight of your LGT is not too much more then a stock STI so the load can be handled by the upgraded Brembos. I think the 2006 STI Legacy in Japan uses the same kit - and i've asked around and a ton of people are saying that its sufficient.

 

Never activate your parking brake after you have driven your car hard for a period of time - You will apply force to one section of the stock rotors which will hold the pads clamped down, and the heat will stay in that area where pressure is being applied longer. End result, you will eventually warp your rotors and possibly have more vibration, and or fade under all driving conditions. The vibrations from warped/cracked rotors can be so bad that you may weaken the suspension from all of the vibration (ie. ball joints, tie rod ends etc). Trust me i've gone through it..

 

Suspensions Wise:

I run a full set of Bilestien HD struts with Subaru Spec B Mounts. (nice ride)

With that, I have the Cobb Stage 2 lowering kit (springs and endlinks).

Front and Rear (new generation) Cobb Sway Bars....Super Fun.

Cusco front and rear tower bars....less torsional stress on the sub frame

(please keep in mind you will still hear the creaks as the sun roof if applicable, weakens the dynamics of the car on the top end and hard to get rid of). I hope I explained that correctly so that everyone understands?

 

Cusco has a ton of other under the car mods to help create more support and rigidity. Another thing to consider and this is something that i heard from a fellow wagon lover - Is the usage of stiffer tranny mounts to support harder driving conditions and smother power transfers. Check the forums to find out more.

 

Exhaust wise:

I run a full Stainless Steel Perrin Exhaust 3" diameter with up pipe and down pipe. The rear cans produce a SICK SOUND at higher RPM's. Too loud for the average subaru guy/gal who is looking for a more sport tone sound. (Although there is a silencer kit which doesn't reduce performance for this option).

 

I myself am addicted to the sound of my wagon full out while passing M3's and g35's on the road at top speeds......No one can compare the grumble of the horizontally opposed Boxer Engine. To get that same sound out of a Porsche is next to impossible - not to mention expensive.

 

 

Be safe, have fun, and thrash on as many mitsu's as possible.

 

J-Cobb out!

Awesome post. Looks like fun. Thanks.