RustyShackleford

Does anyone know if this HU (the '07 one we're talking about installling here) has the built-in 65watt sub-woofer amp ? And speaking of which, is available a listing of the pinouts for the various connectors on the back of the thing ?

Finished this job today, a few comments and suggestions ... Getting the old HU out is damn easy, easier than my '97 I'd say. I didn't realize two of the mounting screws are recessed back in a few inches, and removed a couple of screws I shouldn't have (they hold some of the dash pieces together). No worries. Hardest thing by far was removing the little brass screws (4 per side) that connect the mounting brackets to the HU; you need to transfer the brackets to the new HU, which comes without them. I suggest a few blocks of wood to support the side of the old HU so you can REALLY bear down on it, using the correct size phillips screw-driver and lots of patience. Even so, I had to drill one of 'em out (being careful not to get any metal shavings inside the old HU, in case it's of some use to me or someone else someday) and use an easy-out (screw extractor). Used a spare screw from my stock HU from my '97, but I doubt it woulda been missed. I was slightly confused about which of the two 8-pin connectors is the one you need to re-work to connect the aux-input jack. But yes, it's the one with the white guard insert in the rear. I found it pretty easy to "release" the pins, using a little pointy tool from a miniature screw-driver set. I was tempted to ditch that little white guard/insert thingy you remove to be able to release the pins, because it basically requires you have to solder up the aux-input cable INSIDE the recessed area where the HU sits (since you have to thread the wires through the white thingy, and the green wire on pin #8 has to stay in place). Instead, I just clipped the green wire, in addition to the other 4 wires, and brought the whole thing to my workbench for easy solder/assembly. Then I simply re-attached the green wire with a little wire nut when I re-installed the harness. As far as the aux-enable wire (which must be tied to chassis ground), I tapped into the insulation on the black ground wire (which plugs onto a male spade lug on the back of the HU); I liked that I didn't have to add yet another connection to the back of the HU (by connecting the aux-enable to a screw on the back of the radio). I put the aux-input jack into the back of the existing cubby - didn't even need to remove the cubby or vent trim - just drilled a 15/64" hole into the back of the cubby and reached up behind there to install the jack. Seemed like a good place, since I think I'll put my Sirius (Stratus, not the factory one) into the cubby. Easy enough to relocate if I change my mind. After everything was connected, but before screwing in the radio and re-assembling the trim, I powered it up ... AND ... everything worked great EXCEPT the freakin' aux-input. Quickly realized it was a loose connection, and soon narrowed in down not to my solder work, but to the Molex pins themselves; yep, I could reach in the back of the 8-pin plug and push 'em with a toothpick and each channel would come and go. Pulled the pins back out and they seemed fine, and seemed to be seated back in the connector housing properly. Exasperated, I put the thing back together (to be able to drive) and it works fine; apparently releasing all the strain from the harness fixed the problem. Drove around awhile, plenty of bumps, and rock solid. Hardly re-assuring though (what was the guy saying about disassembling his dash during a road-trip ...) I guess I'll try to figure it out when I go back in to clean up the wiring for the Sirius. But I'm perplexed; any ideas ???

I guess it comes free for you, because you just go from the connector to a cable with male mini-plug. But not for those who want to run the wire to a jack, and for folks with automatic climate controls (since evidently pin8 needs to remain connected). As far as my idea of a removable (without screwdriver) connection for the pin6 wire, my new radio looks like it has a male spade lug right there, and it seems (by ohm-meter) to be a ground; is there something in the car that needs to plug onto that, or would it be available for a female spade fitting attached to pin6 ? Well, I don't have the OEM mounted aux-in jack, because mine is an '06; it's kinda surprising that your Baja does - a jack but no connection ?!? What you're describing sounds like pin6 would get conncted to ground only when something is plugged into the jack. But it sounds like the way most people are doing the mod, pin6 is ALWAYS connected to ground, which evidently that works fine. I guess the advantage of such a jack would be that it'd prevent the radio from switching to aux-in if nothing is plugged in (maybe a reason to spend $15 for the Legacy aux-in kit even if the jack is all you use); except what's the point really, since it's not like there's a selector button you push repeatedly to select inputs and you'd want to skip aux if nothing is connected. Thanks again for sharing your work and answering all our questions !! P.S. I'm jealous as hell you got your radio for $50, after paying $500 for mine, and feeling like Subaru was doing me a favor by letting me buy it ...

Seems kinda ugly, huh ? Because (if I'm understanding correctly) you have to connect a wire from pin 6 on the connector back to the chassis of the radio; so you have to connect/disconnect both the connector itself and the grounding screw when you install/remove the HU. Since the radio ground is presumably the same as the car's main ground, I suppose one could run a wire from pin 6 of the connector to a ground somewhere in the void behind the radio; or maybe just partner a 4th wire with the 3-conductor stereo coax, and connect it to the car chassis at the spot you mount the jack (not at option for Jeromes' jackless installation). That way, when you disconnect our 8-pin connector (plus whatever other connectors there are, the "main" one and the antenna, I guess), the radio would be free. Or maybe I'm just being silly ... since the way everyone else is doing it, the grounded wire from pin 6 is just another connector, albeit one that requires a tool (screwdriver) to remove. I suppose one could rig up a spade thingy, so you just disconnect it like that. As long as I'm obsessing on this, has anyone considered mounting two RCA jacks instead of a stereo mini-jack ? Cables that go from an RCA pair to a stereo mini are just as common as those that have a stereo mini-plug male at both ends. The RCAs seem more secure, than trying to get 3 reliable contacts on that tiny 1/8" plug ...

Jeromes, thanks for all the info. Since you have manual climate controls, I'm confused why you didn't just put an after-market head-unit in, the conventional wisdom being that there are kits that do a nice job of retrofitting standard-DIN head-units into your car. I'm pretty sure for us auto-climate control folks (yes, the 2.5i LIMITED DOES have the automatic), that we must re-use the connector, because pin 8 must remain connected.

I don't think it's a "story" and we SHOULD be grateful (to the dealer, not to Subaru for putting us in this situation in the first place, or for their arbitrary and capricious policy regarding allowing us the privilege of paying $500 for a work-around ! Bastards ... Thanks for the good info, and looking forward to the photos.

If I understand all 17 pages of postings correctly, it's NOT "plug and play" if you spring the $60+for the Impreza kit. It just means you don't have to recycle the connector pins in the I-85 connector (and you only have to "release" one of them, not all four), and you don't have to find your own source for the stereo coax cable (the idiots at Radio Shack said "I've never seen such a thing").

Terrible news, comrades. I just ordered the '07 radio, and apparently Subaru told the dealer that due to low supply, it's (again) only available for warranty claims (or collision, I suppose, although it's a little difficult to imagine the collision that damages the radio without totaling the car - but I digress). The dealer leaned on them, I guess saying something like they'd already promised it to me, so I'm getting it - to which I'm eternally grateful to them, they'll get my mail-order parts business from now on. Perhaps this may vary according to which distributor your parts dealer is suuplied by, I'm not sure. And maybe the situation will again reverse itself when a new batch of radios is received.

Oh, that seemed pretty clear. You just release the pins from the HU-end connector on the cable (which somehow are known to be the same size pin as the I-85 requires) and then insert them into the correct pin locations in the I-85 (and you must remove one of the existing ones in the I-85). This is all described in post #195. Man, there's a LOT of information in this thread, but you now have to read through SEVENTEEN pages of postings to find it. Some heroic person should boil all this information down into a FAQ ...

Anyone ? It looks like the advantage of using the Impreza kit is that you can simply pull the pins out of its HU-end connector and put them into the I-85 connector, as described in post #195, and also you don't have to find some shielded stereo cable. But for $60, this seems expensive if you don't want to keep steering-wheel controls, simply so you don't have to cut the wires off the I-85 to get the pins. Does the $15 Legacy kit not use the same pins sizes ?

Yes, that's old news. Two different vendors have told me they would sell it, for about $500 including shipping. I'm going for it. I still don't quite understand the various options for how to connect an aux-in jack ...

Same question, for the Legacy aux-in kit ? It seems worth $15 to avoid having to re-work the 8-pin connector ... I have to admit, I am VERY seriously confused at this point about the aux-in mod. I've read the ENTIRE 16 pages of this thread, and I AM electronics savvy, but I'm STILL not sure if I want to: 1. Buy my own 1/8" stereo jack and wire in it myself. 2. Buy the Legacy kit. 3. Buy the Impreza kit. I don't mind buying shielded audio cable and soldering it up to a 1/8" jack myself, but I wouldn't mind paying a little to keep from having to pull the pins from the I-85 connector and cutting into the car's wiring. I'd appreicate it if deerkiller or jdanhires (or someone else knowledgeable) woiuld summarize again. Thanks !

And it is indeed correct that you only need the one part number 86201AG67A, not the second "face plate" part number listed in post #1 ? And you MIGHT want to add the $14+ aux-in kit 86257XA10A if for some reason you don't want to just buy a 1/8" audio jack from RadioShack ?

May we ask what you paid ?

I'm sorry, Rich, but you have COMPLETELY lost me now; I am confused about these different options. I want to be able to put in a standard DIN head-unit, will settle for single-DIN. Don't want to pay $950. I thought that's what the "JDM bezel conversion" was for. But there's ANOTHER option you're still working on, which will provide this ? I am an electrical engineer, and have some time on my hands. But I also live across the country from you. I'll help if I can.

From HighlineCA in another thread. Time to stop holding breath for this thing ... Yes that was definately our fault on jumping the gun. We were hoping our connection inside Kenwood, would be able to fetch us the build manual on the JDM piece. He came through with some info, but none of it panned out. The JDM bezel, as this point, is a dead mod for us. We are working on bringing a manufacturer on board and building it in collaboration. More info will be posted as it comes along. We are NOT ditching the whole LGT projects. They will be back in full force as we figure it out. Thanks, Rich @ HCA

Repsak, how was this done ?

Maybe this has been asked and answered before, but I've missed it. We all think the auto/dual climate sucks,mainly because it makes putting in an after-mkt head unit virtually impossible (unless one wants to spend nearly $1000 or if Highline ever comes through with his JDM mod). But this thread reiterates that the auto/dual HVAC also sucks in its own right ! It is possible to get a manual HVAC unit (from Subaru or a junkyard), then install that in place of the current HVAC/stereo clusterf*uck ? Thus you have HVAC controls that are more reasonable, plus there are several inexpensive/viable options for putting in after-mkt HU !

Haven't done it on my '06 yet (still trying to figure out if I'll ever be able to put an after-mkt HU in it, much less an amp) but in my '97 it was pretty easy. Connected the heavy-gauge cable to the battery positive with an in-line fuse holder. Ran the cable along the driver's side near the engine, found a rubber grommet somehwere in the neighborhood of where the clutch master cylinder is, pulled the grommet out and drilled a hole in it, reinserted the grommet, passed the cable through it, and it comes out somewhere around the place where the brake and clutch pedals pivot. It was a lot easier to locate a likely-looking grommet on the engine compartment side, because they're hidden by insulation/soundproofing layer on the cabin side - and of course you have to get the cable through that layer too (not hard). Hope this help. You mentioned "cables" but I think people usually ground to the chassis near the amp (or whatever), otherwise ground loops (bad). So it should just be one "cable". Hope this helps.

Actually, my car is 2.5i Limited, which means it has the auto climate controls, just like the LGT if I understand correctly. So, like most of us here, I await the conversion orginally menmtioned in this thread. Sounds like that's gonna be awhile, because of the show car ?

A little cryptic: With the between time, Erik will still venture into the JDM bezel (long awaited I know..) and build 2.5i kits. Sorry LGT crowd.. we will do our best in bringing the next wave of bezels that will fit everyones needs. When he says "2.5i kit" I guess he means for manual cimate controls, since the LGT (and the 2.5i Limited) have the "automatic" ?

Maybe somebody oughta just call the guy, and report back ... somebody who knows him maybe ?

I wonder if Subaru ever intends to go with a front-panel USB port, like many of the newer head-units at Crutchfield ? These are really nice, because you can dispense with all those CD-MP3 discs and just put your music on the little thumb-drives (which are getting incredibly cheap now) or perhaps a mini-hard drive. It'd be a nice option to retrofit such a radio into '05 or '06. I guess it's time for a major 5-year model jump in 2010, so if the '09s don't have it, forget it. We'll just have to hope the JDM bezel conversion happens, or something ...