trabbic

Slowmatic, ouch! no respect..........

Hmm. So, if I rigged up a super-8-position joystick gadget that replicated those resistances (and 4.7K at rest), I should, in theory, be able to do all of those, right?

 

HV

Yup... That might be a good choice for those people that want a less expensive option or perhaps want to keep their shifter buttons if they drive a slowmatic.

Where can this be found? Is it in the vacation pics? Which section?

It is under the troubleshooting section for the stereo controls...

I am 99% sure because I remember pushing both tabs back down and pulling up on the connector (to see if it was connected) on the back of the airbag to make sure they were in.

First check the fuse panel, to make sure it is not a blown fuse. I would double check that first. Then make sure you have the wires on the airbag plugged in to the correct places. Also check the plug on the roll connector. Then double check to make sure you did not cut or unplug any of the yellow sheathed wires down by the steering column.

I am pretty sure that none of the wires in the other plugs do anything for the airbag. So I think your problem lies with one of the yellow sheathed wires. Please report back and let us know what you find.

And yes I was in no condition to give advise about air bags last night! Go HENS!

Ok...I installed them into my 5EAT LGT (Automatic Transmission).

 

After studying the wiring diagrams, I noticed that Pin 7 was probably the only pin that would have to be cut because Pin 6 on the B86 connector doesn't have any connection on the side going toward the radio (not the side going toward the steering wheel).

 

So this is what I did. Only requires 2 wires! I used Red White for the Orange White connection and Violet White for the Violet White connection to make it easier to identify later on. Doesn't matter which pin goes to which pin on both sides (pin 6 can go to pin 3 or 7 behind radio and pin 7 can go to pin 3 or 7 behind radio). I tested the controls both ways (pin 6 to 3/7 and pin 7 to 3/7) and it worked both ways. Since they are using the resistance value for the switch, it doesn't matter, but I color coordinated it anyway.

 

I cut Pin 7 at the B86 connector (under the steering column).

 

I spliced in using wire taps (vampire taps) Pins 6 and 7.

 

That's it. The illumination works fine (didn't have to do anything) but is on all the time and looks a little dimmer than the rest of the illumination in the car but I liked the idea of not having to cut any more wires!! So if you don't care about having illumination on all the time when the car is powered and don't care about it not being able to dim when you hit the dimmer switch in the car, then there is no problem there.

 

The only problem is now my air bag light is on.

I had the negative and positive terminals disconnected from the car until the steering wheel was reconnected. After starting the car, the air bag light came on...but i followed the direction EXACTLY.

 

I even torqued down the steering wheel (17mm nut) to the 45nM specifications.

 

Do you think this will be a problem when I bring it to my dealer and they see steering wheel mounted controls???

In no way is this trying to be mean... But are you sure you plugged in the air bag connectors? It is easy to double check.

Tomorrow I will re-read the post and double-check the wires you did and did not use.

Umm, that is the PDF for the sub-woofer install.

 

Tought it was a PDF for installing the audio controlls on an auto.

Nope just a pdf for stereo removal.

So just cut the wires of the shifter buttons and do the install as if it were a stickshift?

Yup.

Didn't trabbic get the filles?

Yes i did, posting up now. Sorry, got lost in the hustle...

Edited the directions to include this link:

http://www.trabbic.com/legacy/radio%20install.pdf

HE'S ALIVE !!!!!!

HAHA Yeah finally catching up on the boards. I feel like I have been gone for MONTHS!

So when are you gonna do this mod CasopoliS?

mvigneau, nothing really special. Trabbic's instructions are good. I do have the .pdf on getting to the radio, but I'm not sure how to post it. I tried attachng it, but it was too large. I did cut the shifter wires and haven't had any lights as of yet.

Email me the PDF and I will host it for you.

Well there you go guys, it is possible and works fine on an Automatic, good job mcsquish!

Sounds good, let me know...

balrock01 might do the install also, so maybe we can have a mini install day, it'll take only about an hour to do both, some install day huh![/font]

Well, I just found out that my new controls are backordered. Now I'm kind of glad I'm in Chicago. This way I'm not at home and waiting to install them.

Let me know if you need help, after all we are neighbors! If you wanted to come over and do the install here, we could probably knock it out in about 1/2 hour.

-Chris

The dealer i spoke to says this part just returns "Satillite controls" and no other info, and the 2 button shifter control is the picture shown. Bad info or generic picutre used ?

 

One interesting tidbit: For AT cars that remove the shift controls from the steering wheel... your car will throw a CEL. it will throw a code related to the transmision.

 

This sort of makes sense since according to the wiring diagram, the steering wheel controls are wired in series to the gear shifter.. allowing the shift up. down functionality. I was told to avoid doing this mod at all costs!

 

It seems to me that you simply need to just wire together the gear shift to the outgoing transmission wire, just like there was no control there in the first place, and that should solve the problem nicely.

 

The dealer I spoke too is not too mod friendly, so I won't get too much help on this from him...

Interesting...

Keep us informed on what you find.

That is exactly what I wrote last night BUT in Trabbics notes;...In a MT and 4EAT, 2, 6, 7, 8, are not used there are no wires running off of B68. This step that trabbic wrote is not true for 06's, or at least mine anyway...I have an 06 4EAT and my car is wired at B68 for the shifter controls...The only pin in B68 on my car that is missing a wire is pin6.

 

Interesting! Looks like all automatics use the same wiring harness. This is potential good news for those with 2.5i who want shifter controls...

I think that pin 4 on the roll connector is ground for the illumination. I know that if you touch pins 4 and 5 together, you'll sound the horn.

 

Don't ask how I know this.

That is correct, pin 4 on ST4 is ground.

I have a 5EAT and I DO NOT have illumination, so I would say it is not present.

 

Again...my shifter buttons DO NOT ILLUMINATE when the lights turn on!!\

 

Since I am doing other work to my vehicle, I will be installing these at the same time. I will try to take pics and do some additional investigation to the questions.

THANK YOU!

Feel free to contact me if you have questions, also I hope the info above helps a little.

Now to continue this discussion a basic diagram of the stereo controls:

ST4 is the green connector that is part of the switch assembly in all legacy's. In the MT's and 4EAT's this switch is only wired for the horn, one wire on pin 5. leaving 1-4 empty

In 5EAT's the green connector has the horn (Pin 5), and controls for the sport shift, these use pins 2,3 and 4. Leaving 1 empty.

In Cars equipped with steering wheel stereo controls they use pin 5 (horn), and pins 1,2,3,4 for the stereo controls. (1,2 for the actual control, and 3,4 for illumination.)

Now the wires on B68 that lead into the rest of the car are as follows (only the pins we are interested in):

Pin 3 = Horn

Pin 2, 7, 6, 8 = Depends on application (damn Subaru!)

In a 5EAT pins 2 and 7 are used to connect to the shift lever, and therefore into the TCM to control shifting. Pin 6 is not used. 8 is Ground

In a MT and 4EAT, 2, 6, 7, 8, are not used there are no wires running off of 868.

In a car with stereo switches from the factory, 6, and 7 go to the stereo (eventually), 2 is illumination control, 8 is Ground.

So, a person with a 5EAT or 2.5i MT, or 4EAT CAN install this.

Here are the preliminary procedures:

2.5i MT and 4EAT: SAME as a GT with Manual. Read the directions above and go to town.

5EAT: Follow steps 1-9. When you get to step 10 here are the differences:

1. You will have to cut the wires leading to the TCM, these are pins 2 and 7, the wire colors are:

Pin 2 (VW) Violet with White Stripe

Pin 7 (L) Blue

2. Leave enough room to reconnect them later if you want to go back to stock and to allow enough room to tap them. You may have to peel back several inches of tape covering the wire bundle.

3. Connect one of the control wires from the stereo to the wire coming out of pin 7 (Blue), and connect the other one (pin 6) as shown in the directions same as MT.

4. Then connect the illumination using Pin 2 wire (Violet with White stripe) to the violet with white stripe on the back of the stereo.

Some notes:

1. 2.5i cars, you MAY not have the correct roll connector, the only way to find out is to buy the wheel and connect it up. Worst case scenario is that you have to buy the roll connector from a GT. ($60) Also it has not been confirmed that the single disc stereo will accept the commands from the controls, but the wires have been confirmed to be there, so I would bet my money on the fact that they WILL work.

2. 5EAT cars, it is POSSIBLE, that the illumination may just work when you plug it in, but I doubt it. Also we may have to modify the above directions so that the dimmer switch works correctly. This is something to check when doing the install. So check illumination before you continue cutting wires.

I hope this answers some of the same questions I get a LOT and addresses some of the concerns of those with AT and the 2.5i

Basicly to make a long story short here we are only dealing with 2 wires (technicaly there are 4, the remaining 4 pins on ST4. remember there are 5 and pin #5 is the horn) but 2 wires are for illumination and on AT cars that is all set and are allready wired (don't know about MT's). On the wiring diagram 5EAT legacys use 2 pins for the shift control - pins 2 and 4, and on a legacy with audio controls it uses pins 1 and 2, pin # 3 is the ground. It's just a matter of removing the 2 shift wires and splicing the 2 to the stereo. YOU STILL have to add the 2 wires because the wire that would connect to pin 1 is blank on my connector.

 

Disclaimer - It might not be 100% but in theory I think that would work, any suggestions or corrections would be helpful and appreciated

thanks

Illumination should already be there if you have the shifter controls. So you are correct there are two wires to cut and run to the back of the stereo. It is FOR SURE, NOT there on the MT that is why I had to run wires for illumination.

Have you plugged in a stereo controls to make sure that the illumination uses the same wires for the shifter controls and the stereo controls? Nobody has actually done this to confirm they use the same pins. The AT control system wiring diagram contains no reference to illumination, only two control wires Pins 2,4 on the roll connector (ST4) and 7,2 on the Body unit (B68), and a ground pin 3 (ST4) and 8 on (B68).

I have asked 5EAT owners 1,000,001 times if the shift controls are illuminated, and have never received a response. One more time 5EAT, are your shifter controls illuminated on the steering wheel?

Now, for the steering wheel STEREO controls, the wiring diagram for the audio system does not even have ST4 on it (we can find that information elsewhere however). It does have B68 and what wires must leave that connector to go to B36 to control the stereo, and illumination. NONE of these wires exist on an MT. You MUST run all off them. they are pins 7, 6 (for stereo control), and 2 and 8 (for illumination). From the stereo remote switch diagnostic, we know that pins 1,2 on ST4 are used to control the stereo.

next, what all this crap means...

I don't understand how that works.

 

Or do you mean, as long as the resistance between the two is correct, it doesn't matter which direction it's set up?

Correct.

(Sorry for the delay, I did not get an email about your post... )

OK guys I am going to be trying, in the next couple of weeks, to figure out what other commands the stereo can handle besides the ones on the controls.

For example, when I was first hooking up the connections, I was able to make the stereo say "CALL" and it was muted while I held down the button.

This makes be believe that the stereo is programed to perform more than what the controls now send it.

I would like to ultimately have the MODE button setup to scroll through the channel presets. I don't know if that is even possible yet, but I plan on sending all kinds of signals to see what the stereo can do...

Here is what we know so far from the factory service manual:

MUTE - 22 Ohms

Volume + - 90 Ohms

Volume - - 200 Ohms

MODE - 360 Ohms

Seek + - 690 Ohms

Seek - - 1500 Ohms

Nominal - 4700 Ohms

OK I see what you guys mean now. Another crazy idea to throw into the mix for you two. I am assuming that all the buttons for the radio controls have different resistances and that’s how it all works. If this is the case then can’t we still use only one set of controls and make a small board to switch from one set of resistances to another. Like mute= 2.2 ohms and mode= 1.7 ohms so a board and switch could then be fabbed to switch the load and send the desired signal. I am just making up numbers but I think it will help you get my concept. I am sure the first board will require some planning and thinking out but it seems doable. I am really split right now because I hardly ever use the shifter buttons on the wheel rather I use the stick. After seeing the crazy good aftermarket install with the pioneer it all might be for nothing as that is a project I want to take on. Anyone feel like a road trip or a meet up to do some crazy stuff? Let me know what you guys think about the switch idea.

Sorry for the delay in replying...

A board may be possible depending on how the steering wheel shifter controls actually work.

You would have to run wires at the switch level to make something like this work, but I think that there is a little room in the steering wheel behind the air bag. It would be pretty complicated.

Not way off base, but a little.

 

The issue isn't the white harness behind the wheel, it's the roll connector in the wheel. The wires have to run through the roll connector (green harness on the wheel) so your wires don't tangle and bind when you turn the wheel. Otherwise, we're already just running the wires from the back of the roll connector essentially straight to the head unit (you're basically splicing into the back of the head unit).

 

What you need to find out is what the resistance is from the buttons on the shifter as compared to the resistance from the radio control buttons. Trabbic already knows the resistance for the radio buttons, so you'd just need to run a test on your steering wheel controls with a multimeter (I think, Trabbic can correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Then, there's still the question of which controls you want to keep and which you want to lose for the radio. If you just want volume and mute, you'll have your shifter controls on the left and radio on the right. If you want to be able to select tracks and source, you'll have those on the left, and shifter on the right but no volume. Or, you can get REALLY pioneering and build your own paddle set up and have those activated off the buttons for your shifter assuming the resistance is different.

 

I'll keep watching this one to see what Trabbic says.

This is 100% correct...

Thanks for typing it all up for me!

Brady, any more ghosts?

Everyone else, has anybody with an automatic done this yet?

I think that's got to be it... if they are just touching a little that will allow all buttons to work except the very low Ohm commands, IE the MUTE (22 Ohms). Pushing the horn in causes the wires to connect a little better and everything works again! And when you wiggled the wires it was better for a couple of days, right?

I think you got it there, keep us informed...