Moosen Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I just installed a new headunit with a new wire harness and it powers up great but no sound comes out of speakers. i have read some things about running new wire. but how do it do that? and how do i know which is positive and which is negative. etc.? is it hard? is that my problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal_look_zero Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 When you say new wire harness, did you buy an adapter to wire into the head unit that plugs right into the stock wiring? Something like this: http://www.discountcarstereo.com/Best-Kits-BHA8900-Radio-Replacement-Harness-for-select-1955-94-Subaru-DL-and-GL.html If so, it's hard to cross up the wiring since they're usually colored like the aftermarket deck. If you tapped into the stock harness, I would guess crossed wires. Subi colors were all over the place for radio wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosen Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 When you say new wire harness, did you buy an adapter to wire into the head unit that plugs right into the stock wiring? Something like this: http://www.discountcarstereo.com/Best-Kits-BHA8900-Radio-Replacement-Harness-for-select-1955-94-Subaru-DL-and-GL.html If so, it's hard to cross up the wiring since they're usually colored like the aftermarket deck. If you tapped into the stock harness, I would guess crossed wires. Subi colors were all over the place for radio wiring. Yeah i go one like that. plugs right in. but the speakers obviously arent right. somebody said they are grounded different or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal_look_zero Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Hm, well I don't know enough about it yet to say for sure. I'm installing my head unit tomorrow morning, so if I figure anything out on my own from that, I'll let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractor pole Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 does your car have factory rear speakers? if so, they are a common ground system. which means right side front and rear share a ground wire and the same with the left. the wires are located in the drivers and passengers kick panel. you need to run speaker wires to the kick panels and cut the rear speaker wires and connect them to the speaker wire you ran, this should fix your problem. it is also possible that you have a speaker wire grounded out. Hope that helps Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eulogious Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 The subaru system is a common ground system, which will not work with an aftermarket HU. You need to rewire the exsisting wire, or run all new wire. I just ran all new wire, it was easier that way. The biggest issue with this is getting the wire from the passenger compartment into the door. That took a little bit of fiddling to get it working, but I managed to get it done. I also ran 2 sets of wires, one set for my tweets, the other for the woofer, so it was 2x as much work. But well worth it in the end! This is part of the reason I don't buy those wiring kits. In a subaru, you only need 3 wires to get the radio to work (batt, ign, ground), since you will most likely be running new wires for your speakers. So there is no need to connect up all the other wires, since they don't get used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykeys Toy Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 If you look carefully the wires mentioned above can be removed from the plug individually. That way you aren't cutting the harness. To run speaker wire is not that difficult. Your new deck will tell you which one is + and - you only need to decided which of wire you want to use for positive and which for negative on the new roll of speaker wire. Then fish it through. going into doors is a pita just make sure you leave enough that it doesn't get caught in the window mechanism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosen Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 does your car have factory rear speakers?if so, they are a common ground system. which means right side front and rear share a ground wire and the same with the left. the wires are located in the drivers and passengers kick panel. you need to run speaker wires to the kick panels and cut the rear speaker wires and connect them to the speaker wire you ran, this should fix your problem. it is also possible that you have a speaker wire grounded out. Hope that helps Ben Wait so i can just connect the existing wires in the kick panels to new wire? Also what about front speakers? Cause i haven't even connected the rears at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractor pole Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Wait so i can just connect the existing wires in the kick panels to new wire? Also what about front speakers? Cause i haven't even connected the rears at all. So it sounds like you have another problem. when I put the head unit in my Loyale, I only used the harness I bought and did not touch the wires in the kick panels. I am 99% sure I did not hook up the rear speakers to the install harness. so if you did hook up the rears at the harness disconnect them and see if it works. Also some head units have a built in protection circuit that will protect the built in amplifier from being damaged by a blown speaker or shorted wire. first thing I would do is use a volt-ohm meter to see if any of the speaker wires are shorted to ground, then measure for a resistance for the speakers(it should be between 2-10 ohms, I am not sure what the stock ones<generally between 8 and 10ohm> and most aftermarket speakers are 4 ohm.) since all the wires can be accessed from the back of the radio I would start there then move to the kick panels if you find anything not right. another thing you can do if you have a known good speaker laying around is disconnect all the speaker leads and hook the known good one up to test the decks and see if it even works. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 you can make it work with the common ground. Gang the front and rear left grounds together, and same for the right. Run each individual positive leads to their assigned speakers. on the stereo side, you can either gang the left front and rear ground wires together, or just use one and tape off the other, same with the right. the front and rear speakers will share the same ground(s) from the left and the right side, respectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosen Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 you can make it work with the common ground. Gang the front and rear left grounds together, and same for the right. Run each individual positive leads to their assigned speakers. on the stereo side, you can either gang the left front and rear ground wires together, or just use one and tape off the other, same with the right. the front and rear speakers will share the same ground(s) from the left and the right side, respectively. So I just do it on the stereo side? like mate my front left and rear left ground wires from the deck and then mate those both to the front left and rear left ground wires of the harness? so i essentially have 4 wires being mated together? and same for the right side as well? and just connect all the positives regularly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosen Posted October 15, 2011 Author Share Posted October 15, 2011 bump for help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 (edited) On the '88 GL Wagon I have, I ran new speaker wire to where the Factory connectors are feeding out to each door speaker. Didn't feel like fishing the new wire thru each of the flex tubes going to the doors. Cut needed connectors from an old harness I had, and solder/heat shrinked them onto the new speaker wires. Front connectors are behind the kickpanels on each side. "T" shaped, Blue & White wires, Thinking they are Pink in color but not 100% right now. Rear connectors are under the frontdoor sillplate trim and the plastic shield found there. White connectors, Blue & White wires on the door side. When I installed the new speakers, I cut the wires from the old ones and soldered those to the speakers Edited October 15, 2011 by TomRhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjimd Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 check this page out maybe something there will help you get your mind around this. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-A9Nanj9KyWJ/App/learn/InstallationGuides.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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