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Problem: No illumination lights (Dash, dials, etc)???


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Vehicle Info: 2006 Impreza Limited WRX Sport Wagon

 

Ok I am not sure what is going on right now.

I been working on my car and I was installing a new radio Pioneer 930BT touchscreen nav unit.

 

The only other thing I installed was hardwiring in the unit for my Valentine 1 radar detector, and a 3 port cigarette lighter. Both are wired to the fuse panel 10A points.

 

I was heading out to pick up dinner and realized that I did not have any dash lights at all. I then went to check and found out the illumination 10A fuse was blown.

 

So I replaced the 10A fuse and realized that as soon as I turn the headlights on it blows the fuse to my illumination lights.

 

I have unplugged both the of the hardwired items (valentine 1 and 3 port cigarette lighter adapter) and put fuses back in, did the same thing and as soon as I turned on my headlights the illumination fuse blew.

 

I do not know what could be causing this or what is happening.

 

Also I took the ground wire that was connected to the side of the stock factory radio and grounded it to the same spot on the pioneer radio. Again not sure if the radio is the problem or causing the issue some how.

 

It is only blowing when I turn the parking or headlights on.

 

I have also pulled the radio out with nothing connected as well as the v1 and aux cig and it blew. When I turned on lights.

 

Tried again with only factory radio in and same outcome.

 

I got my multimeter out and put it in continuity testing.

With the car off, I pulled fuse #12 (BTW it is fuse #12 that keeps blowing), I put the black on a ground and the red into the fuse prong. I got a beap when I did, from both holes.

 

I also tried it on fuse #13 but got nothing (I did not try to test it with the car in the start position though, but off got nothing).

 

I went back and checked all the wires in the radio area and cannot find any exposed wires, anything that looks to be pinched at all. At least not from my eyes. I may look at again.

 

 

 

But any help is totally greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

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I saw a post http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=64758&page=2

 

Someone mentions they may have damaged the illumination control module (which they said they think is under the dash around the radio) when they were doing whatever they were doing.

 

Would a bad illumination control module were bad would this the issue that seems like a short or something that would end up causing fuse #12 to blow all the time?

 

Thanks

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One because I like the features of the aftermarket radio. I did not plan on having this issue after installing the aftermarket radio.

 

Now even with the stock radio installed I have the same problem.

I even have the same problem with no radio installed. So one way or another I have a problem.

 

If I would have known about issues for everything that I did after the fact I probably would have done something else or not did it at all.

 

It was not like hey if you install an aftermarket radio you are going to have no lights. I know many people who have changed out there factory radios without any problems at all.

 

Unfortunately I had a problem.

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Does the after market unit have a wire for dimmer control?

All of the dash lighting is powered AND grounded by the illumination control module. Hooking up to one side (power) may have damaged the module.

 

I've also seen many Subarus with aftermarket stereos installed with no trouble. I'm guessing that somewhere along the line you accidentally pinched a wire or tapped off of the wrong one and caused a short.

 

The test now will be to find the illumination module and unplug it, then see if the fuse still blows when the lights are turned on.

 

Scroll back (from last page to the first) through this thread of "vacation pics" posts and you'll surely find some relevant info for your year, or at least close to it. http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/wants-see-my-vacation-pixi-6216.html?p=2717922

The links at the beginning don't work anymore for the most part, but the ones in back are still fresh. :D

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I don't know if it's the same on your's but a friend's college son put in a radio in his 98 OBS.

 

The lights all grounded through either the radio or ash tray light. With the wires disconnected, he saw 12vdc sitting there looking for a ground.

 

He thought it was a power wire and hooked it up to the radio power wire along with the correct power wire.

 

He lost all of his dash lights and blew the fuse.

 

Sounds like you have the same thing going on.

 

Did you use a adapter plug or hard wire the radio? I'd disconnect what you think are the power wires going into your new radio and then check it again.

 

I bet you find one of them is a ground wire with 12 volts looking for a ground.

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my thoughts: i had/have the same issue. i put in aftermarket headunit (yes i cut n spliced) BUT i left the illumination wire alone (cut and taped up) i now have no dashlights, or heater control lights or gear select lights. i think me and you have the same problem and i know it has something to do with that damn illumination wire....just i dont know whether it has to be grounded or hooked up with another wire to work. for now i use autozone cig lighter plug in lights....good ol cheapos are getting me through this lol

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Think the ground wire to radio chassis is part of the issue. That will do nothing for a aftermarket, as the ground is in the wire out the back, and black. Putting the stock ground chassis wire to the new chassis is not what the new radio is looking for

 

stock radio is different setup.

 

also, in my experience, the aftermarket radios cannot accept "dimmer" input from a Japanese make car. They can only accept "illumination" so you need to cut out the dimmer wire and not even hook it to the aftecrap/market radio.

 

The "dimmer wire" on the aftemarket radio would work with a USA made car, but no Japanese car i know of. Not Honda, not nissan, not toy, not subaru.

Edited by bheinen74
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To help clear some confusion up on the way the illumination control works for the dash lights let me say this. Power for the lights passes through a fuse and on to the lights usually on a violet wire. The return side off the lights then ties to a module that is controlled by the dimmer control. The module varies the amount of resistance to ground electronically and so changes the light intensity.

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Always great to get info from someone who actually knows what they're talking about. :D

 

Based on what Cougar said, this makes a little more sense.

Also helps to find an FSM for it. :D

 

The illumination wires for the radio in the dash harness need to be found and removed or taped off in the stereo harness adapter.

They are:

Purple wire according to the FSM, is power from Fuse 12 to the lighting in the radio. Pin 1 on the harness connector.

Orange w/ White wire is the ground side of the lighting circuit. It goes to the BIM Body Integrated Module, which controls the illumination. Pin 7 on harness connector.

Pins 1 and 7 are the top and bottom pins on the far left side.

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Basic Electric Resistance Formulas

R = E / I

 

R = E2/ W

 

R = W / I2

 

:brow:

 

If you have a circuit that has a X rated fuse and it keeps blowing then you

are drawing too much current for the intended curcit and the blowing fuse

is just doing it's job. you need to figure out what the total draw of each

part of the circuit is and then find out if there is any excess current allowed

in the circuit. if not, then you will have to find another power source that does

have capacity on it.

 

I just installed a new sterio in my 1992 Legacy wgn and it had two avalibale power wires

for the radio. both were Red/white but were drawing from two different circuits.

Edited by mwbean
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