markmangicaro

(past owner is tapping from a fuse in the fuse panel) and I already checked it with my ohmmeter and it was ok.. the fuse for the radio is 3A and it's not blown. I can't tell where the wire is running but it's under the carpet and by that time I was pulling I got caught in the rain. Ah, ha! Now we're getting somewhere! If the harness has been modified there is a pretty good chance it is not as reliable as it was when it left the Subaru factory. The fact that it is running under the carpet leads me to believe this is the source of your troubles. There are two options I would recommend: OPTION 1 - The right way Find the correct wire and reattach it to the harness, replacing any length that has been damaged or is missing with the same gauge and color of wire. Run this wire where it is suppose to go or at the very least alongside other wires where it will be out of the way of any controls like steering, braking, and HVAC. Be sure to secure it with cable ties to keep it out of harm's way. Unless there is some reason you need power from an alternate source, for example if you are installing a high-current amplifier, this is the ideal option. Also get rid of the old wire. Improper and/or unidentified rouge wires traveling through your dashboard often lead to failure and/or confusion as you are currently experiencing. Unless you know the person who made this modification and can contact him/her, trying to figure out why this modification was made is pure guesswork and probably not worth your time. I do not know the specific path this wire should take, but perhaps another poster knows. OPTION 2 - The quick, but still safe, way Remove the fuse from the cigar lighter and solder an inline splice of the positive wire a few inches from the dashboard cigar lighter socket and run it up to your harness. Be sure to keep the wire clear of HVAC control operations. Cable ties are your friend. Remember to replace the fuse after you have insulated your splice. While this is in fact a rouge wire I described above it will be easy to trace since it is nearby. More importantly you can be sure it is not on a circuit with anything important, like the windshield wipers or something else that could interfere with the safe operation of the car.

If you squeeze the connection and power comes and goes, that would be indicative of a cold solder joint indicating that is a point of failure. Rather than waiting for the radio to power on (or off), try removing the harness completely and test it for resistance with an ohmmeter (the horseshoe setting on your multimeter). Since the harness is relatively short, your reading should be almost the same as touching the meter leads together. This should be the case even as you twist and bend the wires. (You'll almost certainly need two small clip leads to help in this process.) For many meters you will hear a "beep" to indicate a closed circuit immediately upon touching the wires. If the beep comes and goes as you twist the wires, again, that is a sign of a problem. If your meter is indicating some resistance (displaying a numerical value) that is not the end of the world but it should be the same for ALL of the wires in the harness. Since you indicate the constant power (preset memory) is working properly, use the pins on the yellow wire as a baseline. The speaker wires should also register this same value. I'm speaking, of course, of testing the end of each wire and the respective pin on the opposite side. As long as you are going through this process, you might as well test them all while it's on the bench. If wiggling the wires causes a short, carefully cut the heat shrink off, and re-solder the connection. In a perfect world you would strip the wires back to expose previously unsoldered strands, but that would obviously make a mess out of the harness, so I would try to re-use the exposed strands first. If need, you can always strip further back and use a short piece of spare wire making two connections to keep the harness neat. I'm not sure what you mean by "getting no power from the Ignition lead to the ground." However, another thing to look for would be a pinched or frayed wire causing the problem. If the hot lead were grounding out, you would likely blow a fuse, so I doubt that is the problem.

Sounds like you have a cold solder joint somewhere on the switched power circuit. If this is inside the radio it will likely be difficult to fix. The good news is it is more likely to be in the harness, which is much easier to fix. Check the red wire on the car end of the harness (probably red on the stereo end as well) and be sure it has a good connection. I always like to solder the harness together and then use heat shrink, but if you don't have a heat gun tightly wound electrical tape is almost as good. If you need to buy a new harness the Subaru end is most likely 70-7552. For some reason this is listed as a Nissan part, but I have used this harness in my 1996, 2001, and 2009 Subarus. You should be able to find it for about $10. You can probably order the Apline end as well, but I have no idea on the part number.

Your post indicates you are new so you may not realize that there is a classified forum where people looking to buy are more likely to find your ad. Here is the link to the "Subaru vehicles" sub-section. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=70 Good luck and welcome to USMB.

I replaced the stock unit in my 96 IMPREZA, model PF-9695A (says "C115" on the cassette slot), 2 years ago, and have the unit in front of me at the moment. There are only 3 connections on the back: multipin, DIN, and antenna. There are NO RCA jacks on it. We can safely assume that there are no line-level stereo outputs in the multi-pin either, since there are only 14 pins on it. The good news is, the unit is pretty easy to replace and there are plenty of units for < $100, that will be at least as good as the factory unit and have RCA outputs. Good luck.

I have recently taken my '96 Impreza to Romona Subaru on Hiawatha on 2 occasions and have been very happy with the way I was treated. In fact, I had the clicking situation, and they replaced my right CV joint. Prior to replacement in addition to clicking when turning left, it occasionally made sounds when stopping, especially at parking lot speeds. I have put over 600 miles on the car since havig the work done 12 days ago and have no problems. The service guys down there put the customer first; they recommened using an aftermarket CV joint that they have installed many times and it saved me around $200. When was the last time you had a dealer help you save money by suggesting non-OEM parts? I had taken the Impreza as well as my wife's '01 Forester to Bill Rapp many times and have unfortunately become disillusioned with them. The place is obscenely busy and they have more then once forgotten to perform specifc service I have requested. They have also tried to sell me PM work that they had already done a few hundred miles earlier! Taboo! Although both are listed as "Stellar Performers," my experience proves otherwise.

I was getting my car serviced at the dealer here in Upstate NY on Friday and had an hour to peruse the lot. No Tribeca's around here either.

Did you check to see if there was any corosion (sometimes greenish muck) on the battery and alternator connections? Assuming that is not the problem, I would jump start it again and DRIVE it. Don't just let it idle. If your battery was really dead, it may not fully charge until it has been driven at "normal" speeds for a while. Hook the meter up and drive it 10 miles or so on the highway where grid lock is not a problem. Have a passenger read the meter while you drive. If the voltage continually drops while you are drive above 45 MPH, you most likely have a bad alternator/regulator.

My '96 Impreza L (AWD, 5-speed, 2.2 liter) has 128,000 miles on it: about 10,000 in WA, 90,000 in Florida and 27,000 which I put on it in NY after buying it for $3,700 in May, 2003. I've found it to be very relialabe and pretty easy to work on. Awsome in snow and it has never let me down. However, I have had my share of oil leaks: crank oil seal (twice), valve covers and rear cam oil ring. Also replaced 1 ball joint, 1 wheel bearing, 1 CV joint and the knock sensor (emissions). Beyond that it has just been struts, tires, timing belt, muffler, oil and coolant changes and (soon to be) brakes... like ANY car. All told I have about $7,000 into the car and it now runs, drives and rides like it likely did when new. I can't complain. My wife drives a 2001 Forester ("S" 5-speed, 2.5 liter) with 57,000 miles that we bought new ($21,000) in May, 2001 and have done nothing other than routine maintenece (mentioned above) plus the knock sensor and winter related items (rear hatch seized once and road salt was causing calipers to stick). I do about half of the maintenance myself and this is a definate cost savings! The Impreza holds the road much better than the Forester during spirited driving (car vs. psuedo SUV) but the 2001 transmission has much better feel than the '96. Hopefully someone else here can tell you when this transformation occured. Fuel milage is about the same: 30 MPG on the highway if you keep it under 80, and mid 20s around town. I honestly do not know anybody who does not like their Subaru (personally know about 12 current owners- mostly Foresters). Even the former owners I know liked the Subies... but just wanted a change.

Sounds like you should retain council on this one. Since the car is at least 9 years old, it is hard to say if Subaru is at fault. Then again, a safety device should not potentially cause an accident. If the unnecessarily inflated airbag obstructed your view and hindered your ability to avoid a pedestrian, your situation would be MUCH worse. I’m not suggesting a premature lawsuit against SOA, but perhaps an attorney could give you advice on the insurance end as well. Airbags and windshields are not inexpensive to replace, you are no doubt looking at a 4-figue repair bill.

I bought one for my '96 Impreza on eBay for about $25 in June of 2003 from eBay member, "carmanualguy". The version I have consists of about 80 PDF files (Acrobat) and would be several hundred pages if I printed them all up. The disc has a lot of information way beyond my abilities, but I still find it useful. Navigation is pretty straightforard, occasionally I have to open 2 or 3 documents before I find the proper one, but it never takes more than 1 minute to find exactly what I need. All the diagrams say "courtesy Subaru of America" and have proven very accurate when taking the car apart. I have used it 6 or 7 times and it has certianly paid for it self many times over. Since it is a service manual it assumes you know how to do certian things (it does not describe an engine oil change for example) so in this respect it is much more advanced than a Haynes or Chilton book. I don't know if the disc is pirated, and frankly don't care. It works. friendly_jacek mentioned Mitchel software. I bought one of these CDs (from a different selller on eBay) for my Tacoma pickup and I agree, the Mitcehl CD is too cumbersome and not as useful as the one I bought for my Impreza from carmanualguy. If all you can find is Mitchel, it is better than nothing, but keep looking.