travis1990 Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I know this subject has been brought up on this forum 100's of times before, but theres still some questions I haven been able to find the answer to. 1. I'm having trouble understanding exactly what the issue is with the common ground setup. From what I understand the Right front/back and Left front/back each have their own circuit. Are they in series or parallel? Is there a diagram I could look at? 2. I've read that I need to run new speaker wires from the front speakers on each side up to the radio harness. Where and how do I tie this into the harness? 3. On the front passenger side one blue wire and one white wire goes into the pink connector and two blue and one white come out. Should I tie the two blue wires into one wire to run up to the radio? My car is an 86 GL wagon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 If it were me, I'd get this harness plug. http://cgi.ebay.com/110643202968 You can plug this into the factory harness in the dash, and just tap into the power and ign. leads off of it, to your stereo. Run new speaker wires from your speakers directly into the harness coming off the back of your stereo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickolai Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Are you installing a factory or aftermarket stereo? Do you know what each wire coming out of the stereo is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travis1990 Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 Are you installing a factory or aftermarket stereo? Do you know what each wire coming out of the stereo is? Its an aftermarket stereo. I've already got the dash kit and everything, i'm just a bit confused on the wiring. Behind the radio theres a really thick black wire, I assume this is the antenna. Is that correct? I have the color index for each wire on the new radio and I came across one for the harness in the car but can't find it now. When I use the search function sometimes I get a "database error" other times only a few results show up. I don't know if its a problem with my browser or what. My question now is why there is two blue wires coming out of the pink plug on the front passenger side? Should I just tie those into one wire then run it up to the stereo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 My question now is why there is two blue wires coming out of the pink plug on the front passenger side? Should I just tie those into one wire then run it up to the stereo? The black wire is probably a ground wire, but that's just a guess. You should not use any of the factory wiring to connect your speakers. You should run your own, new wiring, from the back of the stereo harness to each speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Have you read the "Stereo Tips and Tricks" forum on the board here? It's in the Ultimate Subaru Repair Manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickolai Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 + 1 on running your own speaker wires. The stock ones are small and often times it's hard to figure out which one is going where. They're more trouble than they're worth. When I installed my stereo, I was fortunate enough to have tons of wire from an old Dodge Colt that I stripped. I made 4 different pairs of wires of decent size, taped each pair together, and ran them to the 4 speaker locations which were in the doors. You will have to remove some interior paneling and stuff to hide the wires properly. The antenna wire should be the thickest there, black, and plug directly into the back of the stereo. With the speaker wires figured out, you should have 3 or maybe 4 wires left. I don't think you have a power antenna, so if your stereo has a wire labeled for this or something similar, don't hook it up. It's a good idea to put a wire nut or tape on the end of it to keep it from shorting as this wire has power. There should be a black ground wire, or 12v-. This can be secured to the body anywhere there is a good ground. The other 2 wires will be 12v constant, and 12v switched. If you have a voltmeter you can check the factory plug for a wire that is always hot. If you find one, hook it to to the 12v constant. If not, you can search under the dash for an unused plug that always has power. For the switched wire, you want to find a wire that has power when the key is turned to acc. All these (ground, 12v switched, 12v constant) should be in the factory radio harness, but I've dealt with situations where they weren't. Sorry if this is too much of an essay! lol What are you using to connect the wires together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travis1990 Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 I guess I'll be running all new speaker wires then. I was hoping I only had to do the front ones though. While were on the subject of sound. How big of speakers could I put in this beast? Will 6.5" fit? I'm using insolation-less butt connectors with heat shrink tubing. I can solder I just don't feel like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickolai Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 The limiter on size is the depth of the speaker, as the doors are not very wide, especially when you factor in wanting to be able to roll down the windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obk25xt Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) You can put bigger/deeper speakers in if you cut out the factory grilles on the doors and mount to the outside of the panels. I used the factory common ground system with an adapter plug. This is the first time I've EVER used on of those. It sounds good.... Unless I mess with the fader, or balance (can't remember which one off hand). Then it'll start to distort somewhat. I pretty much just didn't want to pull wires through the little rubber door grommets. Call me lazy but I'm totally satisfied with the way it turned out. Front doors are 6.5" components with the crossovers mounted in the map pocket. (pictured...) Rear doors are the same speakers except they are 2 ways instead of components. I used a 1/4" spacer to keep the depth usable in the rears. Edited February 5, 2011 by obk25xt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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