badjer Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Hi all, I am having a time replacing the factory standard stereo in my 96 outback. It is the dual size one with the tape deck and CD changer under the passenger seat. It works fine except for the front speakers only come on if the head unit is hot enough- as in baked in the sun hot. The AC cools it down and the front speakers quit. So, to make a long story only medium long, a few years ago I bought from someone on the board an in dash CD changer out of a WRX- it should have been a straight plug and play switch from what I had been told and by looking at the wiring harness diagrams. It didnt make any sound. Turned on, tuned, switched CDs and said it was playing them, just no sound. I figured the amp was bad so back in went the original unit. This week I took the plunge again, and ordered a head unit from Crutchfield. It came in all its glory with directions, wiring harness, and even a dash pocket. Wired it up per instructions, plugged it in, and POOF! worked great, except for no sound. Their technical support tried a little while (check the fuses, are the speakers connected, blah blah blah), but eventually the guy told me I probably needed to 'reset' the unit which involved unplugging it for 15 minutes and if that didnt help to call tech support back. (I figure his break was coming up about then...). Of course the reset did not help. I wondered if perhaps the speakers werent paired as indicated by the wiring diagrams, So I undid all the wiring between the reciever back and the complimentary crutchfield harness, and began systematically pairing the speakerwires. 1 combination did lead to music coming from the left front speaker, but nothing else did anything useful. I am sure I tried all the combinations possible except those involving the power antenna wire, switched and unswitched power, and the ground. So, any thoughts as to why my particular Baru is not cooperating with the stereo wiring? Any suggestions? hope this made sense- thanks for your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPX Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 You probably have shorts in the speaker wiring somewhere in the dash. When the vent flaps and controls move, they must be making the wires move around too. Wires between the doors and the pillars might also need to be checked. Try taking apart the door and running a test wire from the speaker directly the to head. Worst case, the short messed up your head unit's speaker out connections I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Access a DVM (digital volt meter) and measure the resistance across the pair of wires leading to the left speaker. Do the same for the speaker wires leading to the right speaker. In both cases you should read between 5 and 25 ohms (assuming you have 8 or 16 ohm speakers). A very high or "open" reading means that you have a break in the wiring or a bad speaker. Also use the DVM to measure the resistance between wires leading to each speaker and ground on car's chassis. It should read "open" or extremely high. The most likely problem is a break in the speaker wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Unless there is another amp between your unit and the speakers then the speakers should tie directly to the unit. Checking the resistance of each of the speakers like TD mentioned should tell the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjer Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 So how do I determine which 2 wires are going to a single speaker? Do I use the crutchfield guide? thanks for your input. Also, could I find the same thing out just by touching the wires to a little 9 volt battery and getting static? thanks badjer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 So how do I determine which 2 wires are going to a single speaker? Do I use the crutchfield guide? thanks for your input. Also, could I find the same thing out just by touching the wires to a little 9 volt battery and getting static? thanks badjer I would use the subaru wiring diagram, with the Crutchfield as a backup. No, a 9v battery is DC, and you need AC to get sound (other than a pop) out of the speakers. Run a pair of jumper wires from the back of the headunit (you know, you can probably still use that WRX unit. It works. Also the factory unit also still works. The problem sounds (sorry) like it is in the wires or speakers themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 So how do I determine which 2 wires are going to a single speaker? Do I use the crutchfield guide? thanks for your input. Also, could I find the same thing out just by touching the wires to a little 9 volt battery and getting static? thanks badjer Actually, you probably could use a 9V battery. The moment when you first touch the battery to the speaker wires should make some sound out of the speakers. But a 9V battery is DC voltage, ONLY the touching of the battery to the wires will make a sound. Keeping the battery on the speaker wires will do nothing except maybe damage your speakers. But using a 9V battery isn't the best idea, anyway. I wouldn't do it. You have a 96. Does your car have removable speaker grills, my 99 Forester did. If so, it's real easy to pop the grills. So, pop the grills and check the color of the speaker wires. While you're in there, make sure the wires are connected to the back of the speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjer Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 Hi again Thanks for your input- I will try to figure out today if there are shorts in the speaker wires. I am still wondering though- if its shorts in the wires, why do the rear ones work just fine with the original unit, but not a peep with either of the newer units- shouldnt they have worked just fine on the rear speakers too? - am I missing something? thanks again badjer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 If the old one worked ok and the new one doesn't then it would seem the new one is miswired somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjer Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 If the old one worked ok and the new one doesn't then it would seem the new one is miswired somehow. I guess that is my point- I would guess the old head unit has a short IN it where the front speakers dont always make sound. I think the wires are fine,but the head unit isnt. What I am wondering is if it is possible the wiring harness in my car is different somehow, is there another amp or something someplace that that makes it so even another Subaru head unit (from a newer WRX) and the crutchfield diagrams dont apply to this car for some reason even though the harnesses plug right into the car harness? If so.. how does one figure out how to get it wired correctly- or is it something that a car stereo shop can do easily? thanks for all the input badjer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 If there was an amp, say under a seat, that could easily cause that problem. By now you would have saved a lot of time if you just ran new speaker wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Boncyk Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Guys, the old audio engineer in me is crying out, "Don't Do That!!" By That, I mean using a 9V battery to test for continuity to your speakers. It would probably be OK for a brief tap across the leads, but if you connect a 9V battery for a sustained period of time across an 8 ohm speaker, you're flowing more than an amp thru its voice coil. That is equivalent to about 10 watts continuous power -- and that is using the higher AC value of impedance for the speaker's voice coil. The DC resistance is usually much less than AC impedance, more like on the order of 1-2 ohms. For a 2 ohm load, you're dissipating over 40 watts into that poor boy. If you leave that 9V battery connected for more than a fraction of a second you'll likely do some damage to the speakers since the stock stereo speakers in the Subes of that generation are rated at only 25W peak power -- more like 12-14 watts continuous. The test that you propose is more safely done with a 1.5V D cell, and 1.5 volts is more than enough to give you some audible scratching noises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheYeti Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Does your outback have the OEM speakers in the front, or are they aftermarket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Wen i put my pioneer deck into my 97obw i used the crutchfeild adapter. That only left the power antenna to figure out. When i was using the sooby wireing digram from the haynes manual, for some reason it did not reflect reality. Worse case scenario is to temprarily run wires from the head unit to the door speakers to see if the speakers even work. If they do then its either a wiring issue, or the wires themselves. With the door panels off you can take a meter to the wires end to end to see if a wire is open. Thats what i had to do. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjer Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 Ok, thanks for all the advice- It seems to me the easiest thing would be to use the crutchfield adapter and the car harness to supply the ground, power (switched and unswitched) etc to the head unit, and then take the speaker outs off the head unit and just run new wires to the speakers. I would probably be done by now if I had gone ahead and done that right away! Anyway, any tips/suggestions and best methods for running new wires to the speakers? Is one route to the back speakers better than another? Thanks again! badjer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fnlyfnd Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 follow all the old wires, that would prolly be the best way. Dont put speaker wires near power wires. BEFORE you do this, do.... If your going to run new wires, then simply take off the door panels, hook up the head unit and just run the wires to the speakers directly. Do this with the head unit on top of the dash and the speakers just laying on the floor. Do Not run the speaker wires until you determine that the stock wires are bad. - You do not have to use the wirring harness, just hook up power, ground...then here are the colors for the speaker wires coming directly off your aftermarket deck: White - driver Gray - passenger Purple - back pass. Green - back driver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjer Posted May 10, 2006 Author Share Posted May 10, 2006 Hi all, thanks for the suggestions and ideas. Anyway, I went back to it today with the idea of just running new speaker wires as needed. I figured I could hook up the power leads to the harness, then do the speakers individually with new wires until all were hooked up. Here is how things went. On the kitchen table, I hooked the new head unit up to the Crutchfield harnesss- I only did the power leads, the ground, and the power antenna. On a whim, I hooked up the leads for the L back speakers. Went back to the car, plugged it in, and VIOLA! the L back speakers made sound. Encouraged, I hooked up the R back speakers.. sound again! The R front speakers also worked on the first try. Last but not least, were the left fronts. I hooked up the black/white lead off the head unit to the white/black lead to the harness first and poof.. instant death of all sound! Turned off the radio.. back on again and 3 speakers were back so I tried again, instant death. Repeat once more, since I am stupid. Hook up white lead first to white lead.. no death.. then finally.. hook up the white/black to the white /black, and VIOLA! 4 speakers, all with sound. The rest was uneventful and I am just happy that it actually works. So, I guess I am not sure what this actually all means, other than I guess in my car the order of wiring things up makes a difference! thanks for the help! badjer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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