SVX / Legacy radio compatibility

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by SVXdc

Interesting. BTW, I call it a "7-position" connector since it has slots where up to 7 pins/wires could go. For reference, here's a close-up from your picture:

I thought I was seeing a 5th wire, but it must just be a shadow.

I have no doubt that the connector includes +12V Accessory, +12V Battery, and Ground (and those three are picked up by the cage's mating connector).

No surprise that Subaru omitted the motor antenna wire, since you have a separate switch for that.

Your 4th wire is Illumination + (at pin #5). So if you were to install an aftermarket radio that has a dimmer wire, you'd have something to connect it to


On the US cage, I'm able to temporarily open the door a little wider to slide in a double-DIN radio. I'll bet you could do that on the European cage as well.

I'll check this David

[b3lha]

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

Phil.

You are from Lincoln. Or thereabouts.


Explain?

Lincoln?

I have two of those inner cages. One is the same as yours, the other has a 14-pin plug. I thought the 14-pin one was from a UK SVX and the other was from a Legacy. But it appears I had them mixed up.

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by SVXdc

Thanks! I've been occasionally getting questions from other SVX owners in Europe, so all of these pictures give me a much better idea of how the factory radio is installed and wired.

Now I just need to figure out if Subaru changed to the single 14-pin harness (instead of the 7- and 9-position pair) at some later model year. Otherwise I'm not sure why Autoleads would say to use the adapter with the 14-pin connector.


Interesting. BTW, I call it a "7-position" connector since it has slots where up to 7 pins/wires could go. For reference, here's a close-up from your picture:

I thought I was seeing a 5th wire, but it must just be a shadow.

I have no doubt that the connector includes +12V Accessory, +12V Battery, and Ground (and those three are picked up by the cage's mating connector).

No surprise that Subaru omitted the motor antenna wire, since you have a separate switch for that.

Your 4th wire is Illumination + (at pin #5). So if you were to install an aftermarket radio that has a dimmer wire, you'd have something to connect it to


On the US cage, I'm able to temporarily open the door a little wider to slide in a double-DIN radio. I'll bet you could do that on the European cage as well.

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

I'll check this David

OK, I had a look at the wiring. You were correct David. There was a fifth [red] wire. It's actually visible in the wiring cord where it is taped farther back in the same picture.

Of the five wires coming into the connector, only three of them get connected to the unit. These are the blue with pink stripe on one side on its own, the black over on the other side and the brown with the red stripe. These two are on the opposite side of the connector.

The two redundant wires are red [or pink maybe?] with a black stripe and a plain red wire.

Do I understand you that possibly one of these unused pair could be used for a dimmer connection? And the other is possibly a live for an aerial feed?

So the smaller connector has 7 positions as you note. 5 wires are connected to it with two empty positions. 3 of the 5 are picked up by the unit.

The larger connector would be a 9 position model using the same logic. In this car it has 8 wires to it and one empty position in the centre.

I have a 95 UK car with the exact same radio, and I would presume it has the exact same pair of connectors. [In fact 2 connectors for the radio side and the other black connector for the CD controller side]

If there has been a change to a 14 pin harness I can only surmise that this change came with the 96/97 cars which were wired for OBD II. This would be a fundamental difference that could easily be checked with the owner. It's probably safe to assume that all early cars, 92-95, particularly 2-tone cars, are wired in the way these photos depict.

I hope that's a little clearer now.

Joe

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by b3lha

Lincoln?

I have two of those inner cages. One is the same as yours, the other has a 14-pin plug. I thought the 14-pin one was from a UK SVX and the other was from a Legacy. But it appears I had them mixed up.

I had drink taken when I posted that Phil. I figured that is what you meant.



Joe

[svxistentialist]

BTW I'm thankful you fellows were looking for help on this. I have not worked on the black car for 6 months, it has lain in a state of stripped wiring for some time while I concentrated on the other cars.

I discovered I have a family of blasted mice in the boot, and they have chewed up my upholstery foam and god knows what else! F ing bastids!

Since yesterday I have caught three of them, and I'm still in angry trapping mode.

Who knows what kind of damage they would have done if you guys had not been looking for information? Thank you both!

Joe

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

Of the five wires coming into the connector, only three of them get connected to the unit. These are the blue with pink stripe on one side on its own, the black over on the other side and the brown with the red stripe. These two are on the opposite side of the connector.

The two redundant wires are red [or pink maybe?] with a black stripe and a plain red wire.

Here is what you have:

Pin-out table for your 7-pin harness (from the car):

Pin Function                 Wire Color
1   +12V Accessory           Brown/Red
2   Illumination +           Red
3   +12V Battery             Blue/Red

4   Ground                   Black
5   Illumination – (Dimmer)  Red/Black
6   Power Antenna            NC
7   unused                   NC

Pin-out table for the matching 7-pin harness (going to your cage):

1   +12V Accessory   Red
2   Illumination +   NC
3   +12V Battery     Yellow

4   Ground           Black
5   Illumination –   NC
6   Power Antenna    NC
7   unused           NC

NC = No Connection

Do I understand you that possibly one of these unused pair could be used for a dimmer connection? And the other is possibly a live for an aerial feed?

Both of your two "extra" wires are for illumination/dimmer.

Illumination + is open-circuit when the lights are off, and +12V when the parking lights or headlights are on.

Dimmer (Illumination –) is open-circuit when the lights are off, and a variable voltage when the lights are on. Voltage is determined by the dimmer ring on the stalk. This wire approaches 0 volts for "brightest" and +12V for dimmest (which is backwards from what you might expect). That's just the way Subaru does it.

The dashboard light bulbs are connected between these two lines.

Aftermarket radios that have a "dimmer" lead usually want you to connect it to the car's "Illumination +" wire.

[UPDATE: Pins 2 is Illumination +, pin 5 is Dimmer (illumination –). Wire colors were/are correct.]

[svxistentialist]

Thanks for the info David.

Please feel free to download any of the images in my Photo Post folder if they may be of use to you on your website.

Joe

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

BTW I'm thankful you fellows were looking for help on this. ...

I discovered I have a family of blasted mice in the boot, and they have chewed up my upholstery foam and god knows what else! F ing bastids!

Yikes! Well that's definitely the first time my asking radio/wiring questions has helped with a vermin problem. But you're welcome!

[svxistentialist]

Heh Heh.

I have trapped three so far, and no more seem to be going for the bait, so I reckon I have won the battle.

Because the rear lights were letting in some moisture I left the plugs out of the wheel-well in the boot.

That's where the furniture chewing bastages got in!

So anybody out there with these plugs pulled out should be wary of this problem.


Joe

[svxistentialist]

OK David

As per your excellent advice I have now replaced the large pictures with thumbnails to make it better for those with slow connections and to ease on bandwidth usage.

Thanks for the methodology, I'll be making more use of this.

As for my mice, I have now caught four, and they are taking no more bait, so I think they are all gone.

I think I will replace the plugs in the wheel well with metal grids that will let out moisture, but also keep out mice. That could permanently solve my problem.

Joe