97 subaru outback stereo problems

[Harrison]

i know this isnt a commodore, so if this thread is a problem feel free to remove it but im stuck.. deep deep in a rut and clueless how to get out.

i am doing my mates headunit.. we had a go tonight but i had a headache and shakey hands wasnt feeling too good at all. didnt have any luck, fuses are all good but what is happening is i am not getting any love when i turn the car 'on' the headunit wont light up.

just wondering if there is any other things that could trigger it to go foul on me...
ive done a few headunits but never a subaru is there something different with this form of headunit?
(also i tried 2 seperate aftermarket headunits as i thought the first one may have been the problem but that wasnt the case.



the wire colours are as follows

Blue/yellow, red/white, yellow (silver dots), yellow/green, red/yellow, blue/red, green/orange, black (silver dots), white/green, brown/white, green (silver dots), white/red, red/black


primary color/stripes



i found on the net the wiring for a 97 outback but the colours are all completely different to the ones in the car...

PLEASE HELP!!
thanks in advance guys

[HCVP]

Is it powering on at all? Is the head unit earthed out correctly? and can you identify the earth wire?
Otherwise as far as wiring up a head unit goes, it's basically the same each time( unless were dealing with certain power/electrical accseosires)

You have a constant power wire, this is your 12V wire, which is responsible for sending power to the head unit
You also have an accsesoires wire, this is what powers the unit on and off.
You have your earth wire, usually quite easily distinguished from your regular 12v and accsesoires wire

From then on it's just a matter of connecting your speakers in correct polarity.

Are you dissconecting the battery whilst your doing this? If not, do so, and it wouldn't hurt to double check all your fuses just incase while your at it..

[Harrison]

Is it powering on at all? Is the head unit earthed out correctly? and can you identify the earth wire?
Otherwise as far as wiring up a head unit goes, it's basically the same each time( unless were dealing with certain power/electrical accseosires)

You have a constant power wire, this is your 12V wire, which is responsible for sending power to the head unit
You also have an accsesoires wire, this is what powers the unit on and off.
You have your earth wire, usually quite easily distinguished from your regular 12v and accsesoires wire

From then on it's just a matter of connecting your speakers in correct polarity.

Are you dissconecting the battery whilst your doing this? If not, do so, and it wouldn't hurt to double check all your fuses just incase while your at it..

thankyou for extremely quick response, i didnt even have time to fart.

as to what i've done... no battery was not discon, did check every single fuse under the interior panel though... not sure if there are any others in this model?

ground is about the only cable i was 100% certain of, i put a multi on the other cables but only found some with like... .06 of a volt, that didnt seem right to me?
hadnt connected any speakers or anything only the 3 power cables... and did check fuses in headunits..

why do i volunteer to help friends out... now he has my commo and im stuck with his 4cyl AWD haha

[holdenboy]

There could be a fuse thats radio related under the bonnet, most of the time thats the constant power fuse. I find it strange you cant find any wires with ~12v? You should find one that has 12v all the time, and one that has 12v with the key is turned to accessories. Are you sure the ground probe of the multimeter to proper ground? Try using the outer ring of the antenna, 99% of the time its grounded at the antenna so it makes a good spot for the negative probe etc.
Also, never use the ground in the stock wiring, your far better off to run your own from a solid piece of metal in the dash / stereo area.


Are you sure these arent the wiring colours?

1997 Subaru Outback Car Radio Installation Instructions
Car Radio Battery Constant 12v+ Wire: Red/Green
Car Radio Accessory Switched 12v+ Wire: Blue/Yellow
Car Radio Ground Wire: Black
Car Radio Illumination Wire: Red
Car Stereo Dimmer Wire: N/A
Car Stereo Antenna Trigger Wire: N/A
Car Stereo Amp Trigger Wire: N/A
Car Stereo Amplifier Location: N/A
Car Audio Front Speakers Size: N/A
Car Audio Front Speakers Location: N/A
Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Yellow
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Red
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): White
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Black
Car Audio Rear Speakers Size: N/A
Car Audio Rear Speakers Location: N/A
Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Yellow/White
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Red
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Blue
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Black

[Harrison]

There could be a fuse thats radio related under the bonnet, most of the time thats the constant power fuse. I find it strange you cant find any wires with ~12v? You should find one that has 12v all the time, and one that has 12v with the key is turned to accessories. Are you sure the ground probe of the multimeter to proper ground? Try using the outer ring of the antenna, 99% of the time its grounded at the antenna so it makes a good spot for the negative probe etc.
Also, never use the ground in the stock wiring, your far better off to run your own from a solid piece of metal in the dash / stereo area.


Are you sure these arent the wiring colours?

1997 Subaru Outback Car Radio Installation Instructions
Car Radio Battery Constant 12v+ Wire: Red/Green
Car Radio Accessory Switched 12v+ Wire: Blue/Yellow
Car Radio Ground Wire: Black
Car Radio Illumination Wire: Red
Car Stereo Dimmer Wire: N/A
Car Stereo Antenna Trigger Wire: N/A
Car Stereo Amp Trigger Wire: N/A
Car Stereo Amplifier Location: N/A
Car Audio Front Speakers Size: N/A
Car Audio Front Speakers Location: N/A
Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Yellow
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Red
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): White
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Black
Car Audio Rear Speakers Size: N/A
Car Audio Rear Speakers Location: N/A
Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Yellow/White
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Red
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): White/Blue
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Black

thats the cable code i found on the net but it just doesnt seem to have any luck and i dont think the cables match up... it says constant is green/red the closest i can find is like green/orange and i dont seem to be getting current through, ill go check the under bonnet fuses and have another crack... thanks for your help i knew this was the right place to ask