Cougar

I think 12 volts is applied to the lead coming from the head unit as long as the head unit is turned on.

Here is a link to some info that can help you out. It looks like the turn on control lead for the amp is on pin 5 of the DIN plug which would be the top pin in the middle row of the DIN connector in your picture if I understand it correctly. http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/69-audio-video-security-navigation/4426-pinout-13-pin-din-amp-connector-mcintosh-hus.html Here is another link with a lot of more good info. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10308977&postcount=12

I agree with MilesFox. The fusible link connections are a common place to have bad connections that can cause this kind of trouble. While your checking that it may be a good idea to also clean the battery connections since that is another common place for problems that a lot of people neglect to keep clean.

Okay, I thought all the Loyales from that era had that parking switch on top of the column. Thanks for the notice l75eya. The emergency flashers use the brake light in the rear so that would be using a different wire than the running lights. To help you find the correct wire going the rear running light check the wire color at the light in the rear and see if you can find it under the dash area. It may go to one of the headlight relays. If the left headlight doesn't work and the bulb and wiring to it are good then the relay may be bad and fixing that issue may fix the taillight problem also.

After looking at my data again it looks like I made an error. The green wire goes to the amplifier for the antenna and not the PA. Sorry about that. The only other place the control lead can be is inside the din cable and the data doesn't break those connections down. It is just a solid line between the radio and the amp. See if one of the connections of the din plug has power on it while the radio is turned on.

Since fuse 6 has power then the next check should be the parking switch. If there isn't a switch on top of the steering column then someone has removed it and that may be where the problem is at, whatever they did to bypass it. Before you can say the turn signal flasher is bad you better make sure power is getting to it. I suspect you have a power connection rather than a flasher problem.

As a note referring to the link provided about the relays, the unknown relay shown in the pictures is for the rear window defogger.

Did you check the green wire again for power when you replaced the fuse. I suppose that power could come from the amp and the radio completes the circuit to turn the amp on? I doubt that is the way it works but it could be done that way. All the control leads I know of place power on the wire coming from the radio to turn on the amp. Even though you replaced the fuse in the amp it needs to be turned by a circuit in the radio.

It is a little unclear to me what the problem is you are having. If it is with the taillights and dash lights the most logical spot for the trouble is fuse 6. Verify power is getting past it using a test light probe. Even though a fuse is good you still don't know if power is getting to it until you test it. Another thing to check is the parking switch on top of the steering column. See if the parking lights turn on with that switch in the on position. Since the headlights work this means the lighting relays are working okay as power for the dash and taillights passes through them also.

It would be a good idea to check the resistance of each of the speaker leads to make sure they aren't shorted together or to ground. A short on one of the speaker leads could very well be what caused the internal fuse of the amp to blow on both amps. Check that sub-woofer.

I am fairly certain the green wire is the control lead from the radio to the amp to turn on the amp when power is applied to the wire. If you don't have voltage on that lead when the radio is turned on then check the other end on the radio and see if you have voltage on that end. If you have voltage at that end then there is a connection problem somewhere with the wire. You can check the diode by using the diode function of the meter. One way will show no continuity and the other way should show you the forward bias barrier voltage of the diode. To see if you have signal coming from the radio you should be able to use your meters AC voltage function on the millivolt scale to watch for voltage changes of the audio signal. Tape some stick pins to the probe tips if you need a finer point to test with. I don't think you need to clean the board unless there is some severe corrosion on it. If you install an external fuse I suggest you one that is sealed so moisture can't get to.

Good info from Fairtax4me. Like he stated, verify the amp is getting power to pins 1 and 7 that comes from the fuse in the relay block. If you have no power then the fuse is most likely bad. One other possible issue not mentioned is the control signal wire from the radio to the amp. Look for a green wire going to the amp. When the radio is on I think there should be 12 volt power on that lead to turn the amp on.

I think you are correct about that Mikaleda.

Turning off the light switch shouldn't make any difference as far as I know of since all the power to the lighting circuit is cut off with the ignition switch. It does sound like there may be some bad diodes inside the alternator causing excessive ripple voltage and you see the results of it in the lights. It may also be that the alternator is causing excessive current drain to the battery due to that same problem. I think you are going to have to replace the alternator.

Check the voltage across the battery posts while the engine is running around 1500 RPM with the headlights on high and the blower on high also. If you have heated seats turn them on also. You should see at least 13.4 volts at the battery. Also check the AC ripple voltage, that should be less than .1 volt if the diodes are ok. Checking the current drain with all systems off and in the sleep mode you should have less than 25 milliamps of current drain from the battery.

Well the things you stated that happened shouldn't have normally. The locks and lighting are two different circuits. It sounds like they got crossed somehow and when the last fuse blew out it may have cleared the fault to ground. When enough current can get to a problem that can happen at times. Just like blowing out a fuse. Since the locks were involved then perhaps the trouble might be in the driver side door jam. The wires can break in there over time due to the stress on them. I'm not sure why the lighting circuit would be in that area though unless the power window panel has lighting to it. Hopefully this trouble won't come back later on.

Rather than a ground problem I would suspect a common connection to power as the possible trouble. I don't have access to all my data at this time but what I see so far it looks like the common connection to power is through the ignition switch. If that was the trouble though I would think there would be more issues than what you stated here.

Well good effort in trying to find the problem Leisa. Your meter readings kind of give us a clue to where the problem is at. A short to ground will basically have zero resistance so this means no voltage drop can be present at the short location since there is zero resistance for the high current flow to develope a drop across. Since your reading of 2 volts on the front left side is lower than the rest of the readings this means the short is closer that area (higher voltage drop). The trouble may be in the dash area possibly. In order to find the trouble it may be of help to use another trick instead of using the circuit breaker. I suggest you replace the fuse with a brake light bulb. By placing the bulb in series with the power source it will now limit the shorting current to a safe level due to the lamp resistance and perhaps allow you to find the short a little easier. When the short is removed from the circuit then the brake light should go dimmer in brightness since less current will be flowing in the circuit. Try to disconnect connectors going to suspected trouble areas in order to help find the problem. If there are any added accessories that are using the lighting circuit check those out first for the trouble. Another useful method to help locate the problem is to use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance to ground of the wire going to the fuse position. The resistance will be real low due to the short but even with the short removed the resistance will be fairly low due to all the parallel loads on the circuit. This method is more difficult to use and requires some experience usually.

From what you stated it sounds like the trouble may be with the rear taillight circuit. The switch on top of the steering column provides power to the parking lights whether the switch is on or off. Since power is always passed through that switch removing it isn't recommended in my book, and it isn't the cause of the trouble. When the switch is turned on it bypasses the taillight relay circuit and provides power directly to the parking lights. Check to see if you have a wire harness for a trailer as that would be the best suspect for the trouble. If you don't have one then disconnect the rear running lights again and see if the short clears then. If it does then add one side at a time and test it to see if the problem happens again. Look for signs of shorted wires inside the bulb sockets. Sometimes the wire insulation gets too hot and melts. If the short still occurs with both of the rear lights removed then the problem could be with the front lights or in the wiring to the rear lights. The trouble with the dash lights could be due to a faulty headlight relay. I think the left side relay provides the dash power along with the headlight. If the headlight is also out that would be proof of the relay being bad or the power connection from it. This appears to be two separate but closely related problems.

Yeah and once the magic smoke is let out into the air, your done.:-p

Chances are there isn't a separate amp for the radio/player. Only the upper end Outbacks like the VDC with the Macintosh audio had systems with a separate amp as far as I know. My LL Bean Outback might not even have a separate amp. That would most likely mean that either the unit has a problem or the connection to the speakers has come loose in the back of the unit. If the unit is bad Ebay can be a good place to find a replacement factory unit at a reasonable price.

My congradulations also on finding the elusive trouble. It had to be with the wiring or the device itself. I assume the problem is due to a broken wire inside the wire insulation and not the pin connecting the wire to the ECU. You can just splice the bad spot and even if you have to cut back some of the shielding that won't be a problem. Usually the shields come together at a common spot and are bonded to ground.

Maybe you should try replacing the air valve.

The switch might be on top of the transmission.

I wouldn't replace the main cables unless you first prove they have a problem. You need to check to see if voltage is getting to the starter solenoid wire while this trouble is occurring. There could be a problem with the inhibit switch and is a common issue with this kind of trouble. Sometimes moving the shifter around in the slot will clear the trouble for a bit.