Simple Electrical Question - Please Help

[Jutboy]

Hello there...I just bought a new cd/mp3 unit for my 95 Impreza LX. I also got a wiring harness that fits perfect and made sure to solder/heat wrap all the connections perfectly.

 

So I hook it up and it doesn't work....my multimeter tells me 12v constant power (which is a blue/yellow lined wire) only gives power intermittently....like 10% of the time.

 

I was thinking of running a wire from my fuse box to the stereo....any warnings about this? The fuse box isn't setup well and I'm not sure if I can located which one runs through the radio fuse...I'll definitely get a 12 constant though.

 

Does anyone have decent wiring diagrams...my Chilton + Haynes both are completly worthless.

 

Thanks so much - Justin

[Cougar]

Today is your day Justin. I happen to be looking at my refernce for a '95 Impreza right now. Here is the info you need.

 

Power to the radio is provided by the Yel/red wire (tied to fuse 17) and goes to pin 10 of the original radio. The memory power is on the Blu/org wire and goes to pin 6 (tied to fuse 25 in the engine area).

 

The Yel/blu wire you are trying to use for power is the return wire for the radio illumination and goes on to the illumination control module. The green wire (pin1) is the hot side for the light. Tie your CD light to these wires.

[Jutboy]

Thats how they're setup....I was working at it at night and somehow screwed up the colors.

 

Heres the "current" situation -

 

IGNITION+ACCESSORY OFF = no power to any wire

 

IGNITION+ACCESSORY ON =

Yellow/Blue or maybe dark green 4.11v

Green = 4.11v

no power to any other wires

 

I also lost my dashboard illumination!

 

Suggestions?

[Cougar]

You need to check those fuses I mentioned then. Also check the SBF-3 fuse in the engine compartment panel.

[Jutboy]

Ok...none of my fuses have numbers associated with them....I found a section that labeled all in my Legacy Haynes book and they look identical, also my fuse box on my left wall is labeled on the cover but no numbers...

 

so I changed the illumanation fuse and got my dashboard lights back....for some reason my dome light isn't working (hasn't since I got the car)...

 

So I don't know what your refering to by fuse 25 and SBF-3. Could you please clarify.

 

I test voltages after I changed the fuse and got.

 

Green 13.57v

Yellow/Green - .2v

Blue/Green - .2v

White/red = .2v

Blue/orange =.6v

Everything else nothing.

 

Please Help

[Cougar]

Well, we're making progress since you say the dash lights are working again. The green lighting wire is working ok since you see 12 volts there now. We still need to get the main power and memory power going and your wiring appears to be a little different than what my reference shows, for the main power at least. It sounds like there still is some more blown fuses though. Let's find them.

 

The fuse that provides power to the radio is in the dash fuse panel and the fuse for the memory power is in the engine compartment panel. My reference shows the radio power lead should be a Yel/red wire to the radio but you state that you don't have a wire that color. If the Wht/red or Yel/grn wires you have are fairly large then one of them may be the power lead. I would choose the largest one if they are different sizes.

 

You need to use your meter to check for blown fuses in the panels. You can do this by checking the fuses for power. If you look at the top of the fuses you will notice small holes in the top that you can touch a probe tip to on each side of the fuse element. If you see 12 volts on each side then the fuse is ok. Check all your fuses using this method. I am going to guess the Wht/red wire is the power lead you need to get power from. Do you have numbers on the original radio plug you can reference the wires to?

 

The SBF fuses are the larger slow blow fuses and are almost square.

[Jutboy]

WoW - Thank you so much

 

It wasn't one of the SBF fuses it was just a regular one in the engine compartment but I checked them all with your method.

 

I'm going to start a new thread with the problem I am now having....my front right and back left speakers aren't working.

 

I would appreciate your help with this is as well but I am in your debt my friend...if you ever have any problems with your computer you can ask me....I'm also a professional webdesigner.

 

Lastly where did you get the book you are using? What is the name and how can I get it.

 

Thanks so much - Jutboy

[Cougar]

Your welcome for the help Justin. Glad you got it going without too much trouble.

 

On your speaker problem I would guess that the speakers are open and need to be replaced since the others are working. You can prove that by jumpering a known good speaker across the leads of the suspected bad one. You can also measure the resistance of the speaker coil when the system is off and you may have to remove one wire at least from the speaker to isolate it. The resistance should be around 4 to 8 ohms. Another thing that comes to mind is the wiring for the two got crossed somehow. If the speakers were ok before the change then I would suspect a wiring problem.

 

As far as Subaru service manuals go, you can get them from Ebay. There are a number of CD versions of the repair manuals available along with the factory repair manuals. I prefer the real manuals for my own cars but also got a CD for helping others like yourself with their car troubles. My CD is a Mitchell reference and it covers the years '83-'00. It isn't as good as a real manual but it gives me pretty much what I need.

 

Thanks for the offer on the computer help. I may need it sometime down the road.