Need help with audio wiring 2011 wrx

imac6471 · 10-03-2012, 11:23 PM

So i bought my car used in February with about 8,000 miles on it. It has an aftermarket in-dash navigation unit (p.o.s. Pioneer). I want to install my Kenwood that i had in my old car. So i finally got some time to do it and when I pulled the old one out, I was shocked that anyone could f*** an install job up this bad. What i found was a collection of wires that were not connected, were split into two, spliced two or three times, harness plug not even plugged in, and a few wires by-passed. I have speaker wires from the deck not even connected.

Who ever installed this thing was clearly mentally disabled. Why wouldnt you just buy the harness adaptor instead of creating this s*** f*** mess i see before me? I am not what you would call an "expert" but i have installed many stereos, amps and subs before and had always made sure that connections were properply installed and never took any shortcuts to make something work. But, this is a little beyond me and I could definently use some help.

The funny thing is, the system works great, sounds amazing. I have a solo-baric 10" in a custom box for the trunk. Im pretty sure there are two amps because there are two sets of rca's. One amp is under the seat and im pretty sure that the other one is monunted on the back side of the sub box. I need to pull it out to find out for sure.

So I guess what I am saying is, is there anyone that could give me some advice on how to fix this mess or would actually be willing to help me with it?Anything would be great.

Here you can see the red power wire gets split into two. One goes to harness, other goes somewhere into the dash. Same goes for the ground wire (black)

This one you can see that there is the white harness plug that is not connected to anything and never was. Any ideas on what this is?

Notice the yellow and green wire that are attached to speaker wire, also bottom right of this picture is the plug that goes into the head unit. Note gray and white speaker wires not hoked up

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

jegomes · 10-04-2012, 12:36 AM

I can shed some light... the grey and white wires are not hooked up because you have an amp running your front speakers that's also why you have the speaker wire looped and connected to other wire in the pic

jegomes · 10-04-2012, 12:38 AM

Also it almost looks like the power wires that are teed are to run a steering wheel controller... do you have steering wheel controls and are they functional?

imac6471 · 10-04-2012, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jegomes

Also it almost looks like the power wires that are teed are to run a steering wheel controller... do you have steering wheel controls and are they functional?

Yes the steering wheel controls are functional. I was thinkin the same thing regarding the speakers and wheel controls. Ive read that people have to tap into the steering wheel controls passed the harness because the aftermarket one doesnt have the pins for it. Would you have to have the speaker wires hooked up if you had the rca wires hooked up?

jegomes · 10-04-2012, 09:08 AM

So really the wiring not that bad.. there just a lot going on there. And yes you do not need speaker wire from the deck hooked up if the rca's are on there... the deck doesn't power your from speakers the amp does.

imac6471 · 10-04-2012, 09:26 AM

Then im wondering why i have only half the speaker wires hooked up from the head unit harness, green and purple are hooked up. Also if you look at the harness for the car, there is about 4 or 5 clips attached to the cars wires that split them into two. I feel like someone made a "good enough" job then actually doing it correctly. Im gonna look up the wiring diagram so i can figure this out. Ill probably rip everything out and redo it, sounds like the best thing to do. A wire mess like this drives me nuts. Even though everything works, just knowing what lurks behind there really bothers me. Haha

imac6471 · 10-04-2012, 09:27 AM

Also, thanks for your help jegomes!

jegomes · 10-04-2012, 09:28 AM

Since the amp runs the front speakers there is no need for the front speaker wires to be hooked up from the deck..

imac6471 · 10-04-2012, 10:52 AM

Safe to assume then only fronts are hooked to the amp?

hudsonvalleybugeye · 10-04-2012, 11:22 AM

Thats a disaster of an install. I wouldnt want my name on it...unfortunately, i would tear everything out and do it the way I like, I HATE dealing with other peoples hack jobs. Anyone who has ever done this proffessionally knows exactly what im talking about. The mobile electronics world is very small, especially in local areas and word travels fast and snowballs.

imac6471 · 10-04-2012, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hudsonvalleybugeye

Thats a disaster of an install. I wouldnt want my name on it...unfortunately, i would tear everything out and do it the way I like, I HATE dealing with other peoples hack jobs. Anyone who has ever done this proffessionally knows exactly what im talking about. The mobile electronics world is very small, especially in local areas and word travels fast and snowballs.

Headache for a weekend project but at least i get to work on it

10-03-2012, 11:23 PM	#1
imac6471 Scooby Newbie Member#: 309481 Join Date: Feb 2012 Chapter/Region: NWIC Location: Lake Stevens, WA Vehicle: 2011 DOMTUNED WRX 2004 Forester XT Stage 2	Need help with audio wiring 2011 wrx So i bought my car used in February with about 8,000 miles on it. It has an aftermarket in-dash navigation unit (p.o.s. Pioneer). I want to install my Kenwood that i had in my old car. So i finally got some time to do it and when I pulled the old one out, I was shocked that anyone could f* an install job up this bad. What i found was a collection of wires that were not connected, were split into two, spliced two or three times, harness plug not even plugged in, and a few wires by-passed. I have speaker wires from the deck not even connected. Who ever installed this thing was clearly mentally disabled. Why wouldnt you just buy the harness adaptor instead of creating this s* f*** mess i see before me? I am not what you would call an "expert" but i have installed many stereos, amps and subs before and had always made sure that connections were properply installed and never took any shortcuts to make something work. But, this is a little beyond me and I could definently use some help. The funny thing is, the system works great, sounds amazing. I have a solo-baric 10" in a custom box for the trunk. Im pretty sure there are two amps because there are two sets of rca's. One amp is under the seat and im pretty sure that the other one is monunted on the back side of the sub box. I need to pull it out to find out for sure. So I guess what I am saying is, is there anyone that could give me some advice on how to fix this mess or would actually be willing to help me with it?Anything would be great. Here you can see the red power wire gets split into two. One goes to harness, other goes somewhere into the dash. Same goes for the ground wire (black) This one you can see that there is the white harness plug that is not connected to anything and never was. Any ideas on what this is? Notice the yellow and green wire that are attached to speaker wire, also bottom right of this picture is the plug that goes into the head unit. Note gray and white speaker wires not hoked up * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

10-04-2012, 12:36 AM	#2
jegomes Scooby Newbie Member#: 303039 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Minneapolis Vehicle: 2006 WRX	I can shed some light... the grey and white wires are not hooked up because you have an amp running your front speakers that's also why you have the speaker wire looped and connected to other wire in the pic

10-04-2012, 12:38 AM	#3
jegomes Scooby Newbie Member#: 303039 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Minneapolis Vehicle: 2006 WRX	Also it almost looks like the power wires that are teed are to run a steering wheel controller... do you have steering wheel controls and are they functional?

10-04-2012, 09:08 AM	#5
jegomes Scooby Newbie Member#: 303039 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Minneapolis Vehicle: 2006 WRX	So really the wiring not that bad.. there just a lot going on there. And yes you do not need speaker wire from the deck hooked up if the rca's are on there... the deck doesn't power your from speakers the amp does.

10-04-2012, 09:26 AM	#6
imac6471 Scooby Newbie Member#: 309481 Join Date: Feb 2012 Chapter/Region: NWIC Location: Lake Stevens, WA Vehicle: 2011 DOMTUNED WRX 2004 Forester XT Stage 2	Then im wondering why i have only half the speaker wires hooked up from the head unit harness, green and purple are hooked up. Also if you look at the harness for the car, there is about 4 or 5 clips attached to the cars wires that split them into two. I feel like someone made a "good enough" job then actually doing it correctly. Im gonna look up the wiring diagram so i can figure this out. Ill probably rip everything out and redo it, sounds like the best thing to do. A wire mess like this drives me nuts. Even though everything works, just knowing what lurks behind there really bothers me. Haha

10-04-2012, 09:27 AM	#7
imac6471 Scooby Newbie Member#: 309481 Join Date: Feb 2012 Chapter/Region: NWIC Location: Lake Stevens, WA Vehicle: 2011 DOMTUNED WRX 2004 Forester XT Stage 2	Also, thanks for your help jegomes!

10-04-2012, 09:28 AM	#8
jegomes Scooby Newbie Member#: 303039 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Minneapolis Vehicle: 2006 WRX	Since the amp runs the front speakers there is no need for the front speaker wires to be hooked up from the deck..

10-04-2012, 10:52 AM	#9
imac6471 Scooby Newbie Member#: 309481 Join Date: Feb 2012 Chapter/Region: NWIC Location: Lake Stevens, WA Vehicle: 2011 DOMTUNED WRX 2004 Forester XT Stage 2	Safe to assume then only fronts are hooked to the amp?

10-04-2012, 11:22 AM	#10
hudsonvalleybugeye Scooby Specialist Member#: 295068 Join Date: Sep 2011 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: Rhinebeck, NY Vehicle: 2003 wrx Sedona Red Pearl	Thats a disaster of an install. I wouldnt want my name on it...unfortunately, i would tear everything out and do it the way I like, I HATE dealing with other peoples hack jobs. Anyone who has ever done this proffessionally knows exactly what im talking about. The mobile electronics world is very small, especially in local areas and word travels fast and snowballs.