The 1st comprehensive 2008 impreza dash & radio removal guide

[Go Loud]

Originally Posted by Courteau

there isnt really 10 speaker...

there is 4 speaker, one in each doors, and 6 tweeters:
two in next to the pillars and on with each of the 4 speakers, fitted with a bracket in the middle.. looks like a coaxial speakers...
so saying it got 10 speakers is pretty much BS

I see!

So it is the sales BS shuffle.

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[Mr.WRX2002]

Is there a wire in the base 2008 wrx harness to get the vehicle speed sensor info for an aftermarket Nav?

[Mr.WRX2002]

Anyone?

[k_preza]

Originally Posted by wkderf

the lower dash, similar to other model years, comes off with a few clips:

the gauge surround also pops off with a little tugging force:


The dash is like LEGOs, everything has an order to it, so the best thing to do is to start with the side & lower dash panels, & work your way from there.

wkderf,
i'm interested in getting the gauge cluster cover off as i'd like to mount a 1" ram ball in the dash to the left of the radio for a gps or ipod. i've unsuccessfully tried pulling the cover off without removing anything else. is taking the lower dash panel off necessary, or am i just not pulling hard enough?

[SVXdc]

Thanks, xthompsx, for the pin-out. Here are a few of the missing pieces:

20 pin connector pin out:

    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9
10                            20
   11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

This is Subaru's numbering scheme, looking at the pins side of the car's harness - car's wires pointing away from you.

[EDITED] Please see my pin-out table here in my Stock HU Info thread (post #11 in that thread). It's easier for me to keep information current if I only post it in one place.

[pin-out table deleted here]

Notes:
EIA is a standard for wire colors used by nearly all aftermarket head units (HUs) and harnesses

Illumination = +12V when headlights on, otherwise open-circuit
Dimmer = variable voltage from 12V (dimmest) to 0V (brightest) [yes, backwards - not a typo], same as instrument panel lighting

* Subaru's wiring diagram shows pin 11 wire color as "LgR" for "Light Green/Red"

Metra and Peripheral Electronics' installation doc show the pins numbered differently (probably based on Nissans). PE's pin drawing is the same orientation as mine above (looking at the pins side, with leftmost large pin being Ground).

Originally Posted by xthompsx

Pioneer Color Code
...

These are EIA colors, until you get into the ones for Nav functions.

reverse gear signal (I didn't use this one - as I don't drive backward and try to use the gps at the same time).

The "reverse" input is used by many aftermarket Nav systems to change the video display to a rear-mounted camera. Some systems may also use this (in combination with the speed sensor) to improve the accuracy of the GPS location ("dead reckoning").

Originally Posted by Mr.WRX2002

Is there a wire in the base 2008 wrx harness to get the vehicle speed sensor info for an aftermarket Nav?

No. Neither the 20-pin power/speaker harness on the non-Navi radio or the 14-pin power/speaker harness used on the Subaru Navi radio and older Subarus has a pin for this.

The Navi radio has another 24 pin harness with that and other wires. Sorry, I don't have that pin-out info yet.

[ADDED] Complete pin-out of the 24-pin Nav connector is now at the same link above (post #11 in that thread).

[kmilenco]

i need to get my stereo put in my 08 impreza sedan i really dont know enough to do it myself and all the audio places say they cant put it in an 08 impreza what should i do??

[thedaddyb]

Originally Posted by kmilenco

i need to get my stereo put in my 08 impreza sedan i really dont know enough to do it myself and all the audio places say they cant put it in an 08 impreza what should i do??

you could always print this thread out and give it to them

truthfully though, any reputable shop should be able to figure it out on their own. If they don't have the enough sense to even do any research before turning a customer away, then they are idiots.

Heck I always enjoy a challenge. I like pulling new cars apart at work and figuring out all the wiring on my own . . . but maybe that's just me.

[waynesayswordson]

Originally Posted by thedaddyb

you could always print this thread out and give it to them

truthfully though, any reputable shop should be able to figure it out on their own. If they don't have the enough sense to even do any research before turning a customer away, then they are idiots.

Heck I always enjoy a challenge. I like pulling new cars apart at work and figuring out all the wiring on my own . . . but maybe that's just me.

I agree they should know but i rather not be their guinea pig

[Kilya]

Hey all, Just got my AVN6620 in the mail. I know I can do it on my own i just need some help from some one that has done it. If any one has a little time to spare and would like to help me out plz pm me your AIM/MSN screen name so I can send a message

[Kilya]

Two ground wires?

The harness has one Black/Blue wire but the head unit also had another one plugged in to it. Those are both valid grounds?

[pieces]

This is not the correct plug if I want to wire my HU up outside the car and just plug it into the Subaru harness is it?
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...paign=froogle#
It looks like this is the one that plugs into the factory OEM radio.
Confused- I emailed Metra to see when a 08 harness would be available and was told this is correct.

[docsmitty]

Originally Posted by SVXdc

Thanks, xthompsx, for the pin-out. Here are a few of the missing pieces:


Pin Assignments:

Pin  Function                        Car's Color    EIA Color
---  -----------------------------   ------------   ---------------
 1   Illumination                    Violet         Orange
 2   Dimmer                          Black/White    Orange/White
 3   +12 Accessory (Ign. Switched)   Yellow/Red     Red
 4   Steering Wheel Controls -       Brown          -
 5   Left Rear Speaker -             Red/Black      Green/Black
 6   Left Rear Speaker +             White/Red      Green
 7   Left Front Speaker -            White/Black    White/Black
 8   Left Front Speaker +            Blue/Orange    White
 9   Antenna Booster                 Yellow/Black   Blue

10   Ground                          Black/Blue     Black
 
11   CAN data bus                    Green/Red*     -
12   CAN data bus                    Pink           -
13   (NC)                            -              -
14   Steering Wheel Controls +       Yellow         -
15   Right Rear Speaker -            Red/White      Violet/Black
16   Right Rear Speaker +            Gray/Green     Violet
17   Right Front Speaker -           Green          Gray/Black
18   Right Front Speaker +           Brown/Yellow   Gray
19   (NC)                            -              -
 
20   +12V Battery (Constant-on)      Blue/Red       Yellow

Does this mean that the radio in the BASE 08/09 WRX, non-premium, would have the ability to use steering wheel controls, assuming they were wired and available? I have been looking all over for a solid answer. I really only want the SW controls and fog lights, don't want to spend $2300 on a package and get a bunch of things I'll never use...

If the radio is the same, my thought would be swap out the steering wheel for a premium model one, and add the wiring if it isn't in the harness on the base model..

[Kilya]

71 is the car side... not sure what you would use this for... the 70 is the one that you want if your installing an after market head unit.

I was able to get mine done it was pretty easy. The SWC-PAC I had wasnt to difficult to setup and it works great

[howweirdo]

i have the same car and i wanted to reset my ecu but i dont know the code for my radio. do you guys know what it is?

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by pieces

This is not the correct plug if I want to wire my HU up outside the car and just plug it into the Subaru harness is it?
[link to Metra 71-7552]

It looks like this is the one that plugs into the factory OEM radio.
Confused- I emailed Metra to see when a 08 harness would be available and was told this is correct.

Originally Posted by Kilya

71 is the car side... not sure what you would use this for... the 70 is the one that you want if your installing an after market head unit.

Right. 71-7552 will plug into a factory radio. This is commonly called a "reverse" harness, because it's the opposite gender of what you normally need. You use these when you want to transplant a factory radio into another car (different make/model), or to repair the car's factory radio harness.

The 70-7552 is what you want to install an aftermarket radio in a 2008 Subaru that has the new-style harness.

Some shops aren't aware that the new Nissan wiring adapter fits new Subarus.

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by docsmitty

Does this mean that the radio in the BASE 08/09 WRX, non-premium, would have the ability to use steering wheel controls, assuming they were wired and available?

Not sure. If you really have the same radio as a car with SWC (look at the model numbers printed on the fronts of the radios), then it should be possible.

However, the factory may not have connected the SWC wires all the way between the wheel and the 20-pin harness — they usually go through some intermediate harness plugs, so a segment in the middle could lack those wires. If you're looking at a model where a higher trim-level has SWC, then it's a lot more likely all the wiring is there.

You could start by testing your own radio. Temporarily connect a variable resistor between the two SWC pins, and try different values. It would help to know the resistance Subaru uses for each button, but I haven't seen that documented anywhere yet. Maybe someone reading can measure theirs while they have the radio out. Note that there is a resistance for "no buttons pressed," which the radio may need to see on power-up to recognize that you have SWCs.

I'll bet a new steering wheel by itself still isn't so cheap, unless you can get one from a junked car. Even then, you'll need to verify that the airbag is still good.

[Stonebaru]

How much depth is there in the stereo dash cavity compared to the previous generation? Same-ish?

Reason I ask, is that I picked up a JVC KD-SHX850 (same as KD-AR8500) on a knee-jerk reaction (stupidly low price on fleabay). It is one of the higher-powered decks with the dc-dc converter. I need to see where i can shoe-horn that converter....

[pieces]

So what CAN bus info does the car need from the stereo?
Can I just leave these unhooked with my new HU, or has Subaru gone the way of chevy where I need to hide the old HU in the glove box or something?

[Jowie]

Originally Posted by SVXdc

Not sure. If you really have the same radio as a car with SWC (look at the model numbers printed on the fronts of the radios), then it should be possible.

However, the factory may not have connected the SWC wires all the way between the wheel and the 20-pin harness — they usually go through some intermediate harness plugs, so a segment in the middle could lack those wires. If you're looking at a model where a higher trim-level has SWC, then it's a lot more likely all the wiring is there.

You could start by testing your own radio. Temporarily connect a variable resistor between the two SWC pins, and try different values. It would help to know the resistance Subaru uses for each button, but I haven't seen that documented anywhere yet. Maybe someone reading can measure theirs while they have the radio out. Note that there is a resistance for "no buttons pressed," which the radio may need to see on power-up to recognize that you have SWCs.

I'll bet a new steering wheel by itself still isn't so cheap, unless you can get one from a junked car. Even then, you'll need to verify that the airbag is still good.

Looks like someone has done it, states the wiring is all there:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/car-...preza-wrx.html

He's got a fairly nice carpc install:

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/work...-controls.html

[jeffMN]

I plan to install a pioneer F90BT in the near future and have a few questions.

Let me preface this by saying I want to pull apart as little of the car/dash as possible. I have never installed a car stereo before. I will have a friend who is helping me who has a some previous experience.

Where has everyone been installing their gps antenna? I have read there is a pocket under the dash behind the radio that works well, is that what most people have been doing? Does anyone have anything negative to say about this location?

Where have people been installing their microphone? On the headliner or steering column? I am looking for the easiest way to get the microphone installed. Does anyone have any suggestions on where and how to install it?

My car has a factory subwoofer. It is my understanding that it connected to the rear speaker leads? Is this correct? Is that how i should continue to install it with the new deck or would i be better of connecting it to a pre-amp output on the new deck? If I do install this to a pre-out on the deck, what additional hardware would I need to buy?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[snipe99]

i didnt really read through this whole thread but i did a radio in an 08 impreza the other day and the wire harness for the radio was a new 08+ nissan wire harness...

[DanzBorin]

I'm not following a lot of stuff in this thread...

what is the 8 pin connector (only 4 used) that plugs into the back of the radio?

I am trying to use a SWI-JACK steering wheel adapter and it says the 8 pin should have the steering wheel controls... everything in this thread seems to say that everything is in the main harness... the adapter instructions also seem to think that there are more than 4 wires on the 8 pin, and their colors are all off...

has anybody found the wiring diagram that can confirm any of this?

also, is the maxima adapter you guys are referring to wired in every pin, or do you have to modify it?

[thedaddyb]

Originally Posted by DanzBorin

I'm not following a lot of stuff in this thread...

what is the 8 pin connector (only 4 used) that plugs into the back of the radio?

I am trying to use a SWI-JACK steering wheel adapter and it says the 8 pin should have the steering wheel controls... everything in this thread seems to say that everything is in the main harness... the adapter instructions also seem to think that there are more than 4 wires on the 8 pin, and their colors are all off...

has anybody found the wiring diagram that can confirm any of this?

also, is the maxima adapter you guys are referring to wired in every pin, or do you have to modify it?

the secondary plug is for aux input. (and possibly sat/ipod)

The steering wheel control wires are in the main harness. I'm not sure if metra has released the new impreza harness yet or not. If not and you use the new nissan plug, it will be missing some wires you need. I believe it was the illumination wire and power antenna. I can't remember exactly, it's been quite a while since I've put a deck into the newer imprezas.

[Magic Marker]

Originally Posted by bobaru

Actually, the navigation unit uses the older style audio/power connector for the sound/power but adds a connector that gets more info from the car, including, yes, the emergency/parking brake grounding signal. I have done a write-up on my experience defeating the while moving DVD / Navigation lock-out and you can find it here:
http://www.webjogger.com/WRX/2008WRX/08wrxnav.htm

So the nav uses this connector for sound:
http://www.geocities.com/svxdc/WRX-pinout.htm

And the one pictured below for other vehicle info.

Also, here is a pic of the Navigation connector:

A very newb ?

Can a non-navi impreza have the OEM Navi dropped into it? Are all the harnesses already in the dash?

[DanzBorin]

Originally Posted by Magic Marker

A very newb ?

Can a non-navi impreza have the OEM Navi dropped into it? Are all the harnesses already in the dash?

doesn't look like it as they have very different harnesses...

I'm kind of mad that they changed the harness after 15 years for the non-nav cars...

I'm going to have to do some rigging to get this to work now...