02 WRX radio pinouts

[WRX216]

Does anyone know if the 02 WRX radio pinouts are the same as the 95-01 Imprezas? TIA
Chris

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[North Ursalia]

Nearly

Old School
http://www.northursalia.com/m...ing/radio.html

New Age
http://www.northursalia.com/m.../radiowrx.html


Brian
http://www.northursalia.com
http://www.imprezamods.com
http://www.scoobymods.com
http://www.subaruwrxparts.com

[WRX216]

Thanks! Invaluable info!
Chris

[KwanDDS]

Has anyone actually looked into their WRX pinouts? Mine dont seem to match those from that website.

[armand1]

Has anyone actually looked into their WRX pinouts? Mine dont seem to match those from that website

Yep, mine match fine. What seems to be the difference on yours?

[Chapel]

is there like a harness I can buy? or do you just have to rewire this one to work with the radio?

[galatron]

#14 unused on ravensblade is a 12vdc switched output on when the radio is on, but off when the cdplayer is on. MY02 only.

[ChuckCheeze]

scosche makes a wiring harness and the reverse wiring harness.

reverse wiring harness suo3r
wring harness suo3

i think $16.95 each and $4 S/H

their customer service is excellent.
www.scosche.com

[gypsymoth]

I got a Subaru (don't know what model) reverse harness and the (+/-) pin-out seems reversed of the 1995 - 2001 Impreza posted on ravensblade web-site. Yes . . . I know it's a reverse harness, so the pin number are reversed. The discrepencies are still there. There are also three un-used pin discrepencies. Here is the pin-out on the reverse harness for you to match to ravensblade's information. The pin-numbers are based on the number listed on the web-site:

1 - unused
2 - front right +
3 - front left +
4 - rear right +
5 - rear left +
6 - +12 volt memory *
7 - unused
8 - front right -
9 - front left -
10 - +12 volt power *
11 - ground *
12 - rear right -
13 - rear left -
14 - power ant +

Non-discrepency pins are marked with an *.

Chieh
--
Chieh's Web - http://Chieh.CameraHacker.com/

[stimpy]

I just checked this on my '96 L wagon and would have to agree with gypsymoth's assessment. The polarity on the speakers are opposite of what they show on northursalia.com . I checked pin number 4 and came up as the rear right positive (traced the wire).

-Jon

[armand1]

** Note: apparently, ravensblade MY01&earlier diagram is wrong -- see end of thread ** 4/05

There are two ravensblade Impreza diagrams: one for My02 onward, and one for My01 and earlier, which has opposite polarities.
Since it's so easy to get reversed one way or another when describing these, I think it's important to diagram what pins you are talking about, which connector you are talking about, and which way it is facing. Also, specify which ravensblade diagram page you are talking about; that way, we can compare apples with apples and figure out what is going on.

[stimpy]

If the vehicle is MY02 or greater, then its the MY02 diagram on northursalia.com. If the vehicle is MY01 or less, then its the MY93-01 diagram.

I, as well as gypsymoth, am obviously talking about the 'GC8' (MY93-01) diagram.

-Jon

[armand1]

Sorry stimpy, my comments were directed more at gypsymoth, who doesn't know what year/model harness he bought, and doesn't describe exactly his numbering for the "reverse" harness except to say that it's "based" on ravensblade's.
All the radio pinouts that I've ever seen have indicated what came *out* of the radio, not where the car wires went to; of course, if the car manufacturer is doing a proper job, the two will be the same. I'd bet that the OEM radio has those pinouts, but the cars may be miswired on the speaker end.
Miatas, for one, are notorious for this.

[stimpy]

armand1, from personal experience, atleast up until the WRX's came out, you just went into an installer store and asked for a 'Subaru' harness and it worked in all the cars.

-Jon

[kenchan]

woah!!! Pin14 is for continous 12v output (power antenna output?)


dang, i've been looking for this info for a long time because I wanted to put the wrx stereo in my infinit so that i can take the Nak out of my infiniti and put it in my prelude. the infiniti has a powered anntenna, so i thought i'd have to make a special switch.

[impynave]

Does anyone know where I might find that same type of schematic, but going to the optional sub/amp for a MY02 WRX? I need to reassemble the plug but can't remember the order of wires

[gypsymoth]

armand1,

I have already answer these questions in my original post . . . I will slim it down for you and try to translated it further to help you understand.

Originally posted by armand1

There are two ravensblade Impreza diagrams: one for My02 onward, and one for My01 and earlier, which has opposite polarities.

Originally posted by gypsymoth

. . . pin-out seems reversed of the 1995 - 2001 Impreza posted on ravensblade web-site.

Translation: The one for MY01 and earlier.

Originally posted by armand1

Sorry stimpy, my comments were directed more at gypsymoth, who doesn't know what year/model harness he bought, and doesn't describe exactly his numbering for the "reverse" harness except to say that it's "based" on ravensblade's.

Originally posted by gypsymoth

The pin-numbers are based on the number listed on the web-site

I should have been more clear. A better statement should be, "In order to compare apple to apple, the pin-numbers show in this post are based on the SAME pin number listed on Ravensblade's web-site."

Translation: Looking at the harness the exactly the same way on Ravensblade's web-site and on the connector I have, pin number 1 (in the post) is in the same location as depicted on Ravensblade's web-site. And so on for pin number x.

Let me know if anything else needs clarification.

Chieh

[Turbo GC4]

Originally posted by ChuckCheeze
scosche makes a wiring harness and the reverse wiring harness.

reverse wiring harness suo3r
wring harness suo3

i think $16.95 each and $4 S/H

their customer service is excellent.
www.scosche.com

Is this the wiring harness to make the WRX CD Player fit in the pre 2001? And its just plug and play?

More Importantly, how do i use this CD player to hook up to a 4 channel amp?

[silvertoy]

This is semi-related seeing as how it deals w/ pin descrepancies between the pinouts on a 2003 WRX vs. the universal 93+ adapter available from scosche.


Okay, I had posted a question about this earlier but I got no response so I took the stereo back out and figured out what the problem was. I used the scosche into-car and into-radio harnesses to do a stealth install. And everything worked fine except one thing, the dimmer didn't work and it only stays 99% dimmed all the time. So I took the factory HU back out and looked closer at the harnesses and sure enough there was one pin missing that goes to either the + or - of the radio Illumination light. The solution, I headed over to Autozone and got the mni spade connectors that fit inside of the harness (took the HU in w/ me to test which would fit) and put them into the harness. Viola, it works now. There ya go. So this only helps you if you plan to keep the factory HU using the reverse harness with the normal harness (which elliminates pin descrepancies) otherwise some of the pins won't match up.

[SVXdc]

UPDATE: (edits in blue):

The Scosche SU03R reverse connector will physically mate with 1993-up radios from all models of Subarus (besides the SVX).

Pin 14 provides the "power antenna" control (+12 volts whenever you're listening to AM/FM). In some models/years (as early as 1999 Forester) there is an antenna amplifier (hidden under one of the rear pillars) that needs this pin to work. See this post. Apparently every Subaru radio provides this signal, even if its car doesn't have a motorized antenna or antenna amp.

The Scosche SU03R reverse harness lacks the orange/white "dimmer" wire (pin 7). You need that for your factory radio illumination to work correctly.

Pin 1 (orange, "illumination") gets +12 volts when the parking or headlights are on; 0 volts otherwise. Pin 7 ("dimmer") changes voltage as you adjust the dimmer knob. On the SVX, the equivalent pin goes from 10 volts down to 0 volts as you go from dimmest to brightest (the dash lights are connected between this line and the illumination line (+12 volts), which is why this pin is sometimes called "illumination - (minus)". So the lights effectively "see" a range of 2 to 12 volts from dimmest to brightest. The WRX must be very similar, because the WRX radio's illumination works in the SVX.

I'm building reverse WRX harnesses, mainly for SVX owners who are installing the WRX factory CD changer. Impreza/WRX and other 1993-up Subaru owners can also use this to:

• install a factory subwoofer that didn't come with a complete factory T-harness -- you need to combine a reverse and a forward WRX harness
• add an LOC (Line Output Converter) for an after-market amp -- again, you need to combine a reverse and a forward WRX harness
• install your factory radio in another car
• restore the factory radio plug in your car if it's been damaged or removed

These harnesses allow you to do those first three things without having to cut or splice the factory wires.

See this thread for a picture of an LOC.

I'm also making forward harnesses, for people who can't find ones with all 14 wires.

If you'd like to buy either harness please see my For Sale post on the SVX forums.

[SVXdc]

The ravensblade 2002+ diagram's pin-out actually applies to all Imprezas from 93 up. I recently looked through all of the Subaru wiring diagrams from 1993 up (not just Imprezas), and all except the SVX use the same pin-out.

On every model, pin 1 is Illumination (AKA Illumination + {positive}) and goes through a fuse to +12 (activated by the headlights switch). Pin 7 is always Dimmer (AKA Illumination - {negative}) and goes to the Illumination Control Module. The ICM varies the voltage on this pin as you rotate the car's illumination dimmer control.

On every model that has either a motorized antenna or an antenna amplifier, pin 14 is the control wire. Apparently all Subaru radios from 1993 up power this pin, whether or not its car needs it. On cars that do not have a motorized antenna or antenna amp, there may be no wire/pin 14 in the car's harness.

The ravensblade 93-01 diagram shows pins 1 and 14 incorrectly.

Further, on every Impreza up to 2004, pins 8, 9, 12, and 13 connect to pin 1 on their respective 2-pin speaker plug. That, plus the fact that pins 2, 3, 5, and 8 have had consistent wire colors at the radio plug on every model (not just Imprezas) [except SVX], leads me to believe that the speaker polarities have always been the same as the ravensblade 2002+ diagram too. The Subaru wiring diagrams do not indicate +/- at the speakers; the only way to check is to look at the actual speakers, like stimpy did (see his post #10, above).

So here's a new Impreza/WRX pin-out table that I've created, showing all model years to date.

I've updated my previous post, #20, above. If you need reverse or 'forward' harnesses and want to be sure they have all 14 pins, see the link there.

[cptomes]

I have a 1999 Forester (AKA Impreza Tall?) with factory CD. It's a cassette receiver, with a single DIN chassis CD player below it.

I have a JVC CD receiver that reads MP3 cd-r/rw and I have most of my cd collection ripped to CDs now. I haven't pulled the stock units from the dash yet.

I assume there is a second connector on the stock radio that mates to a connector on the CD player, that provides a preamp loop and display signal? Must also have +12v and ground obviously. Does anyone have a pinout of that connector or description of the functions? I like the stock looking pieces and could easily paint a DVD reader faceplate satin black to match. I've found a couple of reader-only (no tuner, no preamp) that read DVD+R/RW and also MP3. That would allow me to cut my disc count in the car by ~5x.

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by cptomes

I have a 1999 Forester ...
I assume there is a second connector on the stock radio that mates to a connector on the CD player, that provides a preamp loop and display signal? Must also have +12v and ground obviously. Does anyone have a pinout of that connector or description of the functions?

There is a round mini-DIN 13-pin jack. See this thread for a picture, and a link to some pin-outs on Scoobymods.

Folks with I-pods have been working on the hack to plug into that jack. One method connects just the audio into the jack, but requires you play a blank CD in the stock head unit -- apparently the audio from the changer jack is always connected, and ordinarily the changer would use the data lines to tell the head unit to be quiet.

I found another site where a company is building a device with a one-chip microcontroller to talk to the head unit and fool it into thinking you've plugged in the factory changer. It's compatible with several different stock head units -- they sell different plugs for the different ones, but I didn't see Subaru in the list. It may only require the manufacturer to add a little bit of code for it to work. I don't have the link with me, but will post it when I can get it.

[russd32]

thanks for posting that info. it worked like a champ.

dusty

[CtGT]

is there a rca jack on the back of the stock stereo for an ipod hook-up?

i want to be able to plug my ipod directly into my 02 wrx stock radio.