Pinout of rear connectors on radio

[Vanguard]

1992 Subaru Legacy L wagon

Having a power problem with the old AM/FM/Cassette deck. Most of the
time it has no power. Once in a blue moon it will turn on but only for
maybe a day. I yanked it out and reseated the connectors a few times
thinking the contacts might be corroded and wiping the contacts might
clean them enough to get the unit working. It worked after the first
time I replugged the connectors but stopped on later replugs. I even
used the tip of an Xacto blade to scrape across the contacts (could
only to the ones in the unit since the ones in the connectors were
unreachable) to make sure there was good contact. Nope, still didn't
help.

When I plug in the connectors, I hear a click-clickclick-click noise.
Since the key wasn't even in Acc position, I was surprised to hear any
electrical sounds but then I realized that the clock is always powered
and so is the unit so it remembers the programmed channels. I'm
wondering what are the pinouts for the connectors. Some would be to
the speakers, one or more for grounds, one for constant power, and one
for switched power. It is possible that I have a power problem back in
the wiring, like the switched power lead is flaky (i.e., the radio is
good but its switched power is flaky). So with a DVM, I'd like to know
what to expect on each of the pins, and which were the constant and
switched 12V wires. I could then even yank it and hook up to a battery
so make sure if it was the radio or wiring harness that were the
problem. I'm still trying to dig up my old Subaru manual (Chilton, I
think) to see if it gave the wire colors for the various connects to
the radio.

I could go with a new AM/FM/CD deck but there are 2 problems:
(1) Sizing. The original bezel that fits around the top cup holder,
around the radio, around the doored cubby slot, and around the ashtray
won't fit. Some models say they fit my make & model *but* will require
modification (which is usually cutting away the bezel on each side but
then it looks like a hack job).
(2) The old cassette deck occuppied 2 slots whereas the new units fit
in 1 slot. That would leave a hole in the dash.

I could get the old unit repaired but I just called and they'd charge
$100. I found a local salvage place that has the old unit w/1-year
warranty for $40 but the front is beat up and one of the pre-programmed
buttons doesn't work (switch is bad). The guy at the repair shop said
to offer the salvage place half, or less, their asking price
considering it was "tested" by them but it has a broken button, and
that it's probably been sitting around a long time and they'd like to
get rid of it (it was very dusty), then swap the faceplate from my old
unit for the faceplate on the salvaged unit. I just don't what to
expect when trying to swap the faceplates (these are not the type that
are designed to be removed so I'm talking about surgery here on each
unit).

 

[Vanguard]

1992 Subaru Legacy L wagon

Having a power problem with the old AM/FM/Cassette deck. Most of
the
time it has no power. Once in a blue moon it will turn on but only
for
maybe a day. I yanked it out and reseated the connectors a few
times
thinking the contacts might be corroded and wiping the contacts
might
clean them enough to get the unit working. ... Nope, still didn't
help.

Got the wiring diagram from AllData DIY subscription at the public
library. All of the wiring checked okay with a digital meter. Zero
ohms for the ground wire, 12V on the switched power wires (2), 12V on
the continuous power wire, and variable voltage on the dash
illumination wires. Still when I plugged in the radio, the front
panel wouldn't come on just for the clock/tuner display although I
could hear the clicks which sound like a reset in the cassette deck
positioning. Wiring looked good, a 2nd replacement unit misbehaves
the same way although it was supposedly tested as okay.

With the salvaged radio, it came with the wiring harness snipped out
about a foot back from the connectors. So I stripped the ends of the
2 switched power wires and the continuous power wire and twisted them
together, and stripped the end from the ground wire. I then used
patch cords to hook up directly to the battery. Voila, the radio
comes on. Hmm ...

I see 12V on the power wires. Although I see zero ohms for the ground
wire, maybe it's a bad ground. It only takes a single strand to show
zero ohms but that wouldn't be enough to carry the current load. I
can also extract the connectors on the end of the wires out of the
plastic shell to make sure they make good contact when slid onto the
flat pins in the radio's connectors. I just use a sewing needle to
move a plastic finger inside the connector housing to let the wire and
connector on the end slide out. If the wire connectors are tight on
the flat pins in the radio for just the power and ground wires (like I
did for the radio), I'd suspect a grounding problem and will tackle
that next (probably just be splicing into the wire and running a new
wire to a new ground point).

It sucks when the radio is good and the connectors look like they are
okay with a digital multimeter and yet everything that looks like it
works won't work together.