My Latest Project - Installing Oem Navigation On 2008 Outback Limited

[Mean Green z28]

So, if anyone knows me well enough by now, I always have some stupid project going...haha, it was about time the wife's car got a dose of it.

Background -

It bugged the heck out of me to know that there was a version of the car out there that had factory navigation. I also despise the suction mount portable navigation units. Sure they've got many features like traffic warning and bluetooth,etc. but the fact is, they're an eyesore and you have to mess with cables/etc. while aftermarket stereo/nav units look like an after-though and just don't fit in ... OEM navigation unit just fits right and looks the part while doing it

I tried keeping a photo journal of it all but failed to do it once I really got into it, lol ... so you'll get little tids and bits and a few apologies

Kept searching the forums and found the screen, dvd drive and a few parts for a decent price...

Next I started collecting all the other stuff I needed like harnesses, connectors and the antenna. Here's the list thanks to a few people who have successfully done this mod.

1. GPS Antenna - 86277AG12A
2. Navi Screen - 86281AG12A
3. DVD Drive - 86271AG04A
4. DVD Drive/GPS Antenna cord Drive/Navi Screen - 86273AG00A
5. DVD Drive 10 pin connector Harness(Kenwood Site only) - E30-4964-05
6. Tyco 16 pin connector(rear of Navi Screen) - 174147-2
7. Tyco 20 pin connector(rear of Navi Screen) - 174047-2
8. NAVI DVD

Some pics.

Back of the radio/XM unit...

Back of the screen...

Notes: The 4-pin Molex connector is used for a reverse camera, while the yellow AUX input is for an external video source ... more on this later.

Back of the DVD drive...

Notes: I've found that the green 3.5mm jack is for voice activated commands with an optional mic/button kit, while the square green connector is the GPS antenna.

All the wires at the radio harness...

Then, it was time to research wiring the whole thing up! Since the car didn't come with NAVI, there's no harness for it ... I'm lucky it was a "Limited" model that had the upgraded stereo to accept most of the wires and sound signals ... so a harness had to be built from scratch and everything had to be tapped into existing connectors. There's a lot of information out there, but some of them were conflicting and not very clear ... as an engineer, I wanted everything down on paper before I started ... so I whittled all the information down to the following diagram. This also includes a Parking Brake signal hack modification to trick the system into thinking it's parked so it'll allow you to input addresses/etc. and play AUX video while on the move. The reverse camera option is activated only when the system detects a signal from the camera and overrides any other image/mode on the screen. Power the camera off of the reverse light and you're in business!

... more about the install in the next post ...

[Mean Green z28]

So once the connectors were ordered and the harness was built ... yeah, no pics of that, lol ... I got to mounting everything.

Here is the DVD player/brain mounted under the driver seat. It came with just one bracket, so I had to improvise and build the other side by bending up a flat piece of metal and drilling/tapping a hole or two. Took the driver seat bolts off and just flipped the seat backwards and had enough room to install and run the wiring to the center console...

Better pic of the bracket...

Here's the screen and new trim piece mounted in it's new home...

getting some of the OEM connectors was hard. My initial plan was to make breakout harnesses so everything was truly plug and play, but getting some of the connectors in both male/female was hard. So, I improvised and got some connectors from the electronics store and hardwired one side to the main body harness. In this way, I can remove the harness if I want and not have to cut any wires; and just let the aftermarket connectors stay there.

Hard wiring consisted of NO CUTS to the body harness! I carefully cut/peeled back the wire jacket, twisted the new wire around it and soldered it together for a permanent connection and wrapped it in electrical tape; couldn't use heat shrink tube since I didn't make any cuts.

The big pain in the *** was getting the CANBUS and speed signals from the gauge cluster. It was tight, with the steering column in the way and all my big fat fingers not reaching between gaps. While the cluster was out, I mounted the GPS antenna in its stock location behind the cluster by screwing on another bent piece of metal and sticking the magnetic antenna on it. Here's one of the aftermarket connectors for the wires that run to the cluster...

Basically, after the harness was built, it was just terminating and screwing things into place ... I guess that's why it went quick and I forgot to take pics!

Here's a crappy shot of the little gauges the navi screen shows in one of the modes; it's average fuel economy, instantaneous fuel economy and throttle position ... there's a bunch of options in there to save trip data and access various features of the car; like the alarm system (chirp/horn/lights/timers/etc.) and service reminders/etc. ... and even a scientific calculator! WOO, lol

That's basically all of it ... kinda anti-climatic if I should say so myself, lol ... upon getting the system up and running, it turned out that the previous owner sent me the map DVD too and it was in the DVD unit, but it was version 1.1 while the latest is 8.0 and came out earlier this year. Couldn't find the download for 8.0 on torrent yet, so was able to get a download of 7.0 thanks to some Subie forum members and burned it onto a DVD+R DL and popped it in and it worked! Well, it wasn't as easy, but a few wasted DVD's were worth not having to spend $240 on the latest update!

Total cost of project, maybe $550 ... $400 for the screen/dvd unit/NAVI harness/trim, $60 for DVD harness, $40 for antenna and rest on wire and connectors and shipping charges for it all.

FUTURE mods:

Reverse camera ... just need to decide what camera I want and run the wires to the tailgate. There's good ones that are plain cameras that give good quality and cheap ones with all the bells and whistles like night vision mode (IR) and even guidelines. Since the nav screen itself is pretty grainy, getting an expensive camera for the quality may just be a waste of $'s.

AUX Video ... just need to run some cable and plug in to the back of the screen. Video goes to the screen and audio goes to the aux audio port for the radio that's in the armrest (just need a 3.5mm jack to RCA L/R signal convertor cable).

Edited October 11, 2013 by Mean Green z28

[VVTi]

I thought you swapped the Subie for the Camaro!

[Supra_Natural]

So once the connectors were ordered and the harness was built ... yeah, no pics of that, lol ... I got to mounting everything.

Here is the DVD player/brain mounted under the driver seat. It came with just one bracket, so I had to improvise and build the other side by bending up a flat piece of metal and drilling/tapping a hole or two. Took the driver seat bolts off and just flipped the seat backwards and had enough room to install and run the wiring to the center console...

Better pic of the bracket...

Here's the screen and new trim piece mounted in it's new home...

getting some of the OEM connectors was hard. My initial plan was to make breakout harnesses so everything was truly plug and play, but getting some of the connectors in both male/female was hard. So, I improvised and got some connectors from the electronics store and hardwired one side to the main body harness. In this way, I can remove the harness if I want and not have to cut any wires; and just let the aftermarket connectors stay there.

Hard wiring consisted of NO CUTS to the body harness! I carefully cut/peeled back the wire jacket, twisted the new wire around it and soldered it together for a permanent connection and wrapped it in electrical tape; couldn't use heat shrink tube since I didn't make any cuts.

The big pain in the *** was getting the CANBUS and speed signals from the gauge cluster. It was tight, with the steering column in the way and all my big fat fingers not reaching between gaps. While the cluster was out, I mounted the GPS antenna in its stock location behind the cluster by screwing on another bent piece of metal and sticking the magnetic antenna on it. Here's one of the aftermarket connectors for the wires that run to the cluster...

Basically, after the harness was built, it was just terminating and screwing things into place ... I guess that's why it went quick and I forgot to take pics!

Here's a crappy shot of the little gauges the navi screen shows in one of the modes; it's average fuel economy, instantaneous fuel economy and throttle position ... there's a bunch of options in there to save trip data and access various features of the car; like the alarm system (chirp/horn/lights/timers/etc.) and service reminders/etc. ... and even a scientific calculator! WOO, lol

That's basically all of it ... kinda anti-climatic if I should say so myself, lol ... upon getting the system up and running, it turned out that the previous owner sent me the map DVD too and it was in the DVD unit, but it was version 1.1 while the latest is 8.0 and came out earlier this year. Couldn't find the download for 8.0 on torrent yet, so was able to get a download of 7.0 thanks to some Subie forum members and burned it onto a DVD+R DL and popped it in and it worked! Well, it wasn't as easy, but a few wasted DVD's were worth not having to spend $240 on the latest update!

Total cost of project, maybe $550 ... $400 for the screen/dvd unit/NAVI harness/trim, $60 for DVD harness, $40 for antenna and rest on wire and connectors and shipping charges for it all.

FUTURE mods:

Reverse camera ... just need to decide what camera I want and run the wires to the tailgate. There's good ones that are plain cameras that give good quality and cheap ones with all the bells and whistles like night vision mode (IR) and even guidelines. Since the nav screen itself is pretty grainy, getting an expensive camera for the quality may just be a waste of $'s.

AUX Video ... just need to run some cable and plug in to the back of the screen. Video goes to the screen and audio goes to the aux audio port for the radio that's in the armrest (just need a 3.5mm jack to RCA L/R signal convertor cable).

Wow man, that is an impressive amount of effort! Just couldn't leave it alone eh? Super job!

[Supra_Natural]

I thought you swapped the Subie for the Camaro!

I think that was his legacy saloon... this is an outback and he mentioned this is his better half's car.

[Komisiripala]

Nice. Damn that's a lot of work. As for the other car, So what's next? Blowing the v8? I'm sure it would sound plenty mean with a supercharger whine!

[Mean Green z28]

THanks guys, yeah it was a lot of work for something stock, lol

Plan for the Camaro? lol, I'd like to do a Turbo kit eventually but a supercharger would be cheaper/easier.

[Komisiripala]

Blow it men! Ok maybe not have a bird catcher on too but blow it all the same!

[VVTi]

CHARGE IT!!! There in no such thing as too much power!

[Mean Green z28]

CHARGE IT!!! There in no such thing as too much power!

but there is such a thing as not enough money!

[Kavvz]

Quite the handy bugger you are, but speaking of hands and feet err...you've got some mighty small feet there Mean Green. And what's with the white and red velcro pumps? Real men wear laces...

Edited October 11, 2013 by Kavvz

[sachinwick]

Quite the handy bugger you are, but speaking of hands and feet err...you've got some mighty small feet there Mean Green. And what's with the white and red velcro pumps? Real men wear laces...

lol that must be of his kiddo!!! Junior meangreen

[Mean Green z28]

LOL, yeah that's the little nutcase ... he's 4 ... the day I tested out the AUX input, used his DVD player and we sat in the car in the driveway and watched Barney the dinosaur lol

The day we bought the car, late last year...

Edited October 11, 2013 by Mean Green z28

[Mean Green z28]

Messed up post

Edited October 11, 2013 by Mean Green z28

[Kavvz]

LOL, yeah that's the little nutcase ... he's 4 ....

Sure. Sure blame the KID!

Its okay: When you can tap into a wire harness like that, you're still cool despite the little red and white pumps...

[Jasen Burkett]

@Mean Green z28 - is there anyway you could share your pin out for the navi screen. As well as how the dual plug from the navi screen plugged into your radio?

I just got a kit like that, but the 16 pin harness is missing and like you said... everything out there is so conflicting.