BRZ to FRS Headunit -- no sound

[alecp]

Just swapped the 2014 BRZ Fujitsu Headunit for the 2015 FRS Pioneer Headunit, and everything works (antenna, bluetooth, usb) except for no sound whatsoever. I quintuple-checked all of the connectors. Anyone have a guess what the problem could be?

[Tcoat]

Try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes. Some other guy had the same issue and that worked for him. Guess it just needed to reset or something.

[alecp]

I'll try this tonight!

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by alecp

I'll try this tonight!

No guarantees but worth a shot.

[alecp]

Nope! Disconnecting the battery didn't change anything -- still the exact same behavior. Sadly =(

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by alecp

Nope! Disconnecting the battery didn't change anything -- still the exact same behavior. Sadly =(

Damnit!

[gramicci101]

Do the two have the same pinout?

[Pointmutation]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Do the two have the same pinout?

^^^ this. Doesn't the FRS and BRZ have different pin outs for the amp turn on wire? Try playing with the fader, is it absolutely no sound, or just no sound from the door panels?

[alecp]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Do the two have the same pinout?

From what I have found, the pinouts for the two are nearly identical and are identical for functionality purposes.

Reference: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...8&postcount=20

In the 10 pin harness, both the BRZ and FRS have the amp turn-on at pin 9.
The difference is the AM/FM antenna booster amplifier power on pin 8. In the Subaru version it is provided by the headunit, but in the FRS it is a No-Connect. So the difference is that no power is going to the to the antenna booster amplifer. But this wouldn't kill the power to the speakers, presumably?

Originally Posted by Pointmutation

^^^ this. Doesn't the FRS and BRZ have different pin outs for the amp turn on wire? Try playing with the fader, is it absolutely no sound, or just no sound from the door panels?

There is no output from any speakers at all, not just the door/dash speakers.

Hrmm

[gramicci101]

The antenna booster wouldn't affect output to the speakers, so that's not an issue. All the speaker outputs are the same, and that's the important part. The fact that you're getting no sound from any of the speakers, not just the door speakers (rear amp), makes me think that it might be a problem internal to the radio. Can you swap the BRZ radio back in and see if the speakers work again?

[Chimera]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

The antenna booster wouldn't affect output to the speakers, so that's not an issue. All the speaker outputs are the same, and that's the important part. The fact that you're getting no sound from any of the speakers, not just the door speakers (rear amp), makes me think that it might be a problem internal to the radio. Can you swap the BRZ radio back in and see if the speakers work again?

I was about to suggest the same, that sounds an awful lot like a bunk radio


a quick test if you have some parts you could get the Metra harness hook up power and ground from a 12v source if you have one, (a car battery will work, but a powerblock is safer/easier) and run 1 speaker.

[Twinz]

It's very unlikley that all the speakers went bad the moment you installed a new radio.

If you are sure about the compatibility of the new radio, check for damaged pins on the wiring harness (es) They dont always line up properly and can get pushed back into the harness if you get in hurry. If all that is good and the radio is really supposed to be plug and play, then the radio is the prime suspect.

[alecp]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

The antenna booster wouldn't affect output to the speakers, so that's not an issue. All the speaker outputs are the same, and that's the important part. The fact that you're getting no sound from any of the speakers, not just the door speakers (rear amp), makes me think that it might be a problem internal to the radio. Can you swap the BRZ radio back in and see if the speakers work again?

Originally Posted by Chimera

I was about to suggest the same, that sounds an awful lot like a bunk radio


a quick test if you have some parts you could get the Metra harness hook up power and ground from a 12v source if you have one, (a car battery will work, but a powerblock is safer/easier) and run 1 speaker.

Originally Posted by Twinz

It's very unlikley that all the speakers went bad the moment you installed a new radio.

If you are sure about the compatibility of the new radio, check for damaged pins on the wiring harness (es) They dont always line up properly and can get pushed back into the harness if you get in hurry. If all that is good and the radio is really supposed to be plug and play, then the radio is the prime suspect.

The speakers do work independently. I swapped back to my original Fujitsu Ten headunit, and the speakers pick up and play audio immediately.

The harness definitely works as well, since I am reusing the same harness between headunits.

I think it's clear that the headunit I got is broken. Just wanted to explore all options before arriving at that conclusion.

Thanks for everyone's input. I do appreciate it.

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by alecp

The difference is the AM/FM antenna booster amplifier power on pin 8. In the Subaru version it is provided by the headunit, but in the FRS it is a No-Connect.

Technically, on FR-S HUs the HU does still provide that power, but it's via the tiny pin on the AM/FM connector.

Some HUs (including OEM ones) will disable the speaker amplifier IC (killing all 4 speaker outputs) if any one of them is shorted. Typically that happens after people do something wrong while replacing speakers or doing something in the doors, but in your case it could be a problem inside the HU.