Joined
·
76 Posts
This will be a tutorial for those looking to retrofit the CarPlay / Android Auto radios that come with the 2019+ WRX.
Final Pic
![300610]()
Where do I begin? In 2013 when I bought my Crosstrek I was very excited to get my first car with built-in navigation. Over the years though, I noticed myself using my phone for my drive to/from work to get real-time traffic updates. I tried the SiriusXM traffic on the built-in unit but found it completely inaccurate leading me right into traffic jams or taking me miles from the main route because it thought a jam that cleared several hours earlier was still present. I then started using my phone for vacation trips as well making the in-car nav pretty much useless unless I was lost with no cell service. Subaru upgraded the Crosstrek's radio to support Android Auto / Apple CarPlay, however, this was only done on the 2018+ models with a completely new head unit that wouldn't fit into the first generation XV. At this point, I could have done what many of you did and purchased an aftermarket double DIN radio, or one of those Android units but aftermarket radios have never been my thing. I always thought the bezel around single/double DIN radios looked tacky and took away from the interior. Even the Seicane android units jet out like someone glued a tablet screen onto a radio and I've had issues such as poor FM reception or UI lag when trying those in the past. Completely fine if you went that route, they are just personally not for me so my quest for OEM continued. A short time after I heard that the 2019 WRX was getting these features and immediately got excited seeing that the radio's physical shape would be a direct fit into my Crosstrek. I set up an eBay search back in 2018 and combed car-part.com regularly hoping someone would list one. I would sometimes see auctions for the 6" & 7" PHONE button radios but I wanted one with the MAP button, a rarer radio only included on 2019 - 2020 WRX/STI's with Harman Kardon audio. Why would I need this if I intend to use Android Auto? There are times when I have been in very remote parts of New England with no cell service, in these times using the built-in Nav with the maps pre-loaded onto the Head Unit was my only option, so I wanted to retain that functionality as a safety net. After almost two years of searching, finally in May of 2020 one of these radios popped up for sale, and I jumped on it immediately!
Parts List
Level Setting:
To start my Crosstrek, as mentioned above, was a 2013 with factory Nav. If you have a 2013-2014 with the base radio this swap may be harder as the radio connectors are completely different. It should still be possible but you will need to source alternative pigtail harnesses/adapters to connect to the factory car wiring. For whatever reason, the early XV Nav radios just happened to use the same connectors that all 2015+ XV's eventually uses. If you have a 2015+ Crosstrek this swap may be easier as the radio is the same size and things like SirusXM antennas may plug right in. If your XV didn't come with factory Nav and you want to add it, this should also be possible but you will need to mount a GPS antenna, the stock location is under the dash pad above the instrument cluster. This guide will assume you are going from a 2013-2014 XV with Nav, to a 2019-2020 WRX Radio with a MAP button, but those in different boats looking to do the same should be able to take the tips here and apply them to their own situation.
When looking for parts such as the radio and Amp, I can't stress this enough, ASK FOR THE PIGTAILS!!! Most of these connectors are proprietary, you could try reaching out to autoharnesshouse.com & ae64.com but it's much easier to have the junkyard include them with the radio/amp. You can certainly hack up your harness if you'd like to, but my method was to not make a single cut in existing factory wires.
So you have all the parts, now what? If you are just wanting CarPlay / Android Auto and are fine with a PHONE button radio you can skip most of this guide and just reference items such as the camera section and the door switch wiring, you won't need to build as big of a harness as I do below. Assuming you are up for the challenge of upgrading to a MAP radio you'll need to start building an adapter harness. No 13-17 Crosstrek came with Harman Kardon audio. On our radios, the speakers are wired directly to the back of the head unit. On the 15-20 WRX/STI's with HK audio, there will be an Amplifier mounted in the trunk. The radio sends L/R channel audio to the amplifier as well as several data signals. The amplifier then interprets that and individually drives each speaker, which for the HK WRX has wires leading to the trunk of the car. To get this working on a Crosstrek you will need to build a sender and receiver adapter harness. The idea came from "apoteker" on the TacomaWorld forums. He and I did the same thing several years back in a Tacoma, adding a JBL Navigation radio w/ Amp to a Taco that came with only the base audio which you can read about here. What this harness will do is allow you to mount the Amp elsewhere (in my case under the front passenger seat) and still drive the speakers without needing to re-route every speaker wire directly to the amp. The harness will connect to the back of the radio, and "send" the data to the amp. The amp will then reply back with the speaker output which will travel back up the harness along the "receiver" wires to the speaker connectors already behind the radio. Think of this as a detour, the radio will no longer talk directly to the speakers, and the amp will now act as a translator in-between.
Mapping:
The harness is essentially a re-mapping exercise. Using the service manual radio pinouts from the 2019 WRX, and using the service manual from the 2013 XV, I had to study both and play spot the difference looking for things like PKB was Pin 6 on the 2013 radio, yet the 2019 radio is expecting this on Pin 15. Both manuals are available on Subaru TechNet which is $35 for a 3-day pass. I included the bits I used here, but if you need more info it's easy to grab the full PDF. I believe after everything it was just over 40-wires that I had to re-map.
At this point, you may already be overwhelmed. Once you get going it's actually pretty simple, there is nothing special going on, just connecting wires from A to B where they need to go based on the manual. I'd recommend starting with something small like the camera connector and working your way to the larger items such as the amp. Once you have all the re-mapping work planned out it's time to bust out that soldering iron. All of the wires in the harness I built were soldered and heat-shrunk wrapped. This part was actually pretty relaxing spending an hour so after work each night one by one soldering connections at my dining room table. Color coding is optional but makes things easier. I bought a pack of 11 different colors of 22Ga wire which was used for the "sender" data lines, a pack of 18 different colors of 18Ga wire which was used for the "reply" speaker line, and two strands of 14Ga wire to be used for Amp power and ground. I had some colors left over but can't remember how many. The length I chose for the harness from the radio to the amp was 7ft.
In the manual you will notice that 6 of the "sender" data lines (A1, A2, A5, A6, B2, B6) are shielded, apoteker recommended wrapping these lines in foil tape, connecting that tape to the wire from the the ground pin (B4 in this case), then wrapping in pipe thread tape (I used the thicker yellow oil type), and finally a layer of electrical tape as a DIY shield. The "sender" lines will go from the 28, 6, & 10-pin pigtail connectors included with the radio, to the pigtails included with the amplifier. For this, I used a 28-pin Head Unit Wiring Harness by AutoHarnessHouse.com. Left unmodified it acts as an extension cable with a male end on one side, and female on the other. This harness will allow you to tap into the 28-pin signals as needed without having to hack up your existing harness. The "receiver" lines will go from the pigtails on the amplifier to the Metra 70-1761 harness which plugs into the factory speaker connectors. Not needed but I de-pinned any of the lines on the 28-pin harness that were marked as not used. I also needed an extra connector for the Metra 70-1761 harness as all of the lead spots were not populated. I had an old 99 Toyota Camry floor harness in my garage that I was able to harvest a lead with the correct pin type off of but I'm sure they can be sourced normally as well.
Pic showing the foil tape shield mid-build
![300579]()
The backup camera connector has also changed. You will need to use the male end (with pins showing) of the SCOSCHE CADSU01 connector, and then re-map the wires to the 5-pin pigtail connector on the back of the radio. This pigtail will only have 4 wires so you'll notice that one of the lines now goes to the main 28-pin harness on the radio end. I de-pinned any wires that were not used. You will also need to swap to a newer camera part # 86267FJ500. While my 2013 Camera displayed the video fine, it would not show the guidelines. Seeing the 2018 WRX guys didn't seem to have this issue when they swapped I thought I might try a newer Crosstrek Camera. I tossed it in and sure enough, the guidelines worked again!
Pic showing the camera harness section
![300581]()
The radio will of course still need power so a few of the lines from the 10 & 6-pin connectors on the back of the radio will not need to go to the amp, but will instead connect directly to the Metra 70-1761.
Pic showing the 10-pin connectors on each end
![300582]()
In our Crosstrek the factory tweeters are driven off of the same lines as the front L/R door speakers. The HK Amp however drives these individually and actually uses them uniquely. The front door speakers in HK cars are used exclusively for low-end bassy tones while the tweeters are used for high-end treble. You will need to separate these channels or the audio will be awful in the car. I purchased a pair of HK Tweeters part# 86301SG130 (mostly for the pigtail connector but I figured why not upgrade) and ran longer lines directly from the amp to the pigtails. You could also skip buying the tweeters, determine where the stock wiring combines these signals, and try to tap in there but it seemed easier in this case just run two new lines for each tweeter, and then utilize the stock Front L/R lines already in the car exclusively for the door speakers. Since these had to go a little farther to snake up under the dash I used 10ft of wire.
Pic showing the tweeter leads
![300583]()
Completed Main Harness
![300613]()
SiriusXM & GPS connections were my next hurdle. The 2013 XV uses widely available Fakra connectors, however, Subaru has since switched to Sumitomo HFC connectors. You can read about them more here if wanted. These are not widely available and require bulk ordering. I chose to put together an adapter instead. For SirusXM this was easy, simply use roof radio harness part # 86325FJ940 , take out the old piece behind the radio by unplugging the Green & Grey connectors, and put in the new piece which now has one white and one blue (FM & Sirus) connectors on the end.
SirusXM Antenna wires old and new
![300584]()
The GPS however was a little harder and can be done two ways. You can purchase a GPS antenna part # 86277CA120, mount it, and be done, or you can make an adapter. When I ordered the roof harness 86325FJ940, it came attached with an additional length of wire. There was no separate part number on them so I am not sure if Subaru considers this part of 86325FJ940 or not. On that harness, though you will see two square green male connectors noticing that they are the same as the stock 2013 GPS antenna connector. Remember when I said to get pigtails? Well, you can now gently remove that grey GPS HFC connector from the wire, gently remove the blue Sirius connector from the second 86325FJ940 roof harness (yes I bought two), and place the grey connector on the end since the SMA wire inside is the same. This then gives you an adapter harness that goes from the factory 2013 green connector to the 2019 grey connector without having to dig under the dash and swap out an antenna.
GPs Antenna cable adapter
![300585]()
Final Pic
Where do I begin? In 2013 when I bought my Crosstrek I was very excited to get my first car with built-in navigation. Over the years though, I noticed myself using my phone for my drive to/from work to get real-time traffic updates. I tried the SiriusXM traffic on the built-in unit but found it completely inaccurate leading me right into traffic jams or taking me miles from the main route because it thought a jam that cleared several hours earlier was still present. I then started using my phone for vacation trips as well making the in-car nav pretty much useless unless I was lost with no cell service. Subaru upgraded the Crosstrek's radio to support Android Auto / Apple CarPlay, however, this was only done on the 2018+ models with a completely new head unit that wouldn't fit into the first generation XV. At this point, I could have done what many of you did and purchased an aftermarket double DIN radio, or one of those Android units but aftermarket radios have never been my thing. I always thought the bezel around single/double DIN radios looked tacky and took away from the interior. Even the Seicane android units jet out like someone glued a tablet screen onto a radio and I've had issues such as poor FM reception or UI lag when trying those in the past. Completely fine if you went that route, they are just personally not for me so my quest for OEM continued. A short time after I heard that the 2019 WRX was getting these features and immediately got excited seeing that the radio's physical shape would be a direct fit into my Crosstrek. I set up an eBay search back in 2018 and combed car-part.com regularly hoping someone would list one. I would sometimes see auctions for the 6" & 7" PHONE button radios but I wanted one with the MAP button, a rarer radio only included on 2019 - 2020 WRX/STI's with Harman Kardon audio. Why would I need this if I intend to use Android Auto? There are times when I have been in very remote parts of New England with no cell service, in these times using the built-in Nav with the maps pre-loaded onto the Head Unit was my only option, so I wanted to retain that functionality as a safety net. After almost two years of searching, finally in May of 2020 one of these radios popped up for sale, and I jumped on it immediately!
Parts List
- Radio 86471VA610 (MAP)
86471VA62086431VA620 (PHONE) 19-20 WRX w/ Pigtails - Amplifier 86221va050 19-20 WRX w/ Pigtails
- Wire 18Ga 18 Colors 10FT
- Wire 22Ga 11 Colors 10FT
- Wire 14Ga 2 Colors 15Ft
- Roof Wiring Harness 86325FJ940 15-20 WRX 15-17 XV 15-17 Impreza (Two Optional)
- GPS Antenna 86277CA120 18-20 BRZ (Optional)
- USB Cable 86273VA080 18-20 WRX
- Center Dash Vent Bezel 15-20 WRX 15-17 XV 15-17 Impreza
- Fuse Box 15-20 WRX w/ Pigtails (Optional)
- Backup Camera 86267FJ500 16-17 XV Impreza (Hatch)
- Tweeters 86301SG130 w/ Pigtails (Optional)
- USB Jack 86257SJ131 w/ Pigtails 2019-2020 WRX XV Impreza Outback Forester Legacy
- Steering Wheel Controls 83154VA300
- Speaker Harness Metra 70-1761
- 28-pin Head Unit Wiring Harness by AutoHarnessHouse.com
- SCOSCHE CADSU01 Camera Harness
Level Setting:
To start my Crosstrek, as mentioned above, was a 2013 with factory Nav. If you have a 2013-2014 with the base radio this swap may be harder as the radio connectors are completely different. It should still be possible but you will need to source alternative pigtail harnesses/adapters to connect to the factory car wiring. For whatever reason, the early XV Nav radios just happened to use the same connectors that all 2015+ XV's eventually uses. If you have a 2015+ Crosstrek this swap may be easier as the radio is the same size and things like SirusXM antennas may plug right in. If your XV didn't come with factory Nav and you want to add it, this should also be possible but you will need to mount a GPS antenna, the stock location is under the dash pad above the instrument cluster. This guide will assume you are going from a 2013-2014 XV with Nav, to a 2019-2020 WRX Radio with a MAP button, but those in different boats looking to do the same should be able to take the tips here and apply them to their own situation.
When looking for parts such as the radio and Amp, I can't stress this enough, ASK FOR THE PIGTAILS!!! Most of these connectors are proprietary, you could try reaching out to autoharnesshouse.com & ae64.com but it's much easier to have the junkyard include them with the radio/amp. You can certainly hack up your harness if you'd like to, but my method was to not make a single cut in existing factory wires.
So you have all the parts, now what? If you are just wanting CarPlay / Android Auto and are fine with a PHONE button radio you can skip most of this guide and just reference items such as the camera section and the door switch wiring, you won't need to build as big of a harness as I do below. Assuming you are up for the challenge of upgrading to a MAP radio you'll need to start building an adapter harness. No 13-17 Crosstrek came with Harman Kardon audio. On our radios, the speakers are wired directly to the back of the head unit. On the 15-20 WRX/STI's with HK audio, there will be an Amplifier mounted in the trunk. The radio sends L/R channel audio to the amplifier as well as several data signals. The amplifier then interprets that and individually drives each speaker, which for the HK WRX has wires leading to the trunk of the car. To get this working on a Crosstrek you will need to build a sender and receiver adapter harness. The idea came from "apoteker" on the TacomaWorld forums. He and I did the same thing several years back in a Tacoma, adding a JBL Navigation radio w/ Amp to a Taco that came with only the base audio which you can read about here. What this harness will do is allow you to mount the Amp elsewhere (in my case under the front passenger seat) and still drive the speakers without needing to re-route every speaker wire directly to the amp. The harness will connect to the back of the radio, and "send" the data to the amp. The amp will then reply back with the speaker output which will travel back up the harness along the "receiver" wires to the speaker connectors already behind the radio. Think of this as a detour, the radio will no longer talk directly to the speakers, and the amp will now act as a translator in-between.
Mapping:
The harness is essentially a re-mapping exercise. Using the service manual radio pinouts from the 2019 WRX, and using the service manual from the 2013 XV, I had to study both and play spot the difference looking for things like PKB was Pin 6 on the 2013 radio, yet the 2019 radio is expecting this on Pin 15. Both manuals are available on Subaru TechNet which is $35 for a 3-day pass. I included the bits I used here, but if you need more info it's easy to grab the full PDF. I believe after everything it was just over 40-wires that I had to re-map.
At this point, you may already be overwhelmed. Once you get going it's actually pretty simple, there is nothing special going on, just connecting wires from A to B where they need to go based on the manual. I'd recommend starting with something small like the camera connector and working your way to the larger items such as the amp. Once you have all the re-mapping work planned out it's time to bust out that soldering iron. All of the wires in the harness I built were soldered and heat-shrunk wrapped. This part was actually pretty relaxing spending an hour so after work each night one by one soldering connections at my dining room table. Color coding is optional but makes things easier. I bought a pack of 11 different colors of 22Ga wire which was used for the "sender" data lines, a pack of 18 different colors of 18Ga wire which was used for the "reply" speaker line, and two strands of 14Ga wire to be used for Amp power and ground. I had some colors left over but can't remember how many. The length I chose for the harness from the radio to the amp was 7ft.
In the manual you will notice that 6 of the "sender" data lines (A1, A2, A5, A6, B2, B6) are shielded, apoteker recommended wrapping these lines in foil tape, connecting that tape to the wire from the the ground pin (B4 in this case), then wrapping in pipe thread tape (I used the thicker yellow oil type), and finally a layer of electrical tape as a DIY shield. The "sender" lines will go from the 28, 6, & 10-pin pigtail connectors included with the radio, to the pigtails included with the amplifier. For this, I used a 28-pin Head Unit Wiring Harness by AutoHarnessHouse.com. Left unmodified it acts as an extension cable with a male end on one side, and female on the other. This harness will allow you to tap into the 28-pin signals as needed without having to hack up your existing harness. The "receiver" lines will go from the pigtails on the amplifier to the Metra 70-1761 harness which plugs into the factory speaker connectors. Not needed but I de-pinned any of the lines on the 28-pin harness that were marked as not used. I also needed an extra connector for the Metra 70-1761 harness as all of the lead spots were not populated. I had an old 99 Toyota Camry floor harness in my garage that I was able to harvest a lead with the correct pin type off of but I'm sure they can be sourced normally as well.
Pic showing the foil tape shield mid-build
The backup camera connector has also changed. You will need to use the male end (with pins showing) of the SCOSCHE CADSU01 connector, and then re-map the wires to the 5-pin pigtail connector on the back of the radio. This pigtail will only have 4 wires so you'll notice that one of the lines now goes to the main 28-pin harness on the radio end. I de-pinned any wires that were not used. You will also need to swap to a newer camera part # 86267FJ500. While my 2013 Camera displayed the video fine, it would not show the guidelines. Seeing the 2018 WRX guys didn't seem to have this issue when they swapped I thought I might try a newer Crosstrek Camera. I tossed it in and sure enough, the guidelines worked again!
Pic showing the camera harness section
The radio will of course still need power so a few of the lines from the 10 & 6-pin connectors on the back of the radio will not need to go to the amp, but will instead connect directly to the Metra 70-1761.
Pic showing the 10-pin connectors on each end
In our Crosstrek the factory tweeters are driven off of the same lines as the front L/R door speakers. The HK Amp however drives these individually and actually uses them uniquely. The front door speakers in HK cars are used exclusively for low-end bassy tones while the tweeters are used for high-end treble. You will need to separate these channels or the audio will be awful in the car. I purchased a pair of HK Tweeters part# 86301SG130 (mostly for the pigtail connector but I figured why not upgrade) and ran longer lines directly from the amp to the pigtails. You could also skip buying the tweeters, determine where the stock wiring combines these signals, and try to tap in there but it seemed easier in this case just run two new lines for each tweeter, and then utilize the stock Front L/R lines already in the car exclusively for the door speakers. Since these had to go a little farther to snake up under the dash I used 10ft of wire.
Pic showing the tweeter leads
Completed Main Harness
SiriusXM & GPS connections were my next hurdle. The 2013 XV uses widely available Fakra connectors, however, Subaru has since switched to Sumitomo HFC connectors. You can read about them more here if wanted. These are not widely available and require bulk ordering. I chose to put together an adapter instead. For SirusXM this was easy, simply use roof radio harness part # 86325FJ940 , take out the old piece behind the radio by unplugging the Green & Grey connectors, and put in the new piece which now has one white and one blue (FM & Sirus) connectors on the end.
SirusXM Antenna wires old and new
The GPS however was a little harder and can be done two ways. You can purchase a GPS antenna part # 86277CA120, mount it, and be done, or you can make an adapter. When I ordered the roof harness 86325FJ940, it came attached with an additional length of wire. There was no separate part number on them so I am not sure if Subaru considers this part of 86325FJ940 or not. On that harness, though you will see two square green male connectors noticing that they are the same as the stock 2013 GPS antenna connector. Remember when I said to get pigtails? Well, you can now gently remove that grey GPS HFC connector from the wire, gently remove the blue Sirius connector from the second 86325FJ940 roof harness (yes I bought two), and place the grey connector on the end since the SMA wire inside is the same. This then gives you an adapter harness that goes from the factory 2013 green connector to the 2019 grey connector without having to dig under the dash and swap out an antenna.
GPs Antenna cable adapter
.
