This is an issue that I have had since I got the car. The radio will not pick up any stations. The plug for the radio antenna is connected to the head unit but it will not pick up any stations. I really have no clue on where to start on this. I don't really want to buy another head unit just to find out that it still does not work. Anyone have ideas on how to troubleshoot this problem?
is it a stock radio or aftermarket? If stock, did you check the other end at the antennae to see if it was plugged in? I would also do a continuity check on the cable between the head unit and antennae.
I don't see anything obvious hanging in the trunk. On the right side if you pull back the carpet piece there are a bunch of wires but none of them look like the one that plugs into the back of the radio.
Yup SVXdc is a great guy. I would look at this....this could be the culprit if the person that installed your radio didnt know what he was doing. When installing an after-market radio, here's what you should connect to the Subaru's antenna control pin (choices from "best" to "worst"): "Power antenna" output. Most after-market radios have this, usually a solid Blue wire. This will activate the antenna only while you listen to AM/FM. Amplifier remote control (usually a Blue/White wire). Not all after-market radios have this. This will activate the antenna whenever the radio is on, even when you switch to CD or AUX input. For head units that lack both of the above wires, your only other choice is to connect the Subaru's antenna control pin to Accessory power (+12V switched). Then the antenna amp will be 'on' (or the motorized antenna will extend) whenever you turn the ignition key to ACC or ON.
Edit: I'll leave this up, but it looks like Integroid beat me to it. Not sure about the WRX but on my headunit there is a power antenna wire that needs to be connected in order to pick up radio stations. This is in addition to the antenna wire itself. This wire (at least on the aftermarket headunit I got) was not labelled clearly, so it took me several tries to get the right wire connected. Once I did though, the radio signal was coming in perfect.
Make sure the blue wire from radio is connected to the blue or white wire coming from the subaru harness. Sounds easy enough.
I ended up hooking the subaru antenna wire to the 12v power wire for the radio. The result is now I have the radio. Thanks for the help!
Ahhh...you dont want it on constant 12V.....Make sure it is either on the blue/white wire or the red 12v switched wire.
There was no blue/white wire. I'll look for the other one. It's on all the time the way I have it hooked up now. If I don't have the other wire I'll have to leave it this way.
No, hook it up to the red wire from the radio. That is switched power and it will only be on when the car is on. I havent seen an aftermarket radio that did not have either a blue wire or a blue/white wire. Look for it....it probably isnt hooked up to anything obviously.