2009 libs volume control on steering wheel

[ricco]

hey guys quick question looking at my steering wheel of a 2009 liberty 2.5i it has the insert for the volume control plus station selection but does not have it only the heritage and above does? has anyone tryed to fit one in there, the panel looks like it just comes off and the other one would fit right in there, is it as easy as that or is there something else im missing, does the 2.5i stero have the connections on the back of it as well....

ill get some pics tonight to show yous the panel....

cheers ricc

[Lib 3.0LR]

That mod might be just alittle more involved than the bonnet

[teK--]

Hey Ric I believe it's just a matter of installing the control panel into the wheel then plugging the harness into the back of the stereo. I am uncertain as to whether the harness is already in the car or whether you need to add it, but the stereo definitely has the capability for it.

[ricco]

ohhh that would be somehting i would look at now, ill ring my mate at the subaru parts tomorrow and see what they,

question is has anyone done it>>>>

[teK--]

Nup the first thing I did when I got the car was replace the shitty factory head unit, hence bye bye steering wheel controls (if I even had them in the first place).

I had them in my old car I hardly used them to be honest.

[ricco]

Nup the first thing I did when I got the car was replace the shitty factory head unit, hence bye bye steering wheel controls (if I even had them in the first place).

I had them in my old car I hardly used them to be honest.

you would replace the head unit of a brand new car right away???? thats a bit strange, why would you do that.......

[overl0ad]

cos he's an audiophile

[teK--]

cos he's an audiophile

I wouldn't go so far as to say that Gerald, hehe. Craig is probably one of the few audiophiles here . But I do enjoy having a system that sounds better than the stock 2.5i.

The stock head unit does not have RCA outputs (nor MP3 support in the MY04), plus it EQs the signal to hell to cope with the inadequate stock speakers. Plus there is not enough bass for the type of music I like. Just changing the head unit for a good aftermarket one actually makes the factory speakers sound so much better without doing anything else because the inbuilt amp is so much better and there is no EQ'ing of the signal.

[ricco]

yer ill stick with the factory head unit for a little while im not going to rip it out cause the car only has 7000kms on it its brand new,

[loweart]

you would replace the head unit of a brand new car right away???? thats a bit strange, why would you do that.......

No matter how good car makers claim their car stereo systems are, they are all made to a price, not to a high level of sound quality - mostly show, no GO.

[ricco]

you would replace the head unit of a brand new car right away???? thats a bit strange, why would you do that.......

No matter how good car makers claim their car stereo systems are, they are all made to a price, not to a high level of sound quality - mostly show, no GO.

yer but i dont think i shuld go and rip out the stero just yet ive been looking at it but i carnt bring my self to do it.........

[loweart]

I removed my McIntosh car stereo an hour after I got my car home from the dealership

When I was test driving various Liberty's, the private owners or saleman would turn the stereo on whilst I was driving and say, listen to this great
system, I reached over to the controls and turned it off ! YUCK !!!!

If you have the standard ( non McIntoss ) stereo and don't want to remove the headunit, replace the door speakers with some better 2 ways and or 2 way splits
and you'll notice a difference straight away !

[ricco]

I removed my McIntosh car stereo an hour after I got my car home from the dealership

When I was test driving various Liberty's, the private owners or saleman would turn the stereo on whilst I was driving and say, listen to this great
system, I reached over to the controls and turned it off ! YUCK !!!!

If you have the standard ( non McIntoss ) stereo and don't want to remove the headunit, replace the door speakers with some better 2 ways and or 2 way splits
and you'll notice a difference straight away !

hahah crazy, yer ive been lookign in to that, my mate has a 09 libs as well and he replaced the door speakers, sonds much much better, one thing i may as well do, while she is off the road for 6 months,,,

[HODMAN]

I found a thread from the states Re: Volume controls if anyone still cares.

Its not for 09 models but may provide some clues about updating steering wheels.
Best of luck
http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26232

Cheers

[SVXdc]

Short answer -- it''s not difficult on 2007-2009 models in the US, and it's likely you already have all of the wiring in place between the wheel and the HU.

Take a look here (my post on SubaruForester.org)


(click to see larger image)

In the US, not all of the OEM HUs will work with the steering wheel controls (I think it's mainly the lower-end, single-CD models that don't). But if your exact same HU model (go by the number printed on the front) appears in a higher-end car that does have audio SWCs, then it's likely they'll work in your car.

However, it appears your 2009 is like our 2010, where Subaru added some buttons...

(photo from Cars101.com)

I suspect a similar mod would work on your 2009, but I've heard from a couple of people who have discovered that the new buttons (voice recognition, phone off- and on-hook) connect to the HU differently than the mode, volume, and up/down buttons. So your HU might work with the audio buttons but not the phone buttons.