I have a '02 WRX wagon that I'm installing a hitch and wiring harness to. The hitch is in, and the wiring hookups are done except for one thing.
In the taillight assembly, there are three wires that go to the single bulb that is used for rear facing tail lights (dim) and the brake lights (bright).
One wire is labeled A and is black, and I assume that is the ground. Another is labeled B and is green with occasional red spots. Last is labeled C and is red with occasional black spots. The owners manual was no help for this.
I don't have a multimeter with me, and I'd rather not drive my car until I get the wiring figured out.
Does anyone know or have an online reference that will tell me which wire (green or red) is for the brake lights?
Grab a cheap multimeter at WalMart...you can get em for maybe seven bucks..and check em direct--- that way you KNOW what's what (not how it was
*supposed* to be wired). Poke black meter lead to ground, red to exposed terminal of each of your question wires, and have partner mash brake for you. Three minutes, you're done! Leave the cheepy meter in the car for future needs ;-)
when you're done, if you have the time, it may be helpful to summarize the modifications you made, with simple instructions. This group gets archived, and it will probably save a few people the headaches.
From my shop manual, the wire colors in the harness are:
Black is ground White/Red is tail lights White/Black is brake lights Black/Green is left turn Light Green/Black is right turn
The manual doesn't list wire colors inside of the "combination light assembly" (Subareze for taillight), and in reality they may vary, as Subaru probably has several vendors for these assembles. W/O a multimeter, you'll have to trace back to the harness to see which wire does what.
Hope this helps a bit.
ByeBye! S.
Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101
Thanks all for the info. I didn't look at the wires in the bundled harness itself, only at the wires leading to individual bulbs (I finished before I saw the post from S). All the bulbs but the ones for the brake light had two wires each, and one was always black. After fretting a long while, posting here, digging though already packed boxes for my old multimeter, I decided on a simple solution for the three wire brake/tail bulb: I guessed. Even if I chose incorrectly the first time (I did) it would take about 90 seconds to pop the tail light again, cut the lead wire going to my control unit, and slap a new 3M wire connector on the other wire. Wish I thought of that before wasting too much time - I could have been packing more stuff or seeing my girlfriend again.
So, at least in my particular WRX, the green wire is the one going to the brake filament, and the red one powers the tail lights.
Got my hitch and wiring module from eTrailer.com which I heard about from a post on this newsgroup a month or more ago. I forgot who wrote it, but I'm glad you did. Parts as follows, which cost about $175 including shipping - way way cheaper than Subaru parts and a little cheaper than getting it installed at U-Haul, who says they don't have compatible wiring and I would need to get that done by Subaru:
1 Ball 1-7/8x3/4x1-9/16 2000#
1 3593 Class I Drawbar
1 24710 Class I Hitch
1 Modulite Wiring Kit - from battery to tail
1 Modulite Lite Module - box to prevent stressing stock tail wiring
It was a pain to route the wire under my car leading from the battery in a way that avoided all hot, sharp and moving parts. The hitch itself was pretty easy to install - I used only hand tools and the car remained on the ground because I don't have ramps or a lift. As part of the install, you have to remove both rear tiedown/tow loops, and the outside exhaust hanger. My draw-tite hitch has a method for securing the bar attached to the muffler, but it didn't fit well at all. I tried at first to drive leaving that hanger unattached, but it bumped and rattled against the hitch during some situations like shutting the car off and getting off the throttle quickly. I was able to get the rubber isolation exhaust hanger re-attached well enough that it stops the vibration. You can't see it from behind the car, but it isn't ideal. I bet the solution they designed for is for the Outback Sport and 2.5TS Impreza vehicles which have a single exhaust tip instead of my (stock) dual setup.
But everything works, and I'm moving from Massachusetts to Arizona starting Monday. I hope the 4x8 enclosed trailer rides better with some weight in it, because driving it empty to my apartment didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. No side to side swaying I could see, but it bounced and induced some drivetrain vibration that sort of felt like I had a bad tank of gas. That quieted down when I drove over the only quarter mile of smooth pavement in the Boston area.
Once I get internet access setup at my destination I'll post again and say how the hitch and trailer performed.
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