'93 BC Door lock wiring

Brumby · Post by **Brumby** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:51 pm

So I've searched... and searched.... and even Googled around; There is a nonexistent plethora of information regarding our door locks. Until 1995, Subaru tells me there were no models produced with keyless entry. Now whether this is true, I'm not 100%... I've yet to come across one, and my model certainly doesn't have them. I've 'acquired' a keyless entry kit, nothing fancy, just your basic two remote/simple base station setup. I wanted to use the factory actuators, thereby keeping the factory lock "switch" that Subaru built into the drivers door lock, but without a driver's front actuator, that seems pointless.

Long story short: Does anyone around understand Subaru's complicated schematics for the pre-95 legacy's? The one in the back of my Haynes book has me baffled... 5 wires in the "switch" and four per actuator... I've no clue how to tap into this successfully.

Has anyone here ever installed an aftermarket keyless entry kit successfully into their BC/BF? If so, I'd love to know what brand/ procedure you used... and one more thing: In before being told to leave it stock... because I'm just that lazy =D

Thanks in advance to anyone with advice!

EDIT: Just had a thought... I didn't want to use universal actuators because of the hassle involved in fitting them... but would a post-95 drivers front actuator possibly fit? To replace the "switch"? Although I guess I'd still have to rewire the rest of the actuators then...

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:21 pm

I installed a keyless entry doohickey on my car.

You don't have to worry about the wiring. Just install an actuator in the driver's door and it will operate the others using the factory "power-assisted" locks.

I'm sure you could make a second-generator actuator work but to me it seems like more of a hassle than an aftermarket actuator.

The aftermarket ones are pretty easy to install; pretty much all of them have the same extremely versatile design. They're held in with some strapping that you can bend or cut to fit, and then you have to drill two pilot holes in the door for two self-tapping screws to hold it in place. The actuator then mounts to the strapping and/or door. You bend the actuator rod to line up with the lock rod in the door and secure them together with this little clamp. When you have the parts in front of you it should be obvious.

This page provides some generic door lock installation info:

http://www.a1electric.com/door_locks.htm

Brumby · Post by **Brumby** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:52 pm

vrg3 wrote: ...Just install an actuator in the driver's door and it will operate the others using the factory "power-assisted" locks...

So basically leave the system intact and just let a new single actuator do the work of my hand/key in the drivers door?

Damn, and to think I've spent almost three weeks trying to figure this out on my own!

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:09 pm

Hehe, yup!

Brumby · Post by **Brumby** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:19 am

Out of curiosity, and because I'm one of those people plagued with the 'just because I can' disease, Would it be a worthwhile idea to try and modify the stock setup to allow a one door/ all door unlock setup? To clarify, as in a normal stock setup where one button press is just the drivers door, and a second press would do the remaining three. The current unlock module I have allows for this, however I have no clue as to how to integrate this without ripping out all the stock actuators/ switches and replacing the entire system with a brand new standalone.

I dunno... from an effort standpoint, it's a whole lot of work for not much gain, but from a materials standpoint it's way cheaper, seeing as how I already bought a controller w/ keyfobs for 10$ on eBay... and the cheapest kits with all four actuators are upwards of 60$ anywhere. I'm the type who loves a little ingenuous workaround versus spending even more money on duplicate parts.

Post by **Legacy777** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:44 am

Unless you can get an actuator with two different set points to open to, you won't be able to do the one door / all doors thing......without a lot more work. You could try using two different actuators....but that seems like A LOT more work.

BTW, to my knowledge there was no factory keyless entry system on the 1990-1994 Legacys. Specifically because they had the one door, all doors function instead of a normal power door lock setup.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:09 am

Well, depending on how the unlock module you have works, you might be able to do it by just interrupting the factory's power-assist setup.

I'm guessing it has two separate wires, and it sends +12v on one to unlock the driver's door and +12v on both to unlock all doors? Something like that? Can you post more details, or maybe a link to an installation manual?

But, her'es the general idea:

First install the actuator so that it unlocks all four doors when you try to unlock just the driver's door.

Then, you need to find the wire that powers all the other actuators. With a couple of relays, set it up so this connection is broken when the "unlock-driver-door" signal is coming from the module but the "unlock-all-doors" signal is not. That would disable power-assist when you're unlocking just the driver's door.

The easiest place to access that wire is probably at the fuse box -- it's the yellow-with-green-stripe wire of the 12-pin gray connector on the under-dash fuse box.

Brumby · Post by **Brumby** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:34 pm

You're very close on the +12v Vikash, it's actually just the opposite polarity. The system I have is actually ground pulse based, i.e. when it's given a command via remote, it sends a -12v ground pulse via one of two wires (white = unlock signal, white w/ black = lock signal, I believe) Now, i the system is set up to receive a +12v signal, the manual illustrates the common sense method of using Bosch relays to make this work. My problem is, I don't know what system Subaru used since my actuators all have 4 wires (thanks Haynes) and that drivers' door switch has 5.

I'll dig out the manual tonight and post a few scans, if that'll help. I've tried and tried but the paths it feeds just don't make sense, hence why I'm not sure where/ how to tap into it. I may just end up doing it your way and using a single actuator for all of them.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:38 pm

These door lock systems are more complicated than you think. Its not a matter of sending a 12 volt trigger or negative trigger to more than 1 wire in a case like this. In thses systems there is a door lick module which controls the doors. They work with a negative "trigger" wire which when triggered once will tell the module to unlock only the drivers door. pressing the remote button to unlock a second time sends another negative trigger to the module telling it to unlock the remaining doors. There is a time window on the pulses for it to work (i.e 2 triggers within a 5 second period).

Many aftermarket alarms and remote starters have this "double pulse" output method and they even sell small units that you can add if you only have 1 negative pulse to simulate a double pulse.

My point is that you cannot replicate this with a "stupid" subaru door lock system. By stupid I mean there is no smart module controlling the system.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:25 pm

If the module has only one unlock wire, then like Mike says this is going to be hard to do. Do let us know when you look at the manual.

Brumby · Post by **Brumby** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 5:24 am

vrg3 wrote:If the module has only one unlock wire, then like Mike says this is going to be hard to do. Do let us know when you look at the manual.

Sorry for the lack of scans, it's late and I'm fried... but FWIW, I know the module I intend to install has the extra wire for the single/ double pulse (drivers/ all door unlock) after re-examining the unit and manual. I didn't notice it before, because they failed to mention it until I looked at the back of the manual at the "enabling options" menu. The unit was setup by default to only lock / unlock all doors at once ("stupid mode") whereas it can also be set to utilize the third wire as the second unlock pulse's unlock wire (for lack of a better description).

So, back to what I'm still wondering, knowing now that I have the possible outputs I need (lock/ unlock Drivers door/ unlock All doors), in place of an actuator physically moving the factory lock switch/paddle, how could this be implemented into the stock wiring already in place by Subaru? I'm not positive how it's done, but I know the 5 wires at the switch are nothing more than grounds and +12v leads, nothing more. What's baffling is in what sequence to switch them in order to achieve the desired result... will post manual and Haynes scans asap when I wake up... too tired to find my book this late

And thanks so far you guys, I'm already a little farther than I was ^^ At least I have one method of at least having them work period thanks to Vikash. Still plagued by the 'what if' disease!

Edit:

To answer Mike: yes this unit does utilize the 5 second rule on that third wire for the unlock function... just like any factory system of late

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 5:19 pm

This can be done I think but its going to take some real time to lay out all the relays and draw something up. I'm too busy at the moment to come up with something but I'll try to get to it later.

The basic priciple would be:
Press unlock once and alarm unit latches a relay dissabling the output from the factory switch in the drivers door that sends the signal to the other doors at the same time unlocking the drivers door through another set of relays.
Press the door unlock button again and it will unlatch the "dissabling relay" and then send whatever current is needed to the remaining doors.

This is the basic priciple, Its never been done on this type of system as far as I know so I'd have to do some testing on interupting the exsisting circuit to see how to do it exactly.

Since I don't have the desire to do this myself I can't say that I will be digging into my drivers door to test this but if someone wants to interupt the switch on the door thats connected to the door lock lever and see what happens I'd be happy offer technical advice on this

CoreyMN · Post by **CoreyMN** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:17 pm

Does anyone have a scan of the door lock schematic? I have a '94 sport wagon and my Chilton's manual doesn't even show the schematic for the locks. I've looked everywhere and all posts seem to end in adding an actuator to the driver's door.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:52 pm

CoreyMN wrote:Does anyone have a scan of the door lock schematic? I have a '94 sport wagon and my Chilton's manual doesn't even show the schematic for the locks. I've looked everywhere and all posts seem to end in adding an actuator to the driver's door.

If you want to add keyless entry to your car you need to add an actuator PERIOD!

CoreyMN · Post by **CoreyMN** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:46 pm

I want to lock/unlock all the doors but the drivers. I really only need the schematic if somebody has one.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:31 pm

It pays to have a Haynes also.

Clicker

Let us know how this works out for you...

93Leg-c · Post by **93Leg-c** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:51 am

I'm wondering if Laurel had a factory keyless entry system in her TW? See this: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... +door+lock

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:49 pm

93Leg-c wrote:I'm wondering if Laurel had a factory keyless entry system in her TW? See this: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... +door+lock

No, there is no factory keyless entry system for a bc-bf-bj

She never updated that post so I don't know what was wrong for sure but sounded to me like the added door lock actuator for the keyless unit jammed or failed in combimation with her key lock cylinder being sticky..

93Leg-c · Post by **93Leg-c** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 3:32 pm

magicmike wrote:
93Leg-c wrote:I'm wondering if Laurel had a factory keyless entry system in her TW? See this: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... +door+lock
No, there is no factory keyless entry system for a bc-bf-bj

She never updated that post so I don't know what was wrong for sure but sounded to me like the added door lock actuator for the keyless unit jammed or failed in combimation with her key lock cylinder being sticky..

Hmmm, so when Laurel posted this:

LaureltheQueen wrote:I like just having the stock keyless, if this is unfixable, then I dont want the system, the remote is just too cool with the stock one.

she mentioned "stock" twice in that sentence. Was she referring to an OEM system, or perhaps didn't realize it was an aftermarket system, or am I reading it incorrectly?

BTW, I am NOT trying to argue a point or make life difficult for you, Mike, I'm just trying to understand if there actually was an OEM keyless remote system installed in Laurel's TW, and if all references to it in automotive parts catalogs have been wiped clean. You and other board members are probably correct (99.9%) but I was just wondering since I understand the svx's back then had OEM keyless entry.

Post by **Legacy777** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:24 pm

There is no stock system for the first gen legacies. She was either misinformed, or it may have been a subaru keyless system from another subaru.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:15 am

93Leg-c wrote:
magicmike wrote:
93Leg-c wrote:I'm wondering if Laurel had a factory keyless entry system in her TW? See this: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... +door+lock
No, there is no factory keyless entry system for a bc-bf-bj

She never updated that post so I don't know what was wrong for sure but sounded to me like the added door lock actuator for the keyless unit jammed or failed in combimation with her key lock cylinder being sticky..
Hmmm, so when Laurel posted this:
LaureltheQueen wrote:I like just having the stock keyless, if this is unfixable, then I dont want the system, the remote is just too cool with the stock one.
she mentioned "stock" twice in that sentence. Was she referring to an OEM system, or perhaps didn't realize it was an aftermarket system, or am I reading it incorrectly?

BTW, I am NOT trying to argue a point or make life difficult for you, Mike, I'm just trying to understand if there actually was an OEM keyless remote system installed in Laurel's TW, and if all references to it in automotive parts catalogs have been wiped clean. You and other board members are probably correct (99.9%) but I was just wondering since I understand the svx's back then had OEM keyless entry.

I have a little saying that I made up and I'll use it here. "I'm not always right but I'm never wrong."

What this means is that I do not speak on a subject unless I'm 100% sure I know what I'm talking about thus I can't be wrong. If its a case where I'm not sure I keep my mouth shut.

As for the SVX systems, they were not "factory installed" but Dealer installed "made for Subaru units" made by Alpine.

As for Laurels Car I barely remember a thread somewhere where she showed a pic of the remote and it was a "pursuit" unit if I'm not mistaken. I could be wrong though.

93Leg-c · Post by **93Leg-c** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:41 am

Thanks for the feedback, Mike and Josh! And, Mike, I especially appreciate that extra info on the svx's keyless remote system as well as Laurel's unit. Finally, now I can put this to rest for myself! Thanks for putting up with me so patiently. You guys are great!

roundeye · Post by **roundeye** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:54 pm

for the one/ all unlocking, you should be able to put a normally open relay in one or both of the door lock switches wires. drivers door unlocks, then, when third wire activates relay, other doors see switch and unlock. but, if the third wire isnt activated on locking, all your doors wont lock. can you program the alarm so that it is?

Brumby · Post by **Brumby** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 5:02 am

Wall 'o text ahead!

Wow, vacations sure do make me forget things ^.^;; My deepest apologies for disappearing, it's been along summer. Being that I started this thread, I just thought I'd throw out what I've come up with on adding keyless entry to the first gen leggy's:

Going with Vikash's idea of adding an actuator to the drivers door to move our stock paddle/switch, I also have decided to add a complete kit with 4 new actuators, and I'm just going to rerun new wires to each door. Reason being, our stock motors in the BC/ BF's have 5 wires on the drivers 'switch' or dummy actuator, and each of the three slave actuators have 4 wires, two +12 and two grounds. Now, Subaru thought it'd be a SWELL idea to basically go out on a limb and add tons of redundant wiring to the whole thing, opting for two isolated circuits to each motor. Every aftermarket set I've researched uses a different, more streamlined system. A master actuator on the drivers door with 5 wires, and three slave actuators in the other doors, each with only one circuit to it and reversible polarity.

Now, knowing this, trying to mate an aftermarket keyless module having three lock/ unlock wires to a system that requires two separate lock/unlock circuits, it's anything but worth it or simple by the time anyone works out a system of diodes, relays, and associated connections.

To put it simply, 90-94 BC/ BF's power locks are outdated and misconceived, and if you wanna go keyless, just save yourself the hassle and get a complete kit with four new actuators and a module [with or without an alarm, there's plenty of choices out there].

Of course, this is just my late night rambling and I apologize for possibly confusing you all. Let me know if I forgot anything!

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 2:49 pm

Personally I have this 1 click to do the drivers door and a second click to unlock all the doors on my infiniti and its a pain in the ass. I don't see the purpose for doing this unless you are a woman and are concerned about the safety aspect of it.

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