DIY: Install dual power outlet (56k, take a nap)

[ivwarrior]

Ok folks, this was easy to do, and I took quite a few pictures to help out along the way. The part I got is listed as being for 97-99 Legacy. It costs like $8 at your friendly local Subaru dealer. First off, here's the box, showing the part number.



Now, on to what comes in the box.

There's a mounting plate.



The power sockets themselves.



Wiring harness to wire it all up



And finally the relay.



Of course, it also came with directions to do the job. I'm modifying them slightly to suit my needs, but will show both how the directions say to wire it (mostly) and my way. This is my wife's car, an auto trans car. I'll be doing the same job in my 5MT car, procedure should be very similar.

As with any electrical work on your car, you should disconnect the negative battery cable before beginning this project.

First off, you need to remove some trim panels to make life easier. Start by lifting the lid on the console between the seats and remove the 2 screws holding the parking brake trim panel.



The panel will now just lift out. I left the wires for the heated seat switched hooked up and just set the panel to the side. Next you need to remove panel around the shifter. This will vary depending on if you have an auto or manual trans. For the auto, first pop off the small panel around the shifter.



Then, with the shifter in N or farther back, you can pop off the rest of the panel, simply lifting it from the rear. (Manual trans is similar, unscrew the shift knob and then you should be able to lift the entire panel/boot/knob up over the shift lever)

Next, I went for the trim around the radio, starting off with removing the cupholder. In the pic, you can see the cupholder is pulled out partially to expose the screws, there's one on each side.



After removing the screws, the cupholder just pulls out of the dash.



Next, simply lift up the panel above the cupholder to get it out of the way of the panel we need to remove.



Then, remove the ash tray. Pull it out, press down on the tab and completely remove it from the slot.

[ivwarrior]

Next, you need to remove the screws that hold the ashtry mount and the front trim panel in place. There are 2 near the front going up toward the radio. These are tough to get to, unless you have a bit driver like I'm using in the picture below. There is also a screw straight in the back, which you'll need a moderatly long screw driver to reach. Once all three screws are out, you can remove the front trim panel (you can remove this after taking out the 2 verticle screws) and then remove the metal plate, after disconnecting the wire from it.




Next up is removing the knee panel under the steering column. Just a couple screws here.



At this point, I decided to run the power wire from the battery. I didn't hook it in yet, just ran it. It was not connected into the plug for the relay, which made things easy. First there's a grommet in the firewall you need to remove to run the wire through. In the picture below, I'm pointing at the grommet. It's located on the drivers side of the intake. You can see the brake booster, and the plug covering the hole where the clutch master cylinder would mount if this were a manual trans car.



After removing the grommet, you need to poke a hole in it. If you stick with a small hole it should seal itself around the wire. I poked a utility knife blade through it, then pushed the wire through the hole. Then, I used a screwdriver to poke a hole through the insulation behind the hole in the firewall and fed the wire through the hold and reinstalled the grommet. In the picture below, you can see the wire going through the grommet and the hole in the firewall.



The main positve battery cable is just below the hole, I used the included wire ties to secure the new power wire to the positive cable up to the battery.

Next, I moved back inside the car. On the knee panel, I remved a screw holding something else in place and used it to also secure the relay in place.



Next, you can plug the wiring harness into the relay.



This is where I choose not to follow the directions. The way Subaru wants you to hook this up, it's only powered with the key on, like the factory plug. To do this, they have you connect the wire shown below to the power feed for the factory outlet.

[ivwarrior]

I wanted my outlets to be powered constantly, so I left that wire unhooked and just used a jumper wire to connect the power in/out of the relay harness. I did it this way, so if I change my mind, I can just pull the jumper and plug the harness into the relay, and hook up the green wire. Then the outlets would only be powered with key on.



Next, you need to connect a ground wire. It has a ring connector on the end. Just below the steering column and to the right, you'll see a bolt that holds the plastic of the dash to a metal piece behind it. Simply remove this bolt and slide the ring connector between the plastic and metal and reinstall the bolt.



Next we need to route the power and ground wires for the sockets themselves. It's not too difficult, I just reached in from behind and watched in from the front of the opening to see that I was getting them properly fished through.



Now, you want to reinstall the trim panel around the radio, pulling the wires through it. You can also reinstall the rest of the trim panels removed to do the job.

Next, assemble the power sockets to the mount piece. There's a ring on the back end of the socket and a sleeve that slides over the socket. Remove the ring and sleeve and slide the socket through the mount. There's a tab to make sure they're oriented properly. Slide the sleeve over the socket and then put the ring back on to hold it securely together. I had the ground rings on the sleeves pointed inward, just staggered from each other enough to allow room for the wires to hook on. Then, simply hook up the wires to the sockets. The power wires connect to the sockets themselves, the ground wires to the sleeves. Note, in the picture, the grounds are pointed outward, but that didn't fit well, so I rotated them to the inward position I described above.



At this point, the panel just snaps into place in the opening where the ash tray used to be.



Now, the only thing left to do is to hook up the power wire. Simply slide the wire through the boot covering the battery positive cable where another small wire runs through it. Remove the 12mm nut from the post, pop the new wire down over the post and put the nut back on. My flashlight is lighting up the nut you want to remove.



Finally, hook the battery negative back up and try out your new outlets.

[Huffer]

Good writeup! Always wanted to know how much work it involved... I thought that it replaced the one outlet, not added 2 more.

I'd be doing the same thing, except I need to figure out why my original outlet has gone bad...

[TheSiege]

Awesome write up! I will be doing this one soon.

[gil_ong81]

dammit, ron.

you running a biz out of your car?

listen up kiddies, this is how a write up should be done.

[phi11]

bump for a great write-up.


(and I also picked this up today!!!)

H6710AC000 Powersocket

[Wiscon_Mark]

The Model hand is amazing.

[dropdfocus]

Yeah, picked one up cheap on one of the Subaru supplier sites for $6.99 on clearance sale. Just been too lazy to install it (yet I found time to install the WRX Momo steering wheel, WRX pedals & Momo shift knob...).

Nice write up Ron. *thumbsup*

[tekkitan]

I know this is old and this part is only listed for BDs, but will this part work on a BE? has anyone tried it? i may just have to take my dash apart and look for the required, and just buy the part and see if it works. it's only $8

[badbasser98]

IIRC, the ashtrays are very similar in size. If you really need the extra outlets, I'd say its worth the $8 to give it a try.

[tekkitan]

IIRC, the ashtrays are very similar in size. If you really need the extra outlets, I'd say its worth the $8 to give it a try.

Yeah I need at least one more. I do some wardriving for work sometimes and want to have my BlackBerry and iPod plugged in too

I guess I'll just give 'er a shot.

[tekkitan]

Just ordered the part from SubaruParts.com

I will let you guys know if it works or not

[tekkitan]

by the way, this kit does NOT work in the BE legacy. the ash tray on the earlier models seems to be a little bit longer than on the BE

[99SUS SFD]

Old topic...I know.

Anyway, like one of the above posters, my original cigarette plug shorted out on me. Instead of trying to fix it, I just disconnected it and hooked up a different female cigarette lighter, but it's on a switch. I like the looks of this better. So the question being, if your original one is broken and disconnected, is there a reason this one wouldn't work?

[ivwarrior]

I can't think of any reason. If you want hot all the time, just wire it like I did. If you only want it to have power when the key is on, you'd just have to pull power for the relay from a source that only has power when the key is on.

[99SUS SFD]

Hmm alright. I can't think of any reason to have it with the ACC on or hot all the time so I'll try what you did. Thanks.

[sharky nrk]

great write up even if it is an old thread, I am going to order one of these today

[99SUS SFD]

Yep me too. Just ordered it actually. Shipping costs more than the unit itself!

[99SUS SFD]

Just got an email from subaruparts.com...they no longer carry it. Time to look elsewhere I guess.

[decke48]

1stsubaru will carry it. but it might cost as close to the local dealers prices
and whats up with subaruparts they dont care anything pre 04 anymore?

[99SUS SFD]

From what I've seen browsing the net they're about $8.00

I'll check them out though, thanks.

[harrymaneuvers]

I FINALLY FOUND/BOUGHT ONE AT A SUBARU DEALERSHIP 2000 MILES AWAY!!!!!!! IT IS BEING SHIPPED AS WE SPEAK.

AND IT ONLY TOOK ME 4 MONTHS OF LOOKING!!!!

I WILL UPDATE ONCE IT IS IN.

[silverado1026]

i have an '06 legacy i want this

^that post amuses me, hahaha

[superu]

awesomeness!!

Does anyone know if there's a similar (probably different model year and model) "factory" mod to include AUX and USB (only for power) ports? I would love to add an AUX female plug and USB port (just for charging) to an OBS but I want it to look factory. I've seen later model foresters with the ports in the console, but it would be slick to have it on the dash or center console somewhere, or even a switch blank like by the knee panel.


Hmmm. . . .

[rkrenicki]

There was an Aux panel in 4th gen.. That could be made to work..