[Sdcerreta]

Q-man, welcome to the community and thanks for your insight. There is an edit feature, but maybe you have to have a higher post rating or somthing. It should be located at the bottom right of your original post.

 

[Sdcerreta]

I received the replacement (special edition) subwoofer of Friday. It is a monster! This is really the sub I was hoping for. It is an upgraded version from the SS9 that I tried first. The last sub I had was a high fidelity sub and it was a great fit, but unfortunately the voice cold was bad out of the box.

I am still trying to get the specs for this sub, so I will post those details when I can. For now, I am naming this after the flagship series, the UL8. This sub has all the same charecteristics as that line of subwoofers and its retail price point is in line with those as well. This sub has only been installed in about ten cars, from what the folks say at C.Mass.

So, on to the install. A while back in anticipation of needing to fit the SS8 sub to the HK enclosure I bought a sheet of 12" x 12" black ABS. Somehow I lost it. So, I used one of the rings and had to do some trimming to get it to work, but it is too thick. This monster sub needs to fit as deeply into the enclosure as possible. So, I ordered another sheet and will need to make another attempt to install the sub. For now, it sounds good as long as I do not have it thumping on bass heavy songs where the speaker will hit the grill and creates a smacking sound. I need to break it in too, so this will work out fine for a few weeks until I have the time to do the mod.

On to the photos:

C.Mass UL8 Install-1 Here is a look at the sub. It has massive cone excursion. The surround is huge it uses a carbon fiber cone with no logos. I love this! Looks totally stealth now. You cannot tell by looking at the speakers that this is not an HK sound system.

C.Mass UL8 Install-2 Side shot

C.Mass UL8 Install-3 Rear shot. I like that this sub uses terminals like the SS8 model. I prefer this over the solder connections for use of install and removal.

C.Mass UL8 Install-4 Another side view, this time you can see both voice coil terminals. This sub is like the last C.Mass sub, a Dual Voice Coil with each coil wound separate and rated at 2 ohms. Darn, I forgot to check the impedance. The last one tested at a conservative 2.2 ohms. I plan to run a single VC at 2 ohms bridged. This gives the best SPL output and sound quality while leaving plenty of headroom in the amp to stay cool.

C.Mass UL8 Install-5 I am pinching the surround in this shot. It is massive. I did a crude measurement of the VMAX one way, and was not happy with the result as it seems to be an underestimation, so I am going to wait for the specs. I measured 8mm, so a 2 way VMAX of 16mm, but that seems way too small.

C.Mass UL8 Install-6 I went back to the ring I used for the SS8 subwoofer since the external diameter of this sub is too small for all the screws to go through the solid part of the enclosure. I trimmed this ring and it has about 8mm of material. It's really too thick and I need to go back and build something else that is thinner so I can maximize the mounting depth in this enclosure to prevent the massive travel from hitting the speaker grill.

C.Mass UL8 Install-7 In this shot you can see the speaker surround sitting about flush with the top of the box. And that is in the relaxed state. The CM8 sub did not go this far even on max excursion.

C.Mass UL8 Install-8 Here is another shot. The adapter ring is just too think to work here.

C.Mass UL8 Install-9 Enclosure being mounted and ready for the grill panel. I did have to dremel a small section of each of the three braces. Even with this trimming, when the grill panel was installed, the speaker surround touched the grill even in the relaxed state.

C.Mass UL8 Install-10 Here is a side view with the enclosure installed.

C.Mass UL8 Install-11 It is hard to see in this photo, but the speaker surround is touching the grill. So, I inserted some foam pieces to keep the grill about 3/4" off the speaker. When testing, it does fine on average songs and moderate base, but when performing an SPL test, the speaker smacks the grill.

Back to the drawing board! I should be able to post an update on this project in a few weeks.

 

[Sdcerreta]

Forester Sport Sound System Components For Sale

So, I finally dialed in this sound system and I am happy with the performance and quality. I have decided to sell some of the original HK sound system speakers, the custom built sub enclosure with Alpine SWS 10 subwoofer and the Hybrid Audio Tech speakers. Here is a listing of the items for sale and some details.

The Harmon Kardon speakers are in perfect condition and have very little hours on them. The HK speakers were pulled from the car with less than 2000 miles and I only had the vehicle about a month. The HK speakers have the original speaker plugs and mounting brackets and foam. These just bolt right in and connect to your factory harness. What I do know is that these have a very high sensitivity, around 91-93db, so they should work fine with the Premium 6 speaker systems. However, these speakers were powered by an HK amp, so I really do not know if the non-amplified systems will have enough power to drive them.

The Hybrid Audio Technologies (HAT)speakers are in perfect condition and have less than 1 month of use, about 3000 miles of driving. I bought these new and they come in the original boxes. I do not have the U3 dash speakers as these were defective and returned for a refund. These speakers require adapter plates to fit the doors. I will include the MDF plates made by the car shop. These are low quality and poorly made, but they do the job. I recommend that you purchase aftermarket plastic adapter plates from Metra. I am using these for the C.Mass speakers and I like them better.

The Alpine subwoofer comes in a custom built fiberglass enclosure. This enclosure fits into your panel and will require 2-3 screws to hold it in place. These are completely hidden behind the panel and will not be seen and the box will not be easy to steal, as you have to take out the entire panel to get the box out. This subwoofer is about 4 months old (7000 miles drive time) now and just broken in. It sounds and works perfectly. With a 500watt amp I was getting about 107dB. It sounds amazing and fits into the driver side cargo area. It is not shown in the photos, but this includes the Alpine grill cover with no logos, dynamat on the back side of the box and a foam surround that seals the enclosure to the panel to prevent vibration.
There are some conditions with this sale that the buyer must agree to. This subwoofer will require an amplifier to work. Also there are a few parts that were customized, so I will give you those in trade for your original parts. These parts include the bottom, rear cargo clip. This bolts into the car metal and secures the panel. Mine was removed and relocated to the bottom of the enclosure so you can still fasten your cargo net. I also had to trim the rubber rear cargo floor mat. This had to be trimmed in the area where the box fits as it will not tuck under the entire enclosure. Lastly, I had to modify the carpeted rear driver side floor panel. I removed the rivets and lock tab. So, you will get mine and I will get yours. Once the subwoofer is installed it will sit about 3/4" above the floor panel. So, to remove the floor panel to access the spare tire you will need to lift and slide the panel out instead of just lifting it out.

I will consider offers and priority for package deals.

1. HK 3.5" dash speakers (2) $125. Retail $285
2. HK 6x9" front door speakers (2) $125. Retail $280
3. HK 6.5" rear door speakers (2) $100. Retail $233
4. HAT Unity U69V2 Front Door Speakers (2) $200 Retail $340
5. HAT Legatia L6SE-Carbon Edition (2) $250 Retail $850
6. Alpine SWS-10, Dual 4ohm Voice Coils (Run these in parallel at 2 ohms) with custom subwoofer enclosure and black spray on bed liner material. $400 Purchase Price $550. However, this was custom and I got a super price for the build. Most shops will charge more and will take several weeks to build. This subwoofer is ready to mount!

 

[Q-man13]

I did some more tuning today. I set the time delay for the Rockford Fosgate 3-Sixty processor and changed polarity in one of the front dash speakers to correct phase. Systm really sounds amazing and I am looking forward to the ten hour drive to Breckenridge tomorrow.

Here are some photos and descriptions.

1. Wiring diagram for the HK amp and the timing specs for each of the speakers.

2. Wiring diagram for the RF 360 processor.

3. Sample of measuring the distance for each speaker location to the ears.

4. Close-up stickers that marked the ear locations. Ears are 10cm in front of stickers. Math was done to acount for this discrepency.

5. A look at the front door speaker and offset mount.

6. A look at the rear speaker with offset mount. In this photo I also pulled back the door plastic to reveal the Stinger sound deadening material.

7. Comparing HK 3" mid/tweeter with HAT Unity 3" high range speaker

8. HAT U3 speaker mounted.

Is #1 what you tuned to with your software or is that the factory tune?

The HKs only had dash coaxial or is that what you moved to?

 

[Sdcerreta]

The timing specs are what I programmed into the Fosgate 3.Sixty processor. These were all measured out.

The car started with the HK upgrade. It came with HK coaxial 3.5" speakers in the dash. I am selling these now. I traded them out for HAT U3 single cone speakers, then later to Critical Mass RS3 shalllow mount and now running CMass RS3 standard mount speakers. The best speaker from CMass in a 3.5" size. They sound amazing.

 

[Q-man13]

Q-man, welcome to the community and thanks for your insight. There is an edit feature, but maybe you have to have a higher post rating or somthing. It should be located at the bottom right of your original post.

Higher post count was indeed the case.

Deposit has been put down for a Forester for my youngest. She and I will spend plenty of time over the summer break doing mods.

 

[Q-man13]

HEY Sdcerreta, you're killing me!

I started poking around on the HAT site and found response graphs that are impressive for a speaker not in a cabinet. I'm having to refrain myself from going down the auto audio rabbit hole.

 

[Sdcerreta]

Haha. Have you survived the temptations?

 

[LLauffer]

Would you mind dropping the link to where you got the steering wheel overlays? How do they match the orange trim on the inside of the vehicle? I just got a Forester sport, first car I've bought, and need to start making it my own

 

[Sdcerreta]

It's been posted a couple times already. Just look for the details in a previous post on this thread.

 

[Sdcerreta]

I finally had the chance to pull the sub and remake the adapter ring. This time I used a thin 1/8" sheet of abs plastic.

I have also had more time to listen to this sub and I am truly impressed! I want to break it in a little more before trying to compare SPL to the 10" sub, but I am really please with the sound quality. It produces amazing deep base that is rare in an 8" subwoofer. I am still trying to get some specs, but the VMAX is crazy on this thing. I think I am still hitting the panel on heavy base notes, but I need to do one more series of checks. I have done a lot of work to seat the sub in deeper and push the panel out further. Not sure I can do any more without major modz to the box location at this point.

Here are the photo details, so you can see the work done to prevent the cone from hitting the panel grille.

CMass Sub Reinstall-1 Full view before pulling the panel to build a new adapter ring.

CMass Sub Reinstall-2 Panel is off. You can see some foam pieces that I used to keep the panel pushed further away. It also serves to prevent vibration, but because the speaker is on an MDF adapter it sits about ½” out of the enclosure and I was not able to use the foam adapter plate. This also allows for air leaking behind the panel instead of directing all air into the rear cargo area.

CMass Sub Reinstall-3 ABS adapter ring is cut and marked with silver paint pen for drilling holes.

CMass Sub Reinstall-4 Ring mounted to enclosure first with silicone bead underneath for a seal.

CMass Sub Reinstall-6 From this view you can see the cone sits about ½” deeper than the previous mounting position.

CMass Sub Reinstall-7 The back side of the sub has a foam gasket (no silicone) and it is screwed into the ring and enclosure.

CMass Sub Reinstall-8 Now the original foam adapter ring is mounted. I just used 3M sticky tape. No reason to bolt this down as it will seal against the panel.

CMass Sub Reinstall-10 In this view you can see that the foam sits about 3/8 inch above the end of the enclosure. This will further push the panel away and give more space for that massive cone to move.

CMass Sub Reinstall-11 Enclosure mounted back into the car and ready for the panel.

CMass Sub Reinstall-13 Panel is back in place. Finished look is totally stealth. I like that this sub had no logos on the cone. Great look! The panel is in about the same position as before, but the speaker sits about ½” deeper into the enclosure and the foam ring forms a tight seal on the grill to direct all air into the cargo space area. There is no rattling at all. The other foam pieces brace the panel and keep it away from the speaker in multiple areas. Once the floor panels and bolts are fastened, you cannot see that the panel is pushed outward about ¾-1” from its original position. I have about 1 to 1.5” distance between the cone and grille. I wish I could measure this, but it is really hard to do or to see when the panel is on.

 

[Sdcerreta]

I have been using/searching for some really good test songs since working on this system install. I thought I would share a few of those songs. I would encourage others to check these out as well. If you have any go to songs to evaluate your sound system, please share. Some tracks are really worth "seeing" how the recording was done. So, I highly encourage you do some YouTube searches to watch some of these performances when available.

Wishing Well - Michael Ruff: I have been using this track for many years. It is a feature on the IASACA test CD to evaluate car audio staging and imaging. It has dynamic ranges with vocals and instruments. No video.

Keith Don't Go - Nils Lofgren: This is my new favorite! This track will really push your mid/high range speakers. It features some male vocals, but the star is a single acoustic guitar at front center stage throughout the recording. There is a solo guitar performance from about 2:30-4:00 with a dynamic segment from 3:32 to 3:55 that will blow you away. Decent video.

Boogie Shred - Mike Dawes: My new favorite artist. This is another artist with an acoustical guitar. What makes his music special is that all the percussion and other sounds are created by him tapping and thumping on the guitar body along with a lot of finger play on the frets. Truly amazing artist. He has a great series of videos for most of his music that really does a great job of explaining what he does to create those sounds. Excellent Videos.

Sinkin Soon - Norah Jones: Excellent female vocals at front center stage. Very dynamic and a great track for staging.

Suitcase - Keb Mo: Another track with outstanding male vocals and excellent guitar. Good for staging.

Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson: Very good test song for dynamic range from 20Hz to 20kHz. Fun tune.

Shape of You – Ed Sheeran: Another good song for dynamic range. Fun and produced at a louder level. In other words, when your volume is set at the same level as other songs, this song sounds about 3dB louder.

Here are a few low end bass tracks that I like.

Turn Down for What – DJ Snake and Lil Jon: Yeah, everyone knows about this one, but I like to use it for testing purposes for several reasons. 1. It’s loud. 2. Bass cycle is around 40-50Hz and starts within 10 seconds of the start. 3. The bass cycle is repetitive, so I love to use this song for measuring SPL or tuning the gains. You can easily pause between cycles and make adjustments without rewinding the song for playing a certain cycle of bass sounds. It is very unique in this regard and I rarely listen to this when driving, but always go to this song for testing and tuning.

Hip Hop Express – C+C Music Factory: Very good bass song and long at 12 minutes. Great high end symbols too. The introduction is 25 seconds and I use this to evaluate center stage and speaker polarity. There is a very strong deep male voice from dead center and about mid-glass high. This track helps me determine out-of-phase (polarity) issues without having to pull out a test CD.

Technaquad – Bass Outlaws: Hard hitting mid bass drums to start the track followed by deep bass with good mid and high end frequencies throughout the song. A good track for measuring SPL. Fun song.

In addition to these songs, I highly recommend that you purchase at least one test CD. I like the IASCA series, but MECA has decent test tracks as well. These are the tracks that are used in car audio competition. I like the IASACA series best because it includes tracks to setup and evaluate speaker polarity, staging/imaging and tutorials throughout the CD that tell you what you should be listening for in the next section of tracks. The booklet also gives tips on how to use the tracks and charts to help you identity what and where each instrument is located on stage. Thereby, helping you identify if that instrument is being reproduced at the right location in your car. Cool stuff.

Please let me know the music you like when tuning/evaluating your sound system.

 

[Q-man13]

​

The kid's Forester arrived a few days ago. Pretty sure there is a blown speaker. It was driven ~150 miles to us. As a dealer was hot to make numbers for May sales and gave us a great price plus delivery. I went into settings and both the bass and treble had a +9 boost to them at delivery.

The stock HK setup, in the Forester Touring, can easily vibrate every piece of plastic and likely the sheetmetal as well. Dynamat ordered.

Another great torture test disc to add to your inventory is the Fairfield Four's Standing in the Safety Zone a minute or two into track 6- Roll Jordan Roll. If you can hear all four male voices separately in harmony versus blended together tells you a lot about a speaker. If they image as well as separate that is a darn good speaker.

 

[Q-man13]

With a little more investigating the buzz was from a loose grill and not a blown speaker.

 

[Sdcerreta]

That's a good finding. Glad it was not the speaker in a brand new car.

The tune and album is great, thanks for the suggestion! The imaging is amazing. A very clear demonstration of imaging and voice location across the sound stage. Swing Low Swing Chariot is another great song with voices appearign in different locations as each vocalist begins their section. Very good stuff!!!

 

[Sdcerreta]

I finally got the specs for the Critical Mass 8" subwoofer. It has a one-way Xmax of 20mm with max excursion of 28mm one-way. This is quite amazing for an 8" sub. My Alpine SWS-10 sub has an xmax of 15mm one way.

What I love about this subwoofer is the quality of sound at low volume. It adds a great blend of bass without being overpowering. It also handles 20-30Hz signals extremely well for such a small subwoofer. I was previously using the amp with HP of 40Hz for speaker protection on the other sub, but when I turned off the filter, this sub had awesome easy movements at 20-40Hz sweep test tone. It was quite impressive. When I saw the Fs spec at 24.73 I was pleasantly surprised. This sub is built to play low frequencies and adds a lot to the spectrum. It is also a perfect match for a sealed enclosure with an impressive high Qts value of 0.66 and an EBP of 34. A value below 50 EBP suggests a better fit for sealed enclosure.

This sub is not as loud (SPL) as the Alpine 10, but I am still working on the panel so I have not performed a true SPL test yet. This sub has so much movement that I think it is still smacking the grille. Now that I know the specs, I can do some measurements to check the distance between the cone and grille. I will also do a little more experimenting with the crossover points to maximize its strengths, which is clearly to play low frequencies in a small sealed box. Perfect match!

Critical Mass UL8-DVC2
Xmax one-way 20mm (max excursion 28mm)
VAS 23LTR
BL 11.5 Tm
VD 360 cm3
SPL 90.5db at 2.83v 1m
SD 212 cm2
Le 1.2 mH
Re 1.88 Per coil
Mms 78.1g
Fs 24.73 Hz
Qts 0.66
Qes 0.72
Qms 2.24

I found a pretty good description of the common spec definitions if you wish to learn more. https://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/153180-what-subwoofer-specs-mean…/

 

[Canoo]

Nice writeup, I'm slowly planning my setup, and thinking to do the HK retrofit for the subwoofer,
would you know the depth of the CM sub?

 

[Sdcerreta]

I did not measure it. It fits in the HK box, likely without trimming the inside fins, which I did for the CM SS8 sub. The SS8 specs are on teh CM website. The UL8 which is what I have now is shallower.

 

[Sdcerreta]

After installing the aftermarket sound system, the Starlink system threw an error code. I received notice through the My Subaru amp and the LED in the Starlink console turned from Green to Red, indication an error state.

It turns out that the output speaker wire from the HK amp goes to the Data Control Module (DCM) before heading out to the dash speakers. So, when the shop cut those wires, the circuit was left open and caused an error.

So, this is a word of caution for anyone looking into adding an aftermarket sound system. It is best to review the schematic, or take it to your audio shop and make sure you or they T-tap the front speaker wires instead of cutting them. Then they will need to install resistors to trick the DCM into thinking there is a speaker attached.

I do not know if the Starlink will actually work without a speaker. So, I need to test this. I will likely go to the dealer for help on that. Not sure if I can just activate Starlink and talk to someone. I never used it before.


I will say that the Hands free phone calling and map directions work on the aftermarket sound system, so I think Starlink may be working too, just not verified.

I was able to get the green light on, but only with the speakers attached. I tried a few sets of resistors, but they only kept the green light on for a little while, then the red light returned. So, I have some resistors on order and will be posting a follow-up post once I get it all dialed in.

Here are the specific details and photos:

DTC Starlink Error – This is the schematic that details the error taking place with Starlink when it does not “see” a speaker attached. It results in red light instead of the green light.

Starlink Green Light Repair-3 – This schematic is for the HK system with amp and with telematics. On this page you can see that the output on the larger 30 pin connector leads to the DCM then heads off to the dash speakers. So, if you cut these wires you will get open circuit and red light error. What you need to do is splice the wire instead. So, you tap this wire to feed your aftermarket system with a line level input and you send a signal to the DCM. Once the signal leaves the DCM, you must attach a resistor at the dash connector to mimic a speaker. This fools the DCM into thinking the speaker is there. Make sure you share this schematic with the audio shop and tell them to splice (T-tap) the wire instead of cutting it.

Wiring Diagram without Amp with Telematics_Page_1 – This schematic is important to understand that your Head Unit (HU) only has 4 outputs. Front and Rear. The Rear wires go directly to the Rear door speakers. The Front wires feed the DCM. This schematic applies to the Premium 6 speaker system.

Wiring Diagram without Amp with Telematics_Page_2 – In this schematic you can see that the signal leaves the DCM and splits into the Front Door and Dash speakers. I do not have the Premium system, so I am unable to test this, but I know some others do. So, what the community would really like to know is how many resistors do you need to install to get the Starlink green light? Can you just install resistors in the 2 dash speakers, or do you have to use 4 resistors for all 4 front speakers???

Moving on with the photos and details. This information applies to the HK system.

Starlink Green Light Repair-1 – The HK amp has two connectors. A smaller 24 pin connector and a larger 30 pin connector. Power and speaker output wires are located in the 30 pin connector. For the output speaker wires the + wire will be in the upper row and the – wire for the same speaker will be below in the lower row. In this photo you can see that I isolated 4 wires. These are for the dash speakers: Left Dash red +, green -, Right Dash pink +, violet -. The harness was cut here and the shop soldered in the wires for the Fosgate 3.sixty line level inputs. These are the gray wires. What I need to do here is reattach the original wires.

Starlink Green Light Repair-5 – This picture shows the original wires prepped for soldering. The wires are too short to reach now, so I soldered in some runner wires. Each of those 4 joints were opened up and the original wires were soldered. So each joint has three wires now. This was all heat shrinked, soldered and wrapped with cloth electrical tape. I did not take photos of all that work, sorry. But you get the idea of what is necessary.

Starlink Green Light Repair-6 and 9 – The DCT error message said that the Starlink DCM needs to sense at least 10 kOhm for 100ms to be satisfied. At this point, I did not have resistors and was not sure that it would work. I was also concerned that reconnecting the original wire and DCM may cause some interference with my aftermarket sound system. So, before I wasted any time I thought I would reattach the original HK dash speakers to see if the Starlink light would go green. As you can see in photo 6, the HK speaker is connected. In photo 9, the light is green. The aftermarket system worked perfectly. I could hear sound from the HK dash speakers too. So, now I knew that I should be able to add in some resistors and that should work. What I don’t know is if the Starlink will just be fooled or if the sound from Starlink operator will come through the aftermarket speakers like the phone and map voices do. I will be testing that later.

Starlink Green Light Repair-11 – I dissected resistors from some old passive crossovers. These did not work in the long run. So, I have some new resistors on order. Hopefully those will work, but I will continue with the photos and details so you know what I learned. Also, I don’t really know much about resistors and the values, but these resistors were said 20.0 J. I was hoping this was 20 kOhm. When I tested with ohms meter I got 7.5 mOhm. So, I am not sure if that is more than kOhm or less. But, they did not work, so I ordered a few different types of resistors including 4 ohm resistors to mimic an actual speaker.

Starlink Green Light Repair-12 – Sharpie added for size reference. I soldered on some wire extensions, applied red/black heat shrink and bent the wires into position. Here is an important tip. When adding resistors or the speakers I would disconnect the battery each time. Even with batt disconnected the Starlink red light would stay on for about 15 seconds. So, be sure to wait for the light to go out before reattaching the battery terminal. The doors and hood can be open, but it is important to reset the car’s ECU each time you make a change. When you turn the ignition switch on, the Starlink LED will flash then go through a 2-3 second check before it decides on the light color. It’s pretty exciting to get the green light after many trials of getting red. 

Starlink Green Light Repair-13 – The resistor is attached and I did some testing. Refer to the wiring diagram to make sure you connect the resistor in the correct direction. You also need to make sure you know which pin in that connector is positive and negative. Refer to photo Starlink Green Light Repair-3. The Left dash uses pink +, violet -. The right dash uses light green +, blue -.

Starlink Green Light Repair-14 – Here you can see the resistor taped in place.

Starlink Green Light Repair-15 – Here you can see that the resistor is in place (both sides) and the light is green. But, I cheated. When I installed the resistors with the battery disconnected the light was red. So, I reset the batt and reinstalled the speakers. This resulted in green light. Then, without resetting the batt I removed the speakers. Light was green with nothing attached. I installed the resistors and light stayed green. Please note that the Starlink LED seems to have some memory and does not recheck the safe condition in a constant state. You can even turn the ignition off and on and the green light will remain for some time, but not permanently. At some point, the DCM will do a system check and the red light would return. So, that is why you see a green light in the picture, but these resistors are not the right ones. I also don’t know is the ones I ordered will work, but I am hopeful. If they don’t work then the last effort will be to run extension wires out of the dash connectors and mount some cheap speakers under the dash. The good part about this solution is that I am pretty sure the Starlink system will actually work when connecting to the Starlink operator.

That is all for now. It seems like I am on the right track. There were also no ill-effects with my aftermarket sound system. I will report back after I try the new resistors.

 

[Sdcerreta]

TPMS Programming

Another small project to report on. This is one that I think will apply to many people. I have two sets of wheels, summer wheels and winter wheels. In the past I would just run the winter wheels without TPMS sensors and live with the annoying light for 4 months out of the year.

So, for the 2019 Sport, I thought it was worth the investment to install sensors in the Winter wheels. I purchased a set of Schrader EZ sensors from Discount Tire. I posted about these early on in the modz pages. DT took about a week and 5 trips to get the sensors programmed correctly. This was mostly due to the car being so new that they did not have the correct profiles for their programmer. After a call to the dealer they set the programmer for the 2018 Crosstek profile and that seemed to work.

So, when I went to place the summer wheels back on the car I was surprised to learn that TPMS sensor light came on. I thought it would go away after a long drive and it did not. I just assumed that DT would clone the OEM sensors for the Schraders, but this was not the case.

I considered taking it back to DT for programming, but I really like to do my own tire rotations and wanted the option, if cost effective, to do my own sensor programming. I did quite a bit of research with several brands and most programmers are really designed for tire shops and cost $500 to $2000. It was a stretch to drop $500, but then I discovered the ATEQ Quickset programmer. This programmer is designed for hobbyists and DIYs that specifically want to run winter/summer wheels. After reading the info sheet, I was intrigued. However, it turns out that Subaru is a little different from other car makers and you cannot use a simple programmer. You need a high end ($500 and up) programmer that writes code to the ECU via the OBDII connector.

The other option is to use the DIYer level programmers, but you need two. One is for triggering (wake up) the sensors and reading them and the other will pair the sensor codes to the ECU via the OBDII port.
So the options that will work for the Subaru is the ATEQ Quickset (Subaru version). This is the OBDII programmer and requires ATEQ PC software. Comes with free updates and Updates can be sent by pushing a button on the software application. I had to do this to get the latest software for the Subaru. I paid $144 from IAP (Import Auto Performance). You can also find a full line of ATEQ devices at Tirerack.com for a little less money.

There are a couple options for the sensor trigger / reader. The very basic VT 15 $110 will trigger the sensors, but will not read the sensor IDs. Since my OEM sensors were installed and I did not know the IDs, I really needed a reader. The next in line up is the VT31, $140. This device does not come with updates, however this is the unit I bought on ebay new for $70. Not likely to find this deal again, so hard to pass up. The specs for this device says it is pre-programmed up to 2018 Forester. To my surprise, when I set the car specs, the internal database had a listing for the 2019 Forester. That was an awesome surprise! The best in the DIY line is the VT36 for $300. However, you still need to use the Quickset as the VT36 does not have an OBDII connector. To get that option you need to step up to the older shop series VT55 for $500 or its modern replacement the VT56 for $900. So, for the DIYer and my need of swapping wheels twice a year without having to take the car into DT I invested about $230. It was worth it to me.

Here are a couple photos and descriptions:

TPMS Programming-1 – The VT31 allows you to set your car profile, then you walk around the car triggering each sensor. The screen will display the sensor ID, tire pressure and temp and battery status. This is the information I needed to re-pair the OEM sensors with the car using the Quickset.

TPMS Programming-2 – Just walk around the car and pick up each sensor. No reason to show all four photos, I think you get the point. These will not save (at least I did not figure out how to do it) so you need to take photos or write down the sensor IDs because you need them later.

TPMS Programming-5 – Once the software is installed, connect the Quickset, enter your vehicle information. Only 4 vehicles can be stored, but you can delete some profiles when you need to. You can see that the software is really built for the DIYer. Shows two cars equipped with summer and winter wheels.

TPMS Programming-6 – At this time, I only have the summer wheels programmed in the software. The winter wheels are already in storage, but I will add these IDs later on. You may notice in the FR wheel there was an input error. I only had 5 of the 6 characters required, so this caused writing errors until I caught the problem.

TPMS Programming-7 – Here are the two devices that I purchased. You can also see that the Subaru specific quickset has the 4.2019 date code. I specifically mentioned that I had the 2019 Forester when buying it from IAP. You can also see how these two devices vary and this is why you need both. Some car sensors (many domestic) allow reading and programming with just the VT31 directly at the sensor. But, Subaru and many imports require that the code be written to the ECU via the OBDII port. The Quickset is simple and once the software is set you can simply connect the OBDII connector and press the winter or summer button to shoot the updated IDs to the ECU. That is it and you can do this for up to 4 vehicles.

TPMS Programming-8 – The quickset attached and solid green light is on after sending IDs to ECU.

TPMS Programming-9 – This took several attempts, but you can see that the TPMS idiot light which is located in the upper left is off. The tire pressure levels have not registered yet and I hope it happens tomorrow with a longer drive.

So, if anyone else is interested in running winter and summer wheels, and plan to do it yourself, this may be worth considering!