door locks on 98 legacy outback

Yea, I thought I remembered seeing the motor wires in the door. Are you sure they were just positive pulse and not reverse polarity? The picture above is nothing like the one that is in this car. I had a link posted but apparently its not working anymore. I will probably just 5 wire the actuator wires in the driver's kick panel to make it work.Kenny

Owner / Technician

KKD Garage LLC

Albany, NY 12205

you are right they are five wire rest at ground, but you don't need to use relays. I was all set to use relays also, I even had an actuator with me to mount. The factory door lock module is like less then 3 feet away and already is doing all the work for you. When I mention Positive, thats just for testing purposes to see which wire is the motor wires. I think one was RED / green and maybe the other was blue/something.... Once you find the motor wires at the door lock module you tap into the unlock motor wire and jump it down to the kickpanel. Then I cut the actuators motor wire and connected the jumper to the wire heading into the door. You don't have to do anything to the Lock motor wire. Its already still connected to the door lock module. Like I mentioned before, I think the drivers door priority unlock went through the keyless module and unplugging it(wherever it was located) looses connection between the drivers door actuator and the door lock module on the unlock motor wire only.

I'll give it a shot. But I don't think the lock was working either. I'll test everything out and see if it works. Not quite sure when I'm going to get to it though... I'm getting pretty busy with the bitter cold that's hit us here in NY.. lolKenny

Owner / Technician

KKD Garage LLC

Albany, NY 12205

Oh don't you start Kenny, I just went out to a 95 3 series BMW that supposedly had a dealer fit alarm and it had failed (Italian POS) taking out the fuel pump. Well it certainly wasn't dealer installed and 2 hours later (instead of 40 minutes) everything was removed and the car running again. Apart from scotch-locks, they were also using blue butt connectors in the engine bay yes that was the real reason for the failure, meanwhile freezing rain turning to snow. So glad I'm effectively retired.

haha... that is the exact reason I got out of this as a job and stick to it as a hobby now. If I get a car like that I feel no remorse in saying "No way in hell am I touching that." haha. Doing it as a hobby makes it much more enjoyable. Plus if I ever get to the point of being burned out for the season I can simply say no more. I doubt I'll get to that point with how many I do at the moment, but its always an option.Kenny

Owner / Technician

KKD Garage LLC

Albany, NY 12205

Exactly my attitude except the state pension doesn't keep me in cigs, women and HD/Tivo style satellite TV!

Well if one of the motor wires is an open connection, the lock or unlock won't work. Remember how door lock actuators work, Both legs rest at ground. Then one leg gets positive and the other stays at ground as a result the actuator moves one way and that leg returns back to ground and the actuator sits still. Then to get it to move in the opposite direction the opposite leg gets positive and the other leg stays at ground and the actuator moves the opposite direction.     So, The fact that one of the door lock wires is an open connection, the actuator isn't getting ground to lock or positive to unlock. Therefore the actuator won't move in either direction.     Oh, and another thing is, when testing and you press lock, you will find you have positive on both wires. The Positive is actually crossing over the motor coil and outputting on the wire that is supposed to be on ground. It confused me, I had to cut the wires going to the actuator in the door to isolate my meter. The actuator wires run across the bottom left hole in the drivers door. Or you can test at the drivers kick panel by unclipping the 2 pin plug and testing from the car side of the plug.       I'm in NY also and its FREEZING here with the wind chill. I did a 07 Elantra yesterday outside at the person's job, and my feet were freezing. Tricky door locks, but it worked on the first shot. Thank God! LOL

I uploaded a copy of the service manual to this site. The door lock wiring diagram is on page 37. Just goto the download section on this website and search "outback"