Car audio wiring question.

[fanatic26]

So far I have only found one place to even possibly run a piece of 4 gauge thru the firewall. there is a clump of wires going thru a large grommet directly behind the battery tray on the firewall. I have been trying to get thru to the inside of the cabin for over 2 hours now with no luck, it looks like i would have to rip out all the sound deadening material and possibly parts of the dash. I stuck a 16 in. long screwdriver down into the hole and I couldnt even touch it from up under the dash. I am ready to just run it under the car and drill a hole in the trunk area....does anyone have suggestions as to where I can run it since I really dont want to go drilling holes? I also need to run a line from my boost gauge into the cabin as well and so far it seems my only option on both parts is drilling holes. I could find nothing on the forums or on the other car audio forums that were posted about int he FAQ section and I am having no luck with searching either. It seems from what I have read only 2g owners install car audio

 

[DGajre777]

DO NOT RUN A 4 GAUGE POWER WIRE UNDER THE CAR!!

For the boost gauge, remove some deadeing material from behind the gauge cluster. You can also cut a small hole in the steering boot and feed the vacuum line through there.

For the 4g wire, look under the passenger airbag, remove the hooks in the glove compartment, let it fall down and you'll have more space to drill a hole.

 

[fanatic26]

DO NOT RUN A 4 GAUGE POWER WIRE UNDER THE CAR!!

For the boost gauge, remove some deadeing material from behind the gauge cluster. You can also cut a small hole in the steering boot and feed the vacuum line through there.

For the 4g wire, look under the passenger airbag, remove the hooks in the glove compartment, let it fall down and you'll have more space to drill a hole.

whats wrong with running the wire under the car? I have done it before with no problem, all you have to do is make sure its protected. My last 2 cars had a protective strap that ran along the length of the bottom of the car to protect the fuel pump wiring.

Can you guesstimate a breakthru location on the engine side... I dont want to drill it and go thru something important.

What I think im gonna do is drill a hole that I can run the power wire and the vac line thru at the same point because I dont really wanna take the dash assembly apart just to punch thru in a seperate location. There is plenty of underdash real estate to run the vac line.

 

[BUCK]

I came thru the middle of the Shift Cable Grommet.

 

[fr33b1rth]

i drilled a hole and installed a grommet, but on many other cars i've had to run it across the back of the engine bay to the drivers side where there are plenty of holes to choose from.

 

[sk8shorty01]

On the drivers side you have a lot of rubber to come through. First you have the steering boot, the shift cable grommets, there is another small grommet near the fuse panel found under the dash on the clutch foot side of the dash. There are two grommets underneith the drivers carpetting, near the trunk release nob, and i believe there is one on the passenger side as well. Just look from the dash side and find a good spot you want to come through and use a coat hanger, stick it through the hole and see where it comes out. That way you can tie the wire to the hanger, just pull it back through and you are done running your wire.

 

[remmargorp]

If the grouping of wires you are talking about is what I am thinking. Than it's on the passenger side and goes into a large hard plastic/rubber grommet.

Here is exactly what I did.

First I popped the grommet out. It gave me more room to look inside.

Then I had someone (my girlfriend) stick her hand/finger down and touch the rubber material. (You could also have someone use a screw driver)

I went in the passenger side of the car, pulled the carpet down and reach my hand up to where I thought the opening was (from the engine bay). I had my girlfriend push and let go (multiple times) until I could find her finger.

I then took a razor blade and cut it from the inside.

I then took a wire hanger and ran it (from the engine bay) through the plastic grommet then through the cut and into the car.

I attached the 4 gauge power wire to the wire hanger and then pushed it through the grommet then into the car.

 

[GSX26]

Just drill a hole anywhere on the firewall... I have drilled/helped drill holes for many 4-8 gauge wires, boost gauge, egt's, fuel press, etc. Just make sure you are drilling in a spot that has nothing on the back side. Usually, lower on the firewall has the most clearance, especially drivers side. Then you can just run the wire under the intake manifold, etc so you don't see it, and it'll come out right by the battery. Works good. Good luck, post results with what you end up doing.

 

[steve]

I actually managed to get my hand up behind the blower motor and grab a smaller wire I used to feed the 4 gauge. It was a holy PITA and my hand hurt for weeks afterword.


DGajre, it would be difficult to find that airbag on a '90. I don't remember when they started mounting explosives in the car but I glad I don't have any.

Steve

 

[remmargorp]

That's what I was reaching behind (I think)... I'm small.. so it wasn't tooo bad for me.

 

[fanatic26]

I am a pretty big boy so reaching up behind the blower motor is painful and doesnt work so well. Yesterday I ended up with my head under the blower and my feet up on the headrest trying to get in there. I pushed that bigass screwdriver thru and couldnt even find it from the inside.

 

[fanatic26]

well I ended up running both wire and vac line thru the speedo cable grommet, its a tight fit running the wire on that side of the car because the trunk and gas door latch are in the way but I managed to make it without too much fuss.

 

[DGajre777]

DGajre, it would be difficult to find that airbag on a '90. I don't remember when they started mounting explosives in the car but I glad I don't have any.

I forgot it was a '90.

whats wrong with running the wire under the car? I have done it before with no problem, all you have to do is make sure its protected. My last 2 cars had a protective strap that ran along the length of the bottom of the car to protect the fuel pump wiring.

I should have clarified. You can install a power wire under a car if it is protected by something other than the wire insulation. DSMs are low enough, any metal hitting the bottom of the car and possibly hitting that wire will cause big problems. That's why I said don't install a power wire, should have said BARE power wire.

 

[Wpgdsm]

If the grouping of wires you are talking about is what I am thinking. Than it's on the passenger side and goes into a large hard plastic/rubber grommet.

Here is exactly what I did.

First I popped the grommet out. It gave me more room to look inside.

Then I had someone (my girlfriend) stick her hand/finger down and touch the rubber material. (You could also have someone use a screw driver)

I went in the passenger side of the car, pulled the carpet down and reach my hand up to where I thought the opening was (from the engine bay). I had my girlfriend push and let go (multiple times) until I could find her finger.

I then took a razor blade and cut it from the inside.

I then took a wire hanger and ran it (from the engine bay) through the plastic grommet then through the cut and into the car.

I attached the 4 gauge power wire to the wire hanger and then pushed it through the grommet then into the car.

I did the same thing, it worked slick. I didn't need the hanger though , my 4 gauge was stiff enough to push through on it's own.

 

[rocknsnoboarder]

i went w/ the other side of the car when i ran my wires for speakers and subs and i didn't drill any holes.
i took the wire from the battery up to the firewall, but instead of going through i just followed under the hood toward the passenger door. there's enough space and protection to run a wire under the hood and along the door frame until you get to the plastic panels along the door.
then i put the wire underneath those panels and ran it to the trunk. you can only see about 8 inches of the wire where it runs along the door frame until it goes into the plastic.
yes i know that i should have gone through the firewall, but i installed all my wiring for a cd player, amp and 2 subs in less than a half hour using no tools.

 

[sk8shorty01]

Well glad you got it all finished up, well at least it sounds like it.