Feeding power cable through firewall

Discussion in 'Audio, Security and Electronics' started by arc, Feb 27, 2008.

  1. Texas Aggie

    Texas Aggie Well-Known Member

    Serious: Maybe it was cause it was a Civic...lol...I'm no expert. That's why i get experts to do the initial install now :)
     
  2. grizbone

    grizbone Well-Known Member

    I guess my question then is, what side of the car does the speaker wiring run? If its all down one side, the i would think you should run the power along the opposite side and the rca's and remote wire down the other. I installed systems in all my previous cars for the past 7 years and have never had a problem doing it that way. Any new info/advice is always welcome when it comes to audio though.
     
  3. prcdslnc13

    prcdslnc13 Well-Known Member

    thats basically what you want to do. anything carrying sound signal down one side ie: rcas, speaker wire, possibly video cables. And anything carrying power (I know its all power but you get what I mean) down the other ie: power wires, remote wires, and long ground wires. The point serious is trying to make is that there is 1000 and 1 reasons for engine noise. power wire ran inline with RCAs is very common with novice installers so its the first one pros's will usually ask about. but it could be your amp, head unit, battery, cap, hell even your engine is grounded bad. That would produce the same type of noise.
     
  4. SeRious08

    SeRious08 Well-Known Member

    Correct to a point. You want to keep your power and ground wires as far away from each other as possible. You also want to keep your grounds as short as possible. Grounds shouldn't be "ran" down the car.
     
  5. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    have you guys tried running the power cable through the pillars? since i'll be running new wires from my amp (located behind the back seat) to my speakers i'm thinking of running mine in the pillars, is there any safety issue with that?
    i have an ES without the SS package, alpine sps-600 components in the front and sps-600 2-ways on the rear
     
  6. SoflaGTS

    SoflaGTS Well-Known Member

    lol u can be like that idiot on evom who said to run it through the driver door
     
  7. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    what i'm planning on doing is run the power cable through the rubber grommet on the firewall and then run it on the b-pillar to the back of the car so that it won't be running inline with any signal cables.
    [​IMG]
     
  8. lordayne

    lordayne Well-Known Member

    Nice diagram man. Easy to understand. I am not a pro installer and I have always done power and the left side speaker wire down the drivers side and the rca and right side speaker wires on passenger side. This seems like it would work if you could get the plastic off and back on with out issue. The only thing I would be concerned with is (god forbid) you crash and need jaws of life to cut you out. It may shock the firefighters cutting you out. This was an issue with the hybrid cars when they first came out as the whole car had wires running through it. I know it seems like a stretch and a bit morbid. Sorry bout that. And I hope that never happens but that is the only issue I see. But remember I said that I am not a pro installer, lol. Good luck and let us know how it works if you decide to do it.
     
  9. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    right now i'm just waiting for the dash kit so i could put everything together, it should be coming soon.
     
  10. lordayne

    lordayne Well-Known Member

    Did you order your dash kit from metra? I put mine in a couple weeks ago and it started warping a bit from the 90+ degree days here. I use a windshield screen when parked and crack my windows an inch all around and it is still warping a little bit. Not sure the deal. Kinda disappointed
     
  11. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    i did order the metra kit from installer, did they replace the warped dash kit?
     
  12. lordayne

    lordayne Well-Known Member

    I did not try to return it, it is not too bad at the moment, just waiting to see if it gets worse. It will be such a bitch to get it switched out too. I will have to see and I will keep you posted if it gets worse. Someone else here had the same issue, but I think he was from one of the really hot states.
     
  13. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    man i can't wait to get my dash kit, it's already been almost 2 weeks now and no sign of it yet,

    has anyone of you guys used the SWI steering wheel module? i've read that there's kinda like a delay whenever they're using their steering wheel controls, anyone experience this?
     
  14. lordayne

    lordayne Well-Known Member

    I have the pac controls, and yes I notice a bit of a delay. I also have to really press the volume buttons. Its all good though. Its my first car with this newfangled fancy gizmos so I really dont use it too much.
     
  15. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    it's just kinda annoying to see useless controls (like the useless blutetooth controls on my steering wheel), i think i'll leave it as it is for now and as soon as i get some money to get a laptop then i'll just go buy those IPAC keyboard emulators and kinda hook it up my steering wheel control so i can control my laptop from my steering wheels,
     
  16. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    just got the dash kit and the harness, i'll be working on it tom. morning, hope everything works, i'll post pics tom after the install.,
     
  17. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    got it installed this morning, wasn't able to post ics due to lack of time, the dash kit is kinda disappointing, the edges won't line up the dash, think i'll get the scosche one ones it's out, be installing the amp tom morning
     
  18. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    pictures of my deck and amp installed (sorry for the poor quality)

    not very satisfied with the metra dash kit
    [​IMG]

    my mrp-f550 amp, ran my power wire along the b-pillar
    [​IMG]

    at work
    [​IMG]

    a pic i found online
    [​IMG]


    what you guys think of my install?
     
  19. illdietrying

    illdietrying Well-Known Member

    everythings working fine, no problems with the power cable running through the pillars,
     
  20. Mivec81

    Mivec81 New Member

    I had some aftermarket fogs installed in mines. They didn't come standard on the base model. Ran the harness through the same area but instead of passing it under the seal, I made an x shape incision in the seal and passed the harness through it.