How to bring power wire from battery to interior

[eventoday]

Hi,

I am putting my amps in my new 01 forester. I need to bring the power wire from the engine into the car. I got up under the steering wheel under the dash to look for any holes i could go through. I didsn't see any. I did see thes hole-plug looking things. Kinda looked like i could pull them out and bring wires through. (possibly that is what they are for????) any ideas?

[eventoday]

Hi I have an 01 forester. I am putting my amps in it and need to bring power into it. Don't see any holes under the dash I can bring a wire in. I do see these holesunder the steering wheel area that have like a plastic cylinder looking plug. not sure if those are actually removeable. any ideas???

jake

[98obster]

there should be an opening near where the coolant goes into to heater core-it should be covered up with a grommet-yes it is removable or actually has a hole to put wires through, maybe?

[Cougar]

I would make a hole through the knock outs. This will leave the seal intact if the hole will stretch around the new wire. However you do it, make sure you have a seal from the outside.

[Spiffy]

I would sneak it through in one of the existing passageways... there's quite a few things going through the firewall from the engine to the interior... open one of the small rubber openings a little more and stick a wire through it...

 

you could also drill another hole and use a rubber grommet and seal it up afterwards...

 

whatever you do make sure you stick some silicon sealant in there when you're done so moisture doesn't sneak it...

 

and most importantly, put a fuse right at the battery, not just at the amp...

 

 

--Spiffy

[EVOthis]

i obviously know its not the best route for it....but when i put in my amp's i ran my power wire through the opening for the clutch cable......though there is plenty of room under there to drill a new hole...... but yes as others have said make sure the wire isnt rubbing against anything.....

[gbhrps]

In the past I have picked up live battery power right from the fuse panel inside the car. Typically several fuses (radio, clock, horn, interior lights, etc.) are live at all times. What I have done is to tap off one side of the fuse that is hot. Use a standard test light, ground its lead to a good ground under the dash, pull out the clock fuse (for example) and put the test probe into either of the two blade connectors the clock fuse came from, until you find which side is live. There are special connectors that you can find from audio installers that simply fit over the blade of the fuse before you push it back into the fuse block. You either solder or crimp this connector to the wire that you need to supply your amp. One word of caution. You must put an inline fuse on this new power line as this method has just bypassed the fuse box altogether. You would hate to watch the car burn up two weeks after you installed the new amps because of a short circuit somewhere underneath the carpets. Good Luck!

[OB99W]

[...] One word of caution. You must put an inline fuse on this new power line as this method has just bypassed the fuse box altogether.[...]

Yes, and the fuse should be as close to the power source (fuse box) as possible. Putting it in the line elsewhere risks the possible consequence of a "short circuit somewhere underneath the carpets".

 

Also, be sure to use the appropriate gauge of wire for the current being drawn, because (besides affecting the audio) if significantly too small, it can overheat and burn, whether fused or not.