MikeKey
17-06-2007, 02:59 AM
The plan was to move my XBox from the footwell to the boot today so, as it would involve routing power directly from the battery to the boot, I spent last night scouring the forums for information on how to get wires through the firewall.
There were a few different ideas, some more popular than others, and some requiring holes to be drilled which I wasn't really keen on.
Here's how I did it, based on the "through the wheel arch" method suggested by Gly & Mpau009 (http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=161442&postcount=4), plus a bit of extra information you might find useful if you do anything similar. Note that I have a N/A V6, but it should work just as well with VR4s and other models. As WODJNO says (http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=161691&postcount=10), this should also work on either side of the car.
First, I had planned to use some 14 guage wire which would be just right for the M2-ATX power supply in my XBox (fused at 10A). The company I ordered the wire from sent the wrong stuff, however, so in the end I went for one of those amp wiring kits off of eBay.
I ended up paying £12.99 (NZ$34 /Wyhy) for a 1000W FLI kit (http://www.fliaudio.co.uk) (10 guage) which will easily handle the XBox. At that sort of price you can't go wrong, and you're saving yourself the bother of re-wiring to cope with more boot gadgets if you decide to fit them later on.
Preparation
Step 1:
Make sure you have enough wire! Once through the firewall, I originally planned to route down the side of the transmission tunnel, under the back carpet and seat, then into the side of the boot. If you do this, you'll need at least 6m of wire. As I only had 5m, the only choice was to use the trunking along the door sills.
Having tried both ways, I'd recommend using the sill trunking, although you may have trouble if you're running really chunky wire.
Step 2:
In the cabin, remove the plastic trim from the left side of the transmission tunnel/center console. There were 3 metal screws, one just inside the top right of the glovebox, one just under the bottom right corner of the glovebox, and one hidden under a little plastic cover in the foot well. There is also a plastic retainer to remove slightly further back in the foot well, just remove the plastic screw and this will pull straight out. The rest of the trim is just held in place by tabs so you'll need to pull it about a bit to remove it.
Step 3:
Empty the glove box then, with it almost all the way open, pull the little stopper tab on the left side towards you. It's a bit fiddly to get at the tab, but it should just pop out towards you and allow you to swing the glove box all the way down to rest on the floor:
18151
Step 4:
Jack the front left of the car up and remove the wheel. As always, make sure you support the car with axle stands or something else, don't just rely on the jack or on you own head (legs?) be it!
Step 5:
Remove the screws and 14mm bolts securing the plastic wheel arch liner, detach it from the bodywork, then gently bend the right side down out of the way so you can see up into the top right of the wheel arch (as you look at it from the side). There were 9 bolts/screws keeping the liner in place, and a helluva lot of cack lurking in all the joints and crevices back there!
Wiring
Step 6:
Feed the "boot end" of your wire through the rubber ABS sensor grommet in the rear right corner of the engine bay (as you look at it from the front). This is a bit fiddly at first, but it's easy once you've got the end in... ooh err! It goes without saying, but make sure you leave enough wire in the engine bay to reach whatever it needs to reach!
18152
Close up:
18153
Step 7:
Here's how the wire will be routed in the wheel well. It comes out of the ABS sensor grommet (point A) and feeds into the door pillar grommet (point B):
18154
Cut and remove any tape from the door pillar grommet, being careful not to damage the grommet itself. If you leave the tape on, you won't be able to stretch the grommet enough to get your wire through. You should leave the tape on the wiring loom, however:
18155
Step 8:
Grab the top part of the grommet (marked in red on picture above) and pull it open enough to get the end of your wire in. While holding the grommet open, feed enough wire in so you can grab it on the other side, maybe a foot or so.
Step 9:
Pull the remaining wire through the grommet from the inside. If you can't see the end of the wire, try feeding some more in, or remove the oval insulation piece stuck to the grommet mounting for better access:
18156
Close up:
18157
Step 10:
Check you have enough wire length in the engine bay, then zip tie up anything dangling in the wheel well and tape up the door pillar grommet again.
Step 11:
Refit the wheel arch liner and wheel, let the car down, then finish routing your wire wherever it needs to go.
Job done! :scholar:
There were a few different ideas, some more popular than others, and some requiring holes to be drilled which I wasn't really keen on.
Here's how I did it, based on the "through the wheel arch" method suggested by Gly & Mpau009 (http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=161442&postcount=4), plus a bit of extra information you might find useful if you do anything similar. Note that I have a N/A V6, but it should work just as well with VR4s and other models. As WODJNO says (http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=161691&postcount=10), this should also work on either side of the car.
First, I had planned to use some 14 guage wire which would be just right for the M2-ATX power supply in my XBox (fused at 10A). The company I ordered the wire from sent the wrong stuff, however, so in the end I went for one of those amp wiring kits off of eBay.
I ended up paying £12.99 (NZ$34 /Wyhy) for a 1000W FLI kit (http://www.fliaudio.co.uk) (10 guage) which will easily handle the XBox. At that sort of price you can't go wrong, and you're saving yourself the bother of re-wiring to cope with more boot gadgets if you decide to fit them later on.
Preparation
Step 1:
Make sure you have enough wire! Once through the firewall, I originally planned to route down the side of the transmission tunnel, under the back carpet and seat, then into the side of the boot. If you do this, you'll need at least 6m of wire. As I only had 5m, the only choice was to use the trunking along the door sills.
Having tried both ways, I'd recommend using the sill trunking, although you may have trouble if you're running really chunky wire.
Step 2:
In the cabin, remove the plastic trim from the left side of the transmission tunnel/center console. There were 3 metal screws, one just inside the top right of the glovebox, one just under the bottom right corner of the glovebox, and one hidden under a little plastic cover in the foot well. There is also a plastic retainer to remove slightly further back in the foot well, just remove the plastic screw and this will pull straight out. The rest of the trim is just held in place by tabs so you'll need to pull it about a bit to remove it.
Step 3:
Empty the glove box then, with it almost all the way open, pull the little stopper tab on the left side towards you. It's a bit fiddly to get at the tab, but it should just pop out towards you and allow you to swing the glove box all the way down to rest on the floor:
18151
Step 4:
Jack the front left of the car up and remove the wheel. As always, make sure you support the car with axle stands or something else, don't just rely on the jack or on you own head (legs?) be it!
Step 5:
Remove the screws and 14mm bolts securing the plastic wheel arch liner, detach it from the bodywork, then gently bend the right side down out of the way so you can see up into the top right of the wheel arch (as you look at it from the side). There were 9 bolts/screws keeping the liner in place, and a helluva lot of cack lurking in all the joints and crevices back there!
Wiring
Step 6:
Feed the "boot end" of your wire through the rubber ABS sensor grommet in the rear right corner of the engine bay (as you look at it from the front). This is a bit fiddly at first, but it's easy once you've got the end in... ooh err! It goes without saying, but make sure you leave enough wire in the engine bay to reach whatever it needs to reach!
18152
Close up:
18153
Step 7:
Here's how the wire will be routed in the wheel well. It comes out of the ABS sensor grommet (point A) and feeds into the door pillar grommet (point B):
18154
Cut and remove any tape from the door pillar grommet, being careful not to damage the grommet itself. If you leave the tape on, you won't be able to stretch the grommet enough to get your wire through. You should leave the tape on the wiring loom, however:
18155
Step 8:
Grab the top part of the grommet (marked in red on picture above) and pull it open enough to get the end of your wire in. While holding the grommet open, feed enough wire in so you can grab it on the other side, maybe a foot or so.
Step 9:
Pull the remaining wire through the grommet from the inside. If you can't see the end of the wire, try feeding some more in, or remove the oval insulation piece stuck to the grommet mounting for better access:
18156
Close up:
18157
Step 10:
Check you have enough wire length in the engine bay, then zip tie up anything dangling in the wheel well and tape up the door pillar grommet again.
Step 11:
Refit the wheel arch liner and wheel, let the car down, then finish routing your wire wherever it needs to go.
Job done! :scholar: