[BigMike]

I'm trying to put my old amp in my new Pathfinder, and there is NO way through the firewall. No open nipples, no way to squeeze the power cable through from the battery. The only thing left is to drill a 10g sized hole in the firewall, but I dont want to drill a hole in my new car

And.... how should I seal it?

 

[DLo]

I've got holes all over the firewall in my Heep... I've been ok for a couple years Maybe you can get one of those rubber grommet thingies to plug into the hole?

 

[biggins]

nope. you have holes alreay in it. its not gonna hurt it if you have to, but there is no way for there not to be any holes already in it. If ya do drill one make it as small as possible and just seal it with some silicon caulk. All good.

 

[BigMike]

nope. you have holes alreay in it. its not gonna hurt it if you have to, but there is no way for there not to be any holes already in it. If ya do drill one make it as small as possible and just seal it with some silicon caulk. All good.

I spent like an hour searching the whole thing. there are NO holes to use. Everything is sealed up tight. The only possibility I had was using the hood release cable hole, but that was fruitless

 

[biggins]

hmmmm drill a hole then. its not gonna hurt anything.

 

[BigMike]

hmmmm drill a hole then. its not gonna hurt anything.

w0rd!

 

[clancy98]

go ahead and drill... Like they said, there are already holes in your firewall, so it won't hurt anything. Make sure if you do that you put a grommet, rubber or plastic in there. No sharp edges rubbing your cable.

In my truck, my 4ga is run under the truck in a silicon tube (like fishtank tubing) and then I brought it up through an existing hole under the carpet. You may want to look that route, there are usually pre-made holes in the floor with a rubber plug in them already. And don't forget to fuse!

CLancy

 

[JSB]

Another method is to find you wiring harness. It passes through. They usuallt have a rubber nipple or seal around the harness. Use something to poke a hole in the nipple and force your power cable through it. We did this all the time at the shop. Easy, fast, and no drilling. If you do drill and don't seal it, you may hear and increase in noise in the cab. May be small, but might be irritating too.

 

[MTB_Rob_NC]

You can get the rubber grommets for that kind of thing at most auto parts stores. They coincide with the size drill bit you are gonna use.. ie 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 etc

 

[biggins]

rubber nipple harness. something to poke a hole in the nipple and force your cable through it. Easy, fast drilling. If you do drill it you may hear noise.

wow all this dirty talk. go figure it is humpday

 

[BigMike]

Another method is to find you wiring harness. It passes through. They usuallt have a rubber nipple or seal around the harness. Use something to poke a hole in the nipple and force your power cable through it. We did this all the time at the shop. Easy, fast, and no drilling. If you do drill and don't seal it, you may hear and increase in noise in the cab. May be small, but might be irritating too.

Yeah, I checked out that route, its a no go. The thing is sealed tight, I dont want to chance it. I figure I'll just drill a hole and call it done.

Should I get a grommet, or just use caulk?

 

[llkoolkeg]

What I always do is drill a hole through an existing rubber grommet adjacent to whatever else is going through it. To pass the wire through a tight-fit grommet, I tape the wire to a spoke and jam it thorough the hole...then remove the tape, spoke and crimp on the temporarily-removed terminal end.

 

[DLo]

Yeah, I checked out that route, its a no go. The thing is sealed tight, I dont want to chance it. I figure I'll just drill a hole and call it done.

Should I get a grommet, or just use caulk?

Cawk?

 

[JSB]

Feel around the harness and make sure there is no room in there. You can usually poke through. If not drill a hole just a smidge bigger than that wire and find a rubber gromet to use. I would find a gromet that fit the wire shielding tight to eliminate noise. Good Luck.

 

[mobius]

Mike look on your driver side and see if you have a rubber type grommet that covers a hole for your cables to fit through if not drill away we did it in my friend's jeep but got lucky in my explorer and found a spot to cut away at ruber to fit it through.

 

[JSB]

wow all this dirty talk. go figure it is humpday

It does sound dirty doesn't it.

 

[Incubus]

You don't need to chaulk it. Just cover the exposed metal along the inside of the hole with some automotive touch-up paint. Let dry and install a rubber grommet.

 

[Spunger]

You can buy stereo specific or wire specfic grommets. I use 4 guage ones on my firewall. Just check to see where you're drilling. Don't want to pierce the heater core or anything.

The grommets have a thread/nut idea to them with a giant O ring. It seals up nice and creates a water proof barrier. Most cars have areas to run wires though if needed. You might have to pop a new hole in it with a screwdriver but it should work.

I didn't see anything else about this..........but make sure you run the RCA's on one side of the car, power on the opposite (to eliminate noise). Also fuse the wire with the correct fuse. Make sure the grounds good and as short as necessary. Bare metal works the best there. I just wouldn't want you to drill the holes etc...and then get noise from not knowing how to run everything. I've done a few systems (once you've done one, the others are butter).

Ask with any other questions

 

[amateur]

If it's for your amp, why not tie into the ignition? No holes there... You could also run from the fuse panel too. If you want to run from the battery, just drill a hole. Caulk or a rubber grommet will work about the same, so it's your preference.

 

[NRSracer]

If it's for your amp, why not tie into the ignition? No holes there... You could also run from the fuse panel too. If you want to run from the battery, just drill a hole. Caulk or a rubber grommet will work about the same, so it's your preference.

ignition wires are either 14 or 16 ga, amp power wires run anwhere from 10 ga to 1/0 ga, depending on amp power, 14 ga would probably not supply enough power to his amp. i used to have 10 ga running to my amp and it was really underpowered. i recently switched to 4 ga and everything sounds a lot better.
btw, there was already a hole in my car, and 4 ga wire fits in it. just make sure if you do drill get any carpet/trim out of the way first and make sure you wont hit anything on the inside, and fuse it within a foot and a half of the battery. on another note, rockford fosgate makes some nice battery taps that have a seperate bolt for attaching the amp wire, not sure what kinda terminals nissan runs though.

 

[caputo1989]

Go to autozone and get a wireing gromit. Or have somone else like a shop do it.

 

[JSB]

ignition wires are either 14 or 16 ga, amp power wires run anwhere from 10 ga to 1/0 ga, depending on amp power, 14 ga would probably not supply enough power to his amp. i used to have 10 ga running to my amp and it was really underpowered. i recently switched to 4 ga and everything sounds a lot better.
btw, there was already a hole in my car, and 4 ga wire fits in it. just make sure if you do drill get any carpet/trim out of the way first and make sure you wont hit anything on the inside, and fuse it within a foot and a half of the battery. on another note, rockford fosgate makes some nice battery taps that have a seperate bolt for attaching the amp wire, not sure what kinda terminals nissan runs though.

I miss the old custom stereo talk. I always liked Phoenix Gold distribution blocks and power supply fittings. That was some time back though.

Yep you can't bridge amp and drop ohms with dental flaw. You need the big 4 ga wire. Man I was working on this one car, and I had so much trouble with it cutting out. I kept thinking it was the ground. I grinded the paint off and went metal to metal, but still something was wrong. I didn't think about at the time, but I ended up needing 2 caps on the system to hold the juice where we needed it. That use to be fun stuff. Now I could careless about car audio. It's home theater now.

 

[NRSracer]

I miss the old custom stereo talk. I always liked Phoenix Gold distribution blocks and power supply fittings. That was some time back though.

Yep you can't bridge amp and drop ohms with dental flaw. You need the big 4 ga wire. Man I was working on this one car, and I had so much trouble with it cutting out. I kept thinking it was the ground. I grinded the paint off and went metal to metal, but still something was wrong. I didn't think about at the time, but I ended up needing 2 caps on the system to hold the juice where we needed it. That use to be fun stuff. Now I could careless about car audio. It's home theater now.

what size caps?

 

[BigMike]

Thanks for all the help guys, I've done a few systems also, and never run into this problem. Usually, there is somewhere to just cut out and send the wire through. I just went to Worst Buy and they gave me a little plastic grommet thing i'll use If I cant find anywhere else.

And yeah, thanks about running the signal and power away from each other, I already knew that, but thanks for looking out for me

 

[Spunger]

Don't tie into any ignition wires. Jesus christ that's bad stereo information.

Back in the day when my head unit didn't have a remote turn on I used the radio fuse as a turn on. I'd never once think about tying into any ignition wires for anything unless I was asking for trouble elsewhere.

I hear ya on there's usually a place to cut and put the wire through. My truck doesn't have a spot where I want, but drilling holes is no biggy. I'll patch the old holes up and leave it (JB weld something to it) and that should fix it.

BTW.....what kind of system are you installing (amps subs etc...???) Just curious, but it fits the topic!

 

[NRSracer]

Don't tie into any ignition wires. Jesus christ that's bad stereo information.

Back in the day when my head unit didn't have a remote turn on I used the radio fuse as a turn on. I'd never once think about tying into any ignition wires for anything unless I was asking for trouble elsewhere.

that's basically what the accessory wire is in the back of a head unit. granted it's not one of the more important ignition wires it is nonetheless an ignition wire. As long as the car you are working on is about a few years old and is not a top of the line vehicle there won't be any serious consequences to cutting and re-connecting ignition wires. the worst that happens if wires are reconnected properly is a check engine light. remote starters actually require the cutting and reconnecting of ignition wires. but as for attaching an ignition wire to an amp, there is absolutely no reason to ever do that, and that could cause some damage.