Running Power For A Sub - Focus Mk1

[Rob-P]

Hi guys.

I'm fitting a sub to my 2001 plate (pre facelift) focus and I'm at that stage of deciding how to run the power cables. It seems the two ways I could go is running the cable in the same hole the main loom takes but I can't see how to get to that, or drill a hole in the wheel arch.

I am wondering if there is a third way- possibly run the cable off of a spare space in the fuse box behind the glove box. Is this a nutty idea?

Which rout would you say was the best?

Rob

[Lenny]

Hi guys.

I'm fitting a sub to my 2001 plate (pre facelift) focus and I'm at that stage of deciding how to run the power cables. It seems the two ways I could go is running the cable in the same hole the main loom takes but I can't see how to get to that, or drill a hole in the wheel arch.

I am wondering if there is a third way- possibly run the cable off of a spare space in the fuse box behind the glove box. Is this a nutty idea?

Which rout would you say was the best?

Rob

Hi rob,

The mk2 focus has a fused 12v positive in the boot behind the drivers side panel in the boot,

The mk6 fiesta also has this.

Its for a 12v socket but would power an amp nicely.

I know yours is a mk1 but it could have it,

Great if it did.

But if not,

Then Id run the cable inside the car behind panels and through a grommet in the firewall,

Also run the power cable and audio cable on opposite sides of the car.

If you run the power and audio next to each other it will cause interference on the sub ;)

[Rob-P]

Hi rob,

The mk2 focus has a fused 12v positive in the boot behind the drivers side panel in the boot,

The mk6 fiesta also has this.

Its for a 12v socket but would power an amp nicely.

I know yours is a mk1 but it could have it,

Great if it did.

But if not,

Then Id run the cable inside the car behind panels and through a grommet in the firewall,

Also run the power cable and audio cable on opposite sides of the car.

If you run the power and audio next to each other it will cause interference on the sub ;)

Hi Lenny!

It doesn't seem that there is a rear output that I could plug into unfortunatly. Is there any particular place in the firewall you would reccomend? I have noticed that a number of folks in the US have poked a hole through the firewall where the steering column exists. I guess this would be ok though the cable would ahve to go all the way over the other side of the car.

Rob

[Lenny]

Hi Lenny!

It doesn't seem that there is a rear output that I could plug into unfortunatly. Is there any particular place in the firewall you would reccomend? I have noticed that a number of folks in the US have poked a hole through the firewall where the steering column exists. I guess this would be ok though the cable would ahve to go all the way over the other side of the car.

Rob

. Hi rob,

I wouldn't make a hole in the firewall mate,

If a hole is made in the firewall

It creates vacuum in to the cabin when driving,

In the unfortunate event of fire,

That vacuum will help the fire and pull it in to the cabin.

Search the engine bay for an empty grommet or the location of the loom coming through a rubber grommet from the inside of the car.

Undo the PVC tape on both sides of the grommet,

Push your sub cable through and tape it up again.

Avoid running power cables across the engine bay or close to moving parts mate.

Its worth taking the extra 30-40 minutes on a job like this.

[Rob-P]

Ok, I will have another look over it tomorrow and see if I can find a spare opening or try and follow the main loom. I don't mind taking my time on this really, its just trying to decide what is best on something I havn't done before!

Thanks a lot for your advice. I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Rob

[Lenny]

Ok, I will have another look over it tomorrow and see if I can find a spare opening or try and follow the main loom. I don't mind taking my time on this really, its just trying to decide what is best on something I havn't done before!

Thanks a lot for your advice. I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Rob

No prob,

Keep us posted, I'll be away from 10-19:00 but I'll be back on tonite,

If you find a grommet and are having trouble pushing through,

Use a hard plastic rod like the measuring stick on a drill or some lawn strimmer line,

Tape the cable to the hard piece and push it through.

You can earth it locally in the boot compartment.

[Rob-P]

A little bit of a hold up on this. I could not find a decent place to feed through with existing wiring so have decided on a small hole drilled just behind the interior fuse box. I need to take the wheel off for this but I have lost my locking nut key. Getting it sorted in another thread though :P

I have however made progress with the audio wiring, Pulled down the plastic under the driver side and fed the RCA round there, then under the door sill plastic that thankfully is super easy to pull up and put back. I have zero wire visibility which is good! The bottom plastic on the B column is a real pain to push stuff under though. Can't see how to detach it which I would need to do for the power cable. I may just have it slip out of one door sill and into the next and tape it down around the column. I'll get some pics up when I can.

Rob

[luke.grimbley]

When I had my mk1 I ran the cable through the passenger wheel arch and into the grommets inside the door (you'll see where the power going to the door comes out, there are blank grommets that can be used). You can make a small hole in these. Much easier to undo than a drilled hole as they are just rubber inserts. If you do this the cable comes in behind the glove box. You can bring it down to the floor behind the plastic trim and along the floor to the boot.

Hope this helps:)

Luke

[Rob-P]

Ok, I finally got the locking wheel nut issue sorted. I'm going to wait until the weekend to do my drilling so that I have the light. On issue does hang over me though. The sub has a built-in amp that wants a 12v signal for turning on and off. I looked round the back of my stereo and it doesn't have a separate signal take-off socket thing to plug into. I am thinking of maybe running the signal cable it came with from the battery to the sub too with a switch on the dash. The signal cable is a lot thinner than the power but I guess it doesn't have the same draw.

I suppose another option is to splice into the ignition somehow so that it powers on when the car starts.

Ideas?

EDIT: Never mind. I have to splice with the remote in the back of the wiring loom that connects into the stereo.

[Lenny]

Splicing to an ignition feed would be sufficient mate,

Don't connect it straight to battery because its a low voltage sensor cable,

Connecting it to the raw battery could blow your amp or worse go on fire.

[Rob-P]

Right. Updates. I got the power cable through today. Just before the heavens opened up and a hailstorm came in. I went though a hole in the wheel arch with a number of grades of drill until working up to the 10mm head. I then painted the hole with anti-rust paint and, using a screw driver and some masking tape, was able to pull the power cable through from the engine bay. The hole came out just behind the trim under the glove box. Had to pull off the door frame trim to get to it. Unfortunatle the carpet is very stiff round there and I can't really get in to install a rubber grommit which is unfortunate. I think I will use a hot glue gun or polyfiller to seel up the hole watertight and stop the cable moving about and rubbing on the metal.

Next job is to feed it through to the back and then splice in the signal cable. Then finally hook up to the battery.

[Caspee22]

What colour is the remote live in the ignition barrell?

[Rob-P]

 

What colour is the remote live in the ignition barrell?

 

I don't know. I found a remote cable on the back of my head unit XD. Everything is banging along nicely.

[Caspee22]

Yeah I found ine in the end =] but my new issue is I need a new alloy as a pot hole caved part of mine in!

[Rob-P]

 

Yeah I found ine in the end =] but my new issue is I need a new alloy as a pot hole caved part of mine in!

 

Bad luck made D:

Not got any help here. I need to go get myself a whole new set of wheels because the ones that came on the car are too small. But that's for another thread and a time when I have a bit more cash on hand. If you have standard alloys then I guess you could visit a scrap dealer and see if you can get a wheel off of an old car.