hey every1 brother has just picked up 2 clairon subs with a box and an amp attached to the back for $200 from a mate.

now comes time to install. no cables came with the subs. its rca connection and needing to be connected to power. i presume we can pick up just a normal wiring kit at repco.

wat i want to know is

a) do we just plug the rca from the amp to the subwoofer out on the head unit (subs r already wired to the amp)

b) how do we go about threading cables under carpets and getting power cables into the engine bay etc..

any help would be greatly appreciated and if u have pics that would be terrific also

thanx every 1

a) Yes, use the existing RCA Subwoofer Out on the back of the head unit as your signal source.

b) Run a power cable from the battery to the boot via an access hole in the firewall. If car is automatic and will stay automatic, then you can use the clutch cable hole in the firewall as your access hole to thread the power cable through. Then run it under the carpet from the firewall on the drivers side, along the kick panel and under the foot plastic surrounds thing in the front and rear doors. Run it under the rear seat and then into the boot. Make sure the fuse you get with the kit sits in the engine bay and runs in series with the power cable.

The Ground/Earth/Negative cable should be as short as possible and be anchored to bare metal somewhere in the boot...such as under the parcel shelf, if there isn't bare metal, you can always sand it back to get good metal contact. Ground cable should also be either the same thickness or thicker then the power cable.

Run the RCAs from the rear of the head unit, then under the carpet to the kick panel on the passenger side, along the foot plastic surround in the front and rear and then under the seat and into the boot.

Along with the RCA you should have a thinner (usually blue in colour) wire which is your remote wire, to tell your amp that the head unit is on. RCA cables should not be run on the same side as the power cable. If you do you will get serious whining/interference noise coming through the speakers.

If the RCAs have to cross the power cable, then try not to cross the wires in parallel. Cross them in a perpendicular manner, that way you won't get interference when you pump up the music.

I will try and make a diagram using MS Paint if you still are confused.

phong =P~

Last edited by phongus on Mon Apr 14, 2008 3:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

I got bored...LoL. Hope this poor diagram helps.



phong =P~

thanx alot mate... i would have run both cables straight down the drivers side and had not a clue about the interferace.. the power terminals on the amp face the passenger side of the vehicle .. and the rca face the drivers.. could have been a tonne easier if that was reversed. also if somebody has a pic of where this hole for the clutch cable is could they plz post it up for us

thank u

here the subs with amp on the back.

cant see the ports on the amp but above the cords u can see in the pics is the fuses and then the 3 terminals - 12v (battery i guess) REM (could some1 tell me what that is) and GND (ground)

2 more things im unsure of

1) whats this blue remote cord people r talking of . where does it go to and from and can i run it with rcas and such with out interferance.

b) when running the rcas from the head unit down to the passenger side how do i get it under the carpet to the scuff plate things

 

 

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Hey bud like those subs

But be careful some thing i have found with my car is that if you mount the subs on the amp then you can have a problem with the RCA's and the terminals coming loose from the bass off the sub

thanx mate.. they have come out of an fto write off. and no problems have come up y it was in the fto so should be ok ...

edit : brothers out with the car. just picked up the wiring kit. could some1 please explain this remote wire. supposedly blue in colour. thanx

Yeah it could, but it should be okay...I hope.

The remote cable just carries a signal from the head unit telling the amplifier that it is on. There should be a remote wire from the head unit wiring loom. I believe it may be blue in colour and is labelled...or it might have a female spade plug connected to it. Remote can be run along any of the power cables or RCAs...doesn't really matter since it is just a signal carrier that doesn't produce sound, so no interference.

REM on the Amplifier between the positive and negative terminals is your Remote terminal. Run a cable from the remote wire on the back of the head unit to this terminal to tell the amp that the sound system is now activated.

To run the power cables and RCA's under the carpet and scuff plates, you have to remove the kick panels and scuff plates. The carpet in the foot wells can be folded back to get a bit of access behind the carpet. Just hide it behind it, don't need to actually run it underneath it. Fold carpet back and runs cables behind it and fold carpet over it .

The kick panels are held in by 2 large plastic retainers, they are a bit hard to get out the first time. You can use a flat head screw driver to lift the end out a bit and then pull it off with your hands...try not to bend them or else they might snap. Or you can try and yank at the back of the kick panels so you use the actual plastic as the leverage and it will pull at least one of the retainers off. If you can't get them off...try and bend the bottom up and shove the cable underneath it .

I'm sure you know how the scuff plates at the door are held in...just remove them and unclip the carpet.

You will find that the B-pillar plastic trim needs to be bent out a bit to pass it across to the rear door. I think you have to force the plastic out because it is held in by a clip...might take an effort but also might snap the clip...I have snapped mine, but hasn't cause any effects to anything . The B-pillar plastic trim is also held in place by the rubber cover that runs along the metal frame of the whole door. Peel it off...you can put it back on later. The plastic trim can be moved a fair bit towards the seats to make enough room to feed the cables through, though watch out where the cable runs so that it doesn't get caught on anything.

Remove the rear scuff plates and unclip the carpet and continue to run the cable. At this point you can either remove the rear seats or you you can shove it behind the seats. To run the cable while hidden, you will need to open the rear seat back rest to have access to the boot, and undo the plastic retainers that hold the boot carpet to the backrests, fold the carpet back and you will find an access point to feed the cables through. You will get an idea when you fold the seats back. Once it is fed through, you can push the cables into the gaps between the rear bench seats, rear backings and bolsters.

Another thing...remove the negative terminal at the battery before you do any electrical work on the car...don't want to short anything while installing stuff.

Hope that helps.

phong =P~

helps alot indeed mate.. your being a great help. im now 99% sure about how im going about wiring the rcas and power and feeding them through the car..,

the only thing im still iffy about is this remote wire. is there a plug on the headunit or a wire on the big plug that goes into the headunit. if its a plug on the headunit well ok if its a wire in the plug is the wire there or do i have to add 1

There should be a wire already coming out of the loom/plug of the head unit plug. You can find out which one of the wires is the remote by looking at the manual/schematic that came with the head unit if it isn't already labelled.

phong =P~

ok but just to clarify. when the head unit was installed it had an adaptor put on it that my uncle and my bro plugged into the head unit..cos apparently wire colors changed and they drew up which color wire on the adaptor had to be soldered to which color wire on the car and then everythings worked from there.

think ive found it on the diagram....


12. blue/white - To system control terminal of the power amp or auto antenna relay control terminal.

then has a line going to a box labeled power amp

thats gotta be it

Yeah that's the one. If you have a power antenna as well, plug it into that and you're attena will go up when the Head unit is on.

phong =P~

well we plugged everything in and the subs and amp are not working..

the car is still starting and stereo working but nothing through the subs and amps

note... there was no blue wire hanging out the blue wire labeled remote wire was in the head unit going into an adaptor going in to the car .. we had to strip the casing back and add our blue wire onto it