I want to run a power cable from under the pasenger side dash to the battery. Is there an easy route ? A plug / gromet.... have you done this before ?

Thanks ! :confused:

 

:yesnod: Yes there is. Jack her up, remove R/F wheel, and remove the small plastic "close-out" panel at the rear of your wheel well. I think there are about 8-10screws(7mm), two or three of which are under the car. Just look for them, you can't miss them. Once the panel is off you can see a small section of firewall, underneath the battery, where there is a main cable bundle going through. There is a small, but sufficient clear area right next to this where you can safely drill. It would also be a good idea to get inside the passenger side floorboard with a flashlight to see where the previously mentioned factory cable assembly comes through. Just remove the toe-board panel and pull back a little of the insulation just above the fuse panel and you will be looking at the "backside" of the same area you saw from under the wheel well. Much easier than it sounds. BTW, you will be drilling through fiberglass so go slow so the fiberglass doesn't "splinter" too much. Clean up the edges of the hole a litle if necessary and use a little silicone around you rubber grommet (you are going to use a rubber grommet, right? :D ). HTH BTW, I found it easier to drill from the engine side. More room to get your drill in.

Robert

 

Do you need to go directly to the battery, or can you just use the accessory electrical tap already provided under the passenger-side floorboard?

 

Where is this????

 

Remove pasenger floor mat, open trapdoor over firewall and reach up to the left top side of the BCM. There are 3 wires wrapped with electrical tape - ground, always on +12v and ignition on +12v - just tug a bit and they will come down. They are there for your pleasure and use - a common way of hard wiring the trusty Valentine One.

 

:yesnod: Good description as to location. If memory serves, the three wires are Yellow, Orange and Black. One is constant power, one is switched power and the other is ground. The only thing I don't remember right off hand is which is constant power vs. switched. Yellow or Orange. Easy to check with a test light or DVM though. One cautionary note when using this as a power source though, and that is that this source of power is NOT recommended for high current loads (amps, etc). A V1 or a cell phone charger, for example, would be OK, but larger loads and you will be constantly popping a fuse. I think it is fused for either 10 or 15 amps, I don't remember which.

Robert

 

If you don't use the above method and decide to run a wire from the battery, be sure to install a properly rated inline fuse. :yesnod:

 

What is the BCM? Is that the silver box to the left of the fuse box?

 

:yesnod: :yesnod: :yesnod:

Here are some GREAT illustrated instructions on how to get at the accessory wires:
http://www.frankhunt.com/FRANK/hobbi...e_install.html

BTW, the wires are also described in your owners manual :rolleyes:

:cheers:

 

Thanks for all the info... I found that I could route the wire I needed from the battery to the floorbaord area by SLOWLY pulling a wire through the same gromment that the main cable goes through. I used a short section of heat shrink tubing to act as a conduit. The two 14ga wires are for a Ham radio that I will be using on our upcomming trip from Ohio to Airazona. My biggest concern was the RF field interacting with the many electronic parts of the car. So far, the 60watt RF field has not interfeared with anything... I am using a half wave dipole ant. streched across the area just under the front end of the back window (2K Coupe). Although the field is rather high, most time will be spent listening... :crazy: I have added two filters to the power feed to try and isolate the RF on the DC feed. (loop power feed wires around a ring of firite(sp?)) Thanks to all who responded.