Glad to hear. Clean install.
How to: Subwoofer installation
Howdy. Sorry if I suck at writing tutorials. I know a subwoofer is something the majority of the owners of these cars are going to want, so I figured I’d share my knowledge a bit.
Background on me, I spent 4 years as a 12 volt electronics installer, and I’m pretty sure I still have an active MECP Advanced certification. The techniques I’m using in this guide are exactly what you’d get if you took your car to get a sub amp installed professionally.
There are some things I may or may not show in my install that I don’t advise doing because they’re not cost effective - you can get a professional sub amp install for about $120 labor, and anything that runs up the cost closer to that mark makes it less worth it to DIY.
1. Integrating with the factory amplifier by making your own T harness. This is cool, but also costs about $40 in parts just by itself. We will be using a military splice instead.
2. Wire dressing. Also very cool, but not cost effective if you’re doing a single install. The power kit I recommend has the engine compartment portion of the power wire pre-dressed, which is the only part that actually needs to be dressed.
With that said, here’s a list of stuff I used.
Background on me, I spent 4 years as a 12 volt electronics installer, and I’m pretty sure I still have an active MECP Advanced certification. The techniques I’m using in this guide are exactly what you’d get if you took your car to get a sub amp installed professionally.
There are some things I may or may not show in my install that I don’t advise doing because they’re not cost effective - you can get a professional sub amp install for about $120 labor, and anything that runs up the cost closer to that mark makes it less worth it to DIY.
1. Integrating with the factory amplifier by making your own T harness. This is cool, but also costs about $40 in parts just by itself. We will be using a military splice instead.
2. Wire dressing. Also very cool, but not cost effective if you’re doing a single install. The power kit I recommend has the engine compartment portion of the power wire pre-dressed, which is the only part that actually needs to be dressed.
With that said, here’s a list of stuff I used.
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Really appreciate this entire tutorial and you have inspired me to attempt my own install. I was hoping I could ask a question to clarify something regarding the amp remote wire.
Just wanted to confirm, is this highlighted green wire the one I should be using for remote?
Part of why I am asking is because I am having an issue with my amp going into protect mode immediately upon starting up and music playing. I thought I could make things "easier" for myself by purchasing the ebay connector/harness that was listed in a YouTube video mentioned above. I am starting to think maybe the connector is part of my issue.
Looking more closely at the ebay connector, I found that the remote wire they have provided is actually connected to what appears to be A3, instead of the actual remote wire. Below is a picture of the ebay connector. The colors do not match up with the factory cables by the way, but the blue cable highlighted here is what they gave me for the remote wire. This looks like it is connected to A3.
As of right now, my amp is only connected to power, ground, and remote wires. When I turn my car on, the amp immediately goes into protect mode. I was wondering if this may be part of the issue. I also found that if I turned my volume all the way down, the amp goes out of protect mode and into regular mode. As soon as I turn the volume back up to ~5, the amp goes back into protect mode. It seems like the protect mode light almost pulses with the music, which also leads me to think maybe this ebay connector is my issue.
I installed this yesterday and ended up spending about 8 hours trying to figure it out. Another 4 hours this morning and I feel like I am losing my mind. I have quadruple checked my power and ground wires for proper connections, I have used a voltage meter to make sure I was getting power to the amp. I have tried alternate ground locations (currently using your suggested location). I am at a loss. I have tried connecting the subwoofer and the same thing happens. I figured my issue had to be with power, ground, or remote, due to the amp going into protect mode before the sub is even connected. My power and ground seem good which is why I am now questioning the ebay connector.
EDIT: Had a bit of an "F IT" moment and decided to just make my own remote wire using the green you mentioned instead of using the one that came with the ebay harness. Wow, that was my issue the entire time. Amp started up no problem. No protection mode. I connected my sub and it immediately started working. I should have just done it all manually instead of buying the ebay harness.
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