TT-Es300 Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Hello, New to the forums, just got my first lexus off ebay. Auction can been seen here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...em=330241428269 Now installing a 1600w Class-D JL amp and two 12" JL W3's I debated on installing my Alpine CDA-9855 or keeping the stock stereo. I have decided that I will try the stock unit as it sounds great already. While I have already taken out the stereo I am having a hard time finding out how to run the power wire from the amp to the battery without drilling a hole through the firewall. I am not sure how I should run the wire and hoping someone here can help. I am also unsure how to remove the back seats as I don't own a manual for the vehicle yet. Any advice please let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk_on_blk Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I presume you are going to run a clean, heavy-gauge wire from the battery (fused at the battery, of course) all the way back to your amp, right (which is the proper way to do it)? When I installed my system on my '95 ES, I ran it through the grommet on the upper left hand side of the firewall under the driver's side dash. It's a big black grommet with one cable or wire cluster coming through. I used an awl and pierced a hole in the side and passed the wire through. This feeds it into the driver's side front fender well. It takes a while, but with patience and effort, you can get the wire to line up with the stamped hole in the top of the fender (in the location under the hood)... this will bring the wire right directly into the engine compartment and then it's cake to run the wire to the battery from there. I changed out the head unit in our ride because there was already an aftermarket unit in it. I had to get a new mount panel, but now it looks nearly factory installed. If you decide to go aftermarket, the CDA-9855 is a great choice. If I remember correctly, the rear seat just unhooks if you pull straight up on it at the front of the seat. When that comes out, you can see the two bolts at the bottom of either side on the seat-back (the upright piece). Remove those two bolts and the rear seat-back should slide up and out/off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TT-Es300 Posted June 20, 2008 Author Share Posted June 20, 2008 Thanks for responding, I finally gave up on trying to find a hole through the fire wall and drilled one last night. Yes, I do have my power cord running from the battery to my amp (with of course the fuse box next to the battery). But now I have run into a problem! Everything is hooked up as it should, I will explain how it is set up.. I have the amp remote wire intercepting the ACC (accessory) [red wire] connecting to the stock head unit. I found a similar schematic seen here: http://carstereohelp.net/wireharness_Lexus2.htm After that, I connected the RCA's running out of the amp to a RCA converter (which converts RCA cables to speaker wire) I then intercepted the speaker wire with the 8' Stock sub in the trunk. Now when I connect the power cord to the battery with everything else hooked up.. The POWER and PROTECT lights flash on my JL amp and then turn off right away.. I don't understand where I went wrong. Please help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalluDriver Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 <<Deleted>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blk_on_blk Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Drilling a hole through the firewall isn't a problem, and long as you put a grommet in there. If you just have the wire passed through, it will eventually chafe and short out. It sounds like you know what you are doing, so I'll presume you put in a thick grommet before passing your 12v line through (and nice to see you've got it fused up at the battery). Okay, so what it sounds like you are trying to do is run some line-levelers out of the powered factory system to your amp. You describe the 'flow' a little backwards, in that you have the RCAs "running out of the amp into the converter". Presuming you are using line-levelers (a converter that take a full powered speaker signal and reduces it to RCA line-level), then what that does is take a multi-range speaker powered/amplified signal and 'level it' down to RCA input levels, something your amp can handle. If you have the proper powered wires coming into the converter, and then the line-level RCA wires going to your amp, you should be fine. My concern is if you are pulling off the amplified sub woofer speaker line, with is a MUCH higher powered output than the normal multi-range speaker line. First check is to pull off the RCA wires off your amp and then turn on the system. See if the amp powers up correctly. It sounds like you may be putting too much juice into the amp (even though you have the line-levelers) and its safety shut off is kicking in. That means your line-level converter box isn't bringing down the powered output to line level. So, again, try pulling off the RCA's from the amp and turn the system on. If it powers up fine, then that's probably your problem. Is there a way you can pick off just the signal for the sub (since it sounds like that's all your trying to do) before it passes through factory amp? If you're picking the speaker wires to the sub after the factory amplification and then trying to reduce it to line level, then it's probably too much power for that converter. If you can find the lead signal wire for the sub output coming from the head unit into the factory amp, you can splice into that line and pick and RCA lead directly from the headunit. It should be down at a voltage level that is compatible with your aftermarket amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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