hihoslva

Jeez, y'all must be getting sick of all my posts for advice - but I appreciate all the great info I keep getting.

I really feel the need to run new speaker wire to the front doors once I start installing everything (I'm only amping the fronts). I want my Infinitys to sound as good as possible, and the shitty stock wires just ain't gonna cut it.

So - are there any moderately easy ways to do this thru the stock wiring boot? I really would like to avoid taking the doors off of the car, and I'm also trying not to drill any new holes in the sheet metal for the wires.

I know some of you have done this - let me learn from your experiences. I'm going to run 16 gauge wire.

If I absolutely have to drill the sheet metal, I will - but through the stock boot is my first choice, of course.

Thanks (again!)

jcilforever

I must have sent you info on this just check out my website. drilled holes from inside to under door sill see pics.

hihoslva

Yeah - you did send me info a little while back, along with the pics.

I'd really like to TRY to do it through the stock boots, though. I know I am probably begging for a huge headache, but I've gotta try.

Truth is, if I can't do it either through the stock boots or right next to them, I'll probably just use the stock wires.

Not that your install looks bad - it doesn't - I am just looking at all possible alternatives.

Thanks, man.

jcilforever

Cant do it through the stock boots without messing up the wiring harnesses (drilling a hole right through it) I checked that first. For me it was better to go throgh the metal in a place that would not leak, than drill trough the harness, mess up the electrical and cause the boot not to fit, letting water into the electrical wiring or having to replace the harness (mucho dinero). my 2 cents

hihoslva

Yeah well, I tried it today. I actually got further than I expected, but I did give up.

First, I removed the pin holding the door "stop" bar to the door jamb - this allowed me a little bit more room to work, as the door could be swung open another few inches.

I bought a dremel tool, with a right-angle drilling adapter. It really didn't fit in there. But I was able to angle the bit and drill a hole right through the harness in a "dead" space. I actually got through! I thought I had done it! Unfortunately, once I started threading the wire through (yes, I DID get through), it had the tendency to point "up" - threading itself inside the panel where I couldn't get hold of it or even see it. After about an hour of trying, I decided to try to drill the hole a bit larger, and then try taping the wire to a curved section of coat hanger to get it to come through where I could reach it. Well, as I put the coathanger in the hole, it touched the metal of the door, and my power locks started actuating on their own - I had obviously drilled into one of the connections inside the harness, and the coathanger was closing the circuit and activating the locks - yikes.

That's when I decided to quit. Getting the boot back on the molex connector was probably the hardest part, but I did get it back on there - all sealed up and safe. But I wound up actually starting to break the connector out of the hole - I was going to just go for it and pry it out, but thought better of it. I buttoned everything back up, made sure all of my electronics still worked (which, luckily, everything does just fine - *whew*) and have resigned to using the stock wires to get into the doors - for now anyway

I started on the passenger side, where there is TONS of interference under the glovebox, making it nearly impossible to reach in. I am 100% convinced I could have been successful on the driver's side, where accesibility is MUCH easier, but what is the point in only doing one door?

This one will probably bug me for a while, but at least I gave it an honest try.

mazdaspeedwest

well, you did good for a first timer....but next time use a long *** zip tie (found at Home Depot, about 3 ft long and white) won't cause any shorts....although you may have never noticed it either. Drilling through plugs is not easy as it's not a solid peice and keeping a steady bit when it hits the voids is tricky.

I say, get back up there and give it a second try.

hihoslva

Damn. Why do you have to encourage me like that?

It is VERY frustrating to know how close I came to getting it done (especially when all the advice I have gotten told me not to bother )

The problem is, the hole I drilled is at the top of the connector - it's oval shaped (the connector), and that's really the only place I could get the dremel in there. Now, the wire bundle inside the car is at about the middle of the connector. So no matter what I feed into the hole, it always winds up on top of the existing wire bundle, and totally unreachable on the passenger side. Using the wire tie (I did consider this) is a tough one, too. The hole is barely big enough for the wire to fit - I don't even think I was going to fit the wire taped to the coathanger through, but I had to try. So, I would be forced into using a zip tie so small, that it's flexibilty would defeat the whole purpose (I know the one's you're talking about - they use them for ducting and stuff - FAR too wide for my hole). And I'm not about to try drilling the hole any larger, being that I already clipped a connection somewhere in there.

If I could get a hand (or even a damn finger) up inside there, I know I could poke around, find the wire, and yank it into the car. But the lack of accessibility means I really have to get that wire to thread exactly where I want it to go, and we all know how easy that is . Truthfully, I don't even think I could get some long medical clamps (hemostats, "roach clips" whatever you want to call them ) up there - it's really a matter of blind luck threading it in, because I can't even SEE it coming in because of the direction it threads - but I know it's in there.

This is why I KNOW I could get the driver's side done - I can get a finger or two up near the connector, and I'm sure I'd be able to reach the wire threaded in, no problem.

Dammit - now you've got me thinking about it again - just as I was starting to forget . Well, for sure I'm gonna eye that damn thing when I go to install my new speakers. I think I should face the reality that I will have to try again *sigh*.

blahblahblah

I would try taping the new wire to the old wire and pulling the old wire back through the hole.

Would that work?

hihoslva

Unfortunately, no - that won't work.

The newer Protege's don't just have wires running into the door surrounded by a rubber boot - it is actually a connector or wiring harness of some kind at the connection to the car. There is no way to just pull the wire through (and really no way of disconnecting the harness, either, due to lack of accesssibility).

Turns out I have a day off tomorrow - it's supposed to rain in the morning, but guess what I'll be doing once it clears up in the afternoon........

Motivation can be very destructive. Wish me luck.

proman

Just a wild idea off the top of my head.......... but does the speaker wires really need to go through the doors? can they go under the door moldings on top of the windows? like under the roof cushion or something? I never did this before but just wondering. let me know if i'm crazy or stupid

hihoslva

Im sure there are different ways to get new wires into the doors, but what I was going for was a completely stock look - I don't want any extra wires to show, and I wanted the new wire to go through the stock rubber boot.

The more I research this, the more I hear that it just doesn't matter enough - that I'm really not going to be running enough watts to make any significant difference by using upgraded speaker wire, and that the stock wire will be fine.

proman

I was told running new speaker wires is not "necessary." HOwever I'm sure you would better quality from better speaker wires. I'm probably gonna to do the same thing but not anytime soon.

Sweedenhouse

I would give 5 bucks if you could go down a line of say 6 cars with every other one amp's into the stock wires, as opposed to full 16 ga. all the way from the amp to the speakers, and pick out which ones were which just by listening to them. Yes I would much prefer the pure run as well, but it simply was not worth the hassle, for me to do, as you have found out. I run a Phoenix Gold amp from 16 ga. wire up to the HU where I then butted into the stock speaker wires. It sounds just fine, the ga. of the stock wire is sufficient to push the amount of current need for the distance, and the power draw of the door speakers. You'll be just fine, and have a much cleaner setup going into the stock wires.

Dave Cameron

It can be done, I have done it, you sound to be doing all the right things... I drilled at the bottom of the multiwire connector into the door. There is very little room on the plug that is for sure. I used a dremel with a flex head and a very small bit to pilot and then graduated to larger. The one thing I did do different, I think, was that I ran the wires from both directions from the boot harness, and then ran it back to the amp and into the crossovers in the doors. It took about 45 minutes each to do. 16 guage is about the largest you can hope to use though, Mazda did not give us any room for much else!
Don't give up!

hihoslva

Well, unfortunately, I already have given up - I have been thoroughly convinced by many members of this board and others that without SERIOUS power going to the door speakers, running new wire will give absolutely no noticeable effect.

At least I did try - and I know I can complete the task sometime in the future if I am not not happy with the SQ, and feel the wires are to blame.

Appreciate all the help (and the support!). I'll be posting pics of my stuff once I get it all set up - I should be bumping by the end of this weekend!