re-routing fusebox (engine bay) - Interior Forum

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re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Thursday, September 02, 2010 2:09 PM
how do i reroute this to under the driver's side dash?

any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.




Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Thursday, September 02, 2010 6:53 PM
ive never tried this before but im guessing first you would need to umplug everything from the fuse box and mount the box under the dash. then i think all the wires are all together in one big bunch so you would need to find a way to bring the wires through the engine bay into the car. a good way would be through the big rubber piece where the fuse wiring for the fuses inside the car come in through by the foot pedals. just make that hole bigger and once you have those wires inside just hook them back up.
Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Thursday, September 02, 2010 6:59 PM
jason carroll (sndsgood) did this in my car and afterwords the car would not shift gears.. we figured it was due to the distance of the wire was causing issues. just a heads up..



Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Thursday, September 02, 2010 7:18 PM
greenstabber wrote:ive never tried this before but im guessing first you would need to umplug everything from the fuse box and mount the box under the dash. then i think all the wires are all together in one big bunch so you would need to find a way to bring the wires through the engine bay into the car. a good way would be through the big rubber piece where the fuse wiring for the fuses inside the car come in through by the foot pedals. just make that hole bigger and once you have those wires inside just hook them back up.


i suppose i should clarify. i know how to get the box under the dash, and how to route the wires through the firewall.

what i need to know is how i can make an extension for the wires from the fuse box to the battery, it's only about a one foot section of wires and i need roughly 3 feet to get it inside the car through the firewall. there's also another bunch of wires going to the box, but i think it has enough slack to run through the firewall.


arrival, know of anywhere in the bay maybe i could mount it if the interior is too far of a distance? maybe some dead space in the bay that's out of view? this is purely for cosmetic purposes.



Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Thursday, September 02, 2010 10:59 PM
blucavvy wrote:arrival, know of anywhere in the bay maybe i could mount it if the interior is too far of a distance? maybe some dead space in the bay that's out of view? this is purely for cosmetic purposes.


jason did his in the wiper cowl with no issues.. im going to probably try the same..



Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Friday, September 03, 2010 4:45 AM
i already have my ecu there. i wonder if the fuse box would fit too. although that's close to the same amount of distance.



Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Friday, September 03, 2010 9:23 AM
arrival_04_eco (green98cav) wrote:
blucavvy wrote:arrival, know of anywhere in the bay maybe i could mount it if the interior is too far of a distance? maybe some dead space in the bay that's out of view? this is purely for cosmetic purposes.


jason did his in the wiper cowl with no issues.. im going to probably try the same..


when did he put his in his wiper cowl?


have you read the RULES yet?
my carDomain updated 6/11/10 Forged and Supercharged


Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Friday, September 03, 2010 9:40 AM
When I did mine all I did was go to the yard and pull a bunch of the fuse box wiring from another car. Then just extended all of my wires. It reaches inside and under the dash no problem. Make sure you mark all of the wires, some are two of the same color. Good luck

Edit. The wiring goes through the factory gromet on the drivers side of the firewall.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Friday, September 03, 2010 9:42 AM

"Straight roads are for fast cars, turns are for fast drivers"-Colin McRae
Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Friday, September 03, 2010 11:30 AM
^^^^thank you sir. guess it's time to learn how to sodder. god i hate working with wiring.



Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Friday, September 03, 2010 10:16 PM
onecleancavy wrote:Make sure you mark all of the wires, some are two of the same color.


like he said, mark them. i would recommend going to your nearest electrical supply store (some hardware stores carry them too) and pick up a book of either IDEAL or BRADY (brands) wire markers. they are low profile easy to use labels.


Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Friday, September 03, 2010 10:57 PM
arrival_04_eco (green98cav) wrote:jason carroll (sndsgood) did this in my car and afterwords the car would not shift gears.. we figured it was due to the distance of the wire was causing issues. just a heads up..


whaaaa???? that cant be the reason, it had to have been some cross wires or something.... wires are a nightmare, especially our stock stuff, maybe a fusable link or relay was removed, something? i dont know but the length of wiring would not have any bearing on the trans shifting, there's no way unless it was like 2 miles long sure then i could see it, but adding a few inches or hell, even a couple feet would not matter.


personally i think just leaving all the stock wires in-tact would be fine, just extend the power feed, it'll be fine.



I feel like taking a tinkle on an ecNOtec...

Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Saturday, September 04, 2010 5:54 AM
z yaaaa wrote:
arrival_04_eco (green98cav) wrote:jason carroll (sndsgood) did this in my car and afterwords the car would not shift gears.. we figured it was due to the distance of the wire was causing issues. just a heads up..


whaaaa???? that cant be the reason, it had to have been some cross wires or something.... wires are a nightmare, especially our stock stuff, maybe a fusable link or relay was removed, something? i dont know but the length of wiring would not have any bearing on the trans shifting, there's no way unless it was like 2 miles long sure then i could see it, but adding a few inches or hell, even a couple feet would not matter.


personally i think just leaving all the stock wires in-tact would be fine, just extend the power feed, it'll be fine.


your'e speaking greek to me brad. (remember, electrical idiot here).

i'm thinking it might reach under the black radiator cover. looks like there's some dead space in there. i dunno still tossing around some idea's. thanx for the comments and help people's.



Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Saturday, September 04, 2010 10:31 PM
Just go pick up some 8awg wire and a couple ring connectors and solder the ends on. Run it from the fuse panel to the battery. Done.

You won't have any problems extending any wires, Arrivals problem sounds like something was connected incorrectly.

Wires are just wires, there is no voodoo magic making them work, so as long as you have good soldered and heat shrinked connections you won't have any problems.

I'd try to keep it reasonably easy to get to though, in case of a blown fuse you don't want to be pulling your windshield wipers and cowl just to throw another fuse in.



Paying someone to install parts and bragging about it being fast, is like watching someone bang your wife and being proud to raise their kids.
Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Tuesday, September 07, 2010 2:04 PM
simple is always better


Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Saturday, September 11, 2010 10:37 AM
it wasnt a mis connected wire, every wire is labeled before its cut, think the problem with pauls car is the distance thru the added wire was causing enough drop in voltage to cause shifting issues. ive been wondering if this is what happened with my car as well but im not positivie since it ran fine for a year. since putting in a new wiring harness the car has been running fine again. so although i can't say for sure that was the problem. its one of the areas that was modified from stock design. gm is cheap, it runs just enough wire to get the job done and just big enough wire size to work. could have been the issue or not. though with pauls i used slightly smaller wire then mine. and it was slightly longer from end to end as well and his car wouldnt shift. same similar issue as mine. with a new stock wire harness in im going to just make a bracket underneath the frame rail near the drivers side wheel to hold the fuse box, and to keep it hidden out of place without adding or modifying any of the stock wiring.



zyaa there is no fusible link or relay, its just straight wire to wire. when we shortened the wires back, the car worked fine. i didnt take them back to stock length though, i left around 6" of wire added in so we had more wire to eventually move his out of the way and it worked fine, in pauls case i do feel confident that the size of the wire we used and the length ran was the issue. with mine im not so sure. you can't just extend the power wire and run the fuse box in the interior. each wire has to be cut, lengthered and soldered with the wire in the engine bay and then the fuse box in the engine bay. i think making a bracket under the motor area and leaving the stock length wire will be allot safer route for a car thats driven.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography
Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Saturday, September 11, 2010 10:55 AM
please do a small write up if u do do this sndsgood. i have a ton of room in my drivers side wheel well and i'd much rather not @!#$ with the wiring that basically controls the entire car.



Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Sunday, September 12, 2010 3:44 PM
agreed. gm wiring does suck. i do think that it MAY be an issue now as far as the length goes....



I feel like taking a tinkle on an ecNOtec...
Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Monday, September 13, 2010 8:11 AM
I have to disagree I don't think length of the wire makes any difference. Perhaps you used a smaller gauge then stock? That will cause possible issues. But same gauge wire just extended shouldn't screw anything up.




Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Monday, September 13, 2010 11:48 AM
Just my $.02...

I konw from experience that length and gauge of wire can affect things.

I just wired up a buggy and found out the hard way.

Adding additional length to gauge wiring changed the reading on the gauges by changing the resistance.

We had to shorten up some wires and lengthen others to get the gauges to work properly.


"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"

Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Monday, September 13, 2010 12:20 PM
Well that is true resistance will definitely change I didn't think of that being used to change the affect of a trans shifting, but yeah I guess that could.




Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 6:05 AM
yeah there are some trans senders and i believe they work on voltage. as in you need a certain amount of voltage being send to the unit to tell it to shift properly increasing the length of the wire long enough could cause enough of a voltage drop that the sender isnt getting enough voltage to do its job. i not 100% on this but just basing it off of the experience of mine and pauls relocation.


most cable guide charts ive seen audio wise are always on the larger size. but for instance 12 gauge wire. from 0-4' your okay to power items that require roughly 20-35 amps. if you take that same wire and use a piece 12 gauge from 4'-7' the suggested amp load is now only good for up to 20 amps. the longer the cable. the more voltage you lose. once you get up to 15' or longer they say you should use a 10 gauge wire.




bluecavy. i'll have pics up when its done. the good news is ive begun teardown of the car and have gutted the interior and truck. the bad news is im kinda working on the trunk now and working my way towards the engine bay so it will likely be a few months before i get around to working on the wiring in the engine bay. after the mess i had with the last harness im not wanting to hack this one up to much, but i want to try to hide more of it this time then i did before.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography

Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 4:52 PM
sndsgood wrote:yeah there are some trans senders and i believe they work on voltage. as in you need a certain amount of voltage being send to the unit to tell it to shift properly increasing the length of the wire long enough could cause enough of a voltage drop that the sender isnt getting enough voltage to do its job. i not 100% on this but just basing it off of the experience of mine and pauls relocation.


most cable guide charts ive seen audio wise are always on the larger size. but for instance 12 gauge wire. from 0-4' your okay to power items that require roughly 20-35 amps. if you take that same wire and use a piece 12 gauge from 4'-7' the suggested amp load is now only good for up to 20 amps. the longer the cable. the more voltage you lose. once you get up to 15' or longer they say you should use a 10 gauge wire.




bluecavy. i'll have pics up when its done. the good news is ive begun teardown of the car and have gutted the interior and truck. the bad news is im kinda working on the trunk now and working my way towards the engine bay so it will likely be a few months before i get around to working on the wiring in the engine bay. after the mess i had with the last harness im not wanting to hack this one up to much, but i want to try to hide more of it this time then i did before.


i'm in no hurry good sir. there's almost always something else that needs work done



Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Thursday, September 16, 2010 8:28 PM
Generally I've found that if you do lengthen any wires for any length, you go one size bigger to reduce the chance of decreased voltage drop.
This should also decrease resistance for the added length of run for little to no sensors being effected.
I've even been know to cut back some of the original wiring to one size larger for the added benefit of lower resistance.
Also using finely stranded wire instead of heavier strands in the same size gauge will also yield less resistance plus some added flexibility.
Just some thoughts about it and good luck.



Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!





Re: re-routing fusebox (engine bay)
Friday, September 17, 2010 4:36 AM
that was what i did when i origonally did mine. going with about the same size is what we did with pauls and his had issues immedietly.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography
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