Another "Power from Battery to Trunk" DIY

[WVUeers]

For starters, I have an 07 Sedan w/ Nav. YMMV depending on your year, model, etc.

There's another good DIY on this topic that deals with using a hole in the firewall above the accelerator. My car had the hole in the insulation, but no hole through the firewall...end it would be a pain to drill a hole there (especially since I don't have a 45 degree angle drill).

In that same thread, someone also mentions routing the cable through the fender to the battery. That's what I did. No drilling involved.


1. Start by removing the panel under the steering column.

• There's a plastic piece near the middle. Rotate it 90 degrees (or maybe it was 180...don't remember. You'll figure it out.).
• Now tug firmly on either side. There's one clip on each side.

2. Place your hand behind the hood release mechanism and trace the hood release cable all the way to the metal. Just below the grommet that the hood release cable goes through is a rubber plug. It removes easily. Just pry one side of it. This could be where the fog light wires would go if they were installed...I don't know.

Location of plug (plug removed):


What plug actually looks like:


3. Cut a hole in the plug for the cable to go through. I used an exacto knife. It's rubbery and easy to cut. I then placed a grommet that came with my wiring kit inside the hole...probably not necessary, but I cut the hole a little too big.

4. Now for the wheel well.

• There are some clips to remove. Easy to do with a flathead. I think there were 6 total. Could be wrong there.
• If you have mud guards, remove that too.
• The wheel well seemed to be glued near the bottom of the fender, so I didn't remove completely. Don't need to anyway.
• See pic below for approximate location of the rubber plug that you just removed. Just peel back the top of the wheel well to see it. If you have medium to small hands, shouldn't be too hard to reach in there.
• I routed the cable a little way through the hole first, then placed the rubber plug over the cable and inserted it back into the hole.
• I then held the plug in place and pulled the slack of the cable with the other hand. This was just to prevent the cable from scraping on the bare metal that shows when the plug is not inserted.
• Make sure you leave enough cable to make it to the battery.

5. Getting the cable from wheel well to engine compartment.

• To the right of the battery is a plastic panel that runs the length of the hood (see pic below). Get a flathead under the 3 clips to remove.
• Remove panel. You should now be able to see the hood release cable (it's black).
• Use one arm to hold the end of the power cable in the wheel well and the other to reach in the gap near the edge of the fender (where you removed the panel).
• Now re-install the panel. There's a very convenient hole in the panel that the power cable can go through. Beautiful.

6. Now sneak the cable underneath the door sills.

• For the front door sill, I tugged on the edge nearest the door. It removed partially -- enough for me to route the cable through.
• If you remove the rear door sill, you can route the cable through the pillar that stands between those two sills. The panel for that middle pillar was tough to pull out enough from the bottom to accomodate the size of the cable, so routing it through after removing the front and rear door sills made it much easier.
• Note that to remove the rear door sill, you'll also have to pop the backseat up. Just tug on the seat from the bottom.
• From the rear door sill, I went under the seat into the trunk. Once I actually install the sub, I'll probably hide the cable under the floor, near the spare tire.

That's it. Took me about 2 hours to do, but most of that was actually figuring everything out. Plus it was my first time ever running a power line. So, shouldn't take nearly as long for you experienced types.

[Duce2k]

Great DIY

[yippieguy]

awesome info. I just ran my side-marker signal wires through there!

[4door]

there is a hole to run it threw but its a pain... i ran mine the same way

[edohelling]

I just went through the fender on my 07 LX coupe. I popped off the plastic piece under the hood, then the grommet under the dash and used a coat hanger from underneath to fish it through. I didn't want to take off the plastic in the wheel well. And doing it with the hangar I didn't have to. This was one of the easiest power wires I've ever run, and I didn't have to drill a hole in my new car!!

[tda1337]

suscribed!!!!

[Duce2k]

Yep, I did mine this way also.

[imdanchu]

yeah before this DIY was made the only one we saw was for the older civics that had the whole above the accelerator. i have an 08 lx coupe. my dad examined the car for about a half an hour and decided to go through the fender and go through the grommet behind the fuse box. my dad just knows how to fix/make anything sometimes..

[hannson]

Originally Posted by edohelling

I just went through the fender on my 07 LX coupe. I popped off the plastic piece under the hood, then the grommet under the dash and used a coat hanger from underneath to fish it through. I didn't want to take off the plastic in the wheel well. And doing it with the hangar I didn't have to. This was one of the easiest power wires I've ever run, and I didn't have to drill a hole in my new car!!

great stuff!!

er.. i understand what you're saying with the coat hanger.. but don't quite understand how you achieved it...

let me try to re-phrase to see if I got it...

after removing the various covers, you...

1. thread your cable through the hole under the dash as far as it would go

2. from the engine bay, you used a coat hanger and "fished" for the cable

3. Viola! We've got fish!

Is this right? or did you push the wire through the hole under the dash with your coat hanger?

[yippieguy]

tape the wire to the end of a straightened-out coat-hanger.. push the coat-hanger through from the cabin-side. .. once you see it in the engine-side of things.. pull the hanger through.. your wire , still attached , will come through with the hanger as you pull it out.

[Duce2k]

I should have gone the coat hanger route too, I broke one of my fender panel clips and one is loose so there is a gap now, when I take it in for service I'll get a new set of clips

[rbsjnh]

why move it to the trunk, just get a password jdm relocation kit...all the wire you have to run, its just more weight...

[tda1337]

did u read the thread at all man? its for ur subwoofer power cable....
wow

[08CivicSiGG]

I used the coat hanger method, starting from the cab. I did not remove any pieces of the wheel well. The attached pictures show how this is done.

Attach hanger however you see fit

Insert hanger through hole inside cab

Locate the hanger, I found the angle from behind the hood worked best to locate hanger

Once you know where the hanger is grab it and pull. Obviously, you don't want to force anything.

I pulled few feet of wire through, applied flex tube and tape, then pushed back down. Just a little anded protection.


Again, thanks everyone for your great advice!

[brazilianguy]

i like the hanger idea ^^^

subscribed for future reference

[brazilianguy]

so i tried the hanger thing
didnt work, i'm going to have to take the wheel off

[08CivicSiGG]

Strange! Did you take off that black molding under the hood? Did you attached a long enough piece of hanger? Prolly need at least 2 feet and slighty curve the hanger upwards. Make sure to push enough line through the hole.

I got this to work fairly fast.

[brazilianguy]

yea i did take the black molding out, just wasnt working, i ended up going a different way, i went through the factory harness hole in the middle of the car, right behind the stereo

[justininhifi]

Thanks for the DIY. I will be doing this Thursday/Friday whenever my kit gets here.

Question: Where is everyone mounting their inline fuse? Thanks.

[Duce2k]

This is where my fuse is