hatcher4niner

cant find any info on how to install an amplifier to a 97 civic dx hatchback.

I get it tmrw morning. I know i should remove the battery and the harness to locate the fire wall which is an oval grommet that i should poke through.


What i dont know is which panels to remove, how to remove them... how to hook wires up to the stereo.

I know not to put rca and power near eachother and to have a good ground. hopefully wont get ripped off too bad on my "4 gauge" wiring kit.

I think wiring it to the amp and getting wires through the firewall will be the hardest.


Also if i dont plan on blasting the bass is it so bad to mount my amp on top of the enclosure? I could easily place it infront of speakers on the trunk floor but that wouldnt really lessen vibrations.






and also a question on my blower motors, the only settings that work is 3 and 4 basically blasting the heat or nothing. is it a motor to be replaced or someting else easy?


Thanks .

MindBomber

Please only post in one forum at time, your thread in the 7thgen forum has been removed.

asianboy781

ok since i took some pics i can give u an idea of how and where to run the wires so let me gather some pics

asianboy781

http://i51.tinypic.com/e9g6jr.jpg
take the center console
and cup holders
u can run wires through under there, right where u get to the middle in between shifter and ebrake u can fit the wire through the carpet
u can get a coat hanger and guide it through then run through the driver side door sill .after u pop the door sill open just run it under there

Zeferint

iTrader: (2)

Ok -- since I don't really understand what you don't understand, here's a crash course summary of how to do an amp install (i've done this about 4 or 5 times so far)

You have on one side of the amp 3 outputs. Battery, remote (REM) and ground. You got some (+/-) outputs for the speaker wire. On the other side you have "pre-outs" and "inputs".

The first thing you should do is figure out where you want to mount it. Mounting amps on enclosures is a really bad idea. My 4-channel V-Power amp that I bought from gearbox is underneath my passenger side seat. Another good place is behind your backseat in the trunk. Both of these spots have easily accessible grounds. Remember that your ground wires cant be any longer than 3 feet!!!

Ok, so your battery output obviously goes to the positive terminal of your battery. Make sure the side of the wire that has the fuse goes near the battery. This protects your amp from shorts. I don't exactly remember where I snaked my 4 guage through my firewall, but I made a small incision in my carpet and ran it underneath my carpet to the amp. If you're amp is any farther back than the seats, going through the center console is probably your best bet. This part is probably the longest and most frustrating part. It gets easier from here.

Next, your REM. This is a very small (18 gauge...almost always blue) wire that runs from the amp to the remote output in the back of your HU (the wire should be blue as well and should be labeled "remote" or something of the nature). Crimp or splice the REM wire into that wire. The purpose of this wire is to power your amp when your head unit turns on. Without this little guy, your amp will never power-on.

Next, your GND. Bolt it down somewhere. Don't tape it or half-*** it. If theres a short, you're screwed. Like I said earlier, the GND can't be longer than 3 feet.

Next, the RCAs. These go from the back of your head unit (labeled RCA pre-outs) to your amp. Make sure you get your left and right matched correctly! These are pretty straightforward. If theres power going to the amp and theres no sound, you probably got the RCA's mixed up. If you don't know which ones are the RCA pre-outs, they're labeled in the owners manual of your head unit. They're also labeled on the wire but the writing is nearly microscopic.

Finally, connect the speaker wires up to the amp. If you're running components, then the wires that go to the amp are the outputs on the crossover. Make sure you get your (+/-) right!

If you're installing a 5-channel amp and you're running a sub, then you need to run an extra set of RCA cables from the subwoofer out in the back of your head unit (its generally brown) into the back of your amp. With most head units you're going to need a Y-connector since (at least my friends head unit) only came with one subwoofer out. The left and right are irrelevant with a Y-connector. Run the wire from the sub to the back of the amp. Make sure you're subwoofer wire is sufficient to supply power. An 18 gauge wire is not going to power a 1000W sub.

After all is said and done enjoy! I encourage you to make your setup look as low-profile as possible. The less thieves get to look at the better!

Hope this helps...Merry Christmas!

hatcher4niner

dang, sorry mindbomber aka all seeing eye.


Im using a 4 channel amp. my battery/firewall/grommet is on the passenger side. So im going to try to take all that apart thanks asianboy.

Like Zeferint said, "......the positive terminal of your battery. Make sure the side of the wire that has the fuse goes near the battery. "

I dont get how a wire can have a fuse on the side of it, like if the negative side has a fuse or something. Did you mean the amp will have a fuse and the wire out should go to battery?

Yeah, Im pretty slow.

hatcher4niner

hope you all arent awake right now and had a good Christmas

asianboy781

as u can see i have amp wires in the middle
i used to have 4 channel amp under passenger seat
then i ran wires from that side to driver then to the back
to power the sub
my + wire wasnt big cuz i was only running 400 watts sub
so yeah thats how i ran my wires
take out the seats its mad easy
17 mm socket wrench and phillip head screw driver
then u have plenty of space to run ur imagination

hatcher4niner

ok, i might have questions on how to hookup to the stereo. taking out the seats should be helpful.

to be clear the amp needs power and needs to be hooked up to stereo?

or do the speakers just need power because the subs are wired to rear speakers.


pretty sure rca applies there. idk i could wait a couple hours and find out when ii see the wiring kit.


peace everyone have a good one

asianboy781

first of all giving info on ur head unit would be helpful so we can look it up and think of the best way to help u wire it.

ok so u get one power from the battery to the amp, and 1 rem wire that should be from ur stereo it should listed as remote or amp also if one of those option is not available u can use the power antenna wire from the stereo.


when doing 5 channel make sure ur stereo have 5 channel out put 4 channel main speakers and 1 channel sub and some high end stereo have up to 6 channel. all of it is just rca out put from stereo to sub
and if u dont have 5 channel out put stereo u can use the reg speaker wire and run it to the high input of the amp
and most amp have comes with an adapter so u can hook up high input
and ur sub again if it has its own out put then it be nice but if not use the rear outs from the stereo to the amp

hatcher4niner

sorry again.


its a Crunch powerone 1000 watts. I intend to use as stereo, Its a 2 channel

by the power input theirs ground, rem, +12v [pwr], then two fuses, then two sets of speaker inputs, says bridged underneath.

other side two L & R jacks, Line out & Line input, +-gnd-+ HI INPUT (for adaptor plug included with amp has white green black brwn grey cables.

the kit's rca cables look thin, like maybe 8 gauge, supposed to be 4g. the GND and power cable is thinner than a pencil, but should be adequate, no?

hatcher4niner

so in that picture you uploaded, when thats all apart is that were you get access to the rca? For my system i just need those rca inputs, power and ground.

asianboy781

i would just upgrade the ground cable.
if ur head unit has rca out then u can use the rca out to the low input
run bridge only if u have single sub with high power but 2 sub without bridge is good enough, our honda have small battery and adding high power sub is just gonna work the alternator harder

Zeferint

iTrader: (2)

On the 4 gauge wire there should be a fuse on one end of the wire. Basically think of the amp as a second battery. Instead of your speakers being powered by your head unit, they go to the amp (head units actually have "built-in" amps, but only give a max of about 50W RMS). The amp is then powered by the battery.

asianboy781

the fuse should be there for the amp on the battery.
50 watts rms is pretty weak from a radio
hence when they say 50 watts max that means 50 watts devided by 4 so u get 12.5 watts going to per speaker.
yes the amp is powered by the battery but feeding audio single off ur head unit
running external amp is good cuz ur head unit doesnt burn up during max load

hatcher4niner

it does come with this giant fuse thing, looks like i can secure a wire on both ends of it. What wire do i use for it? where does that go?

going to get 4g ground tmrw.

hatcher4niner

my owners manual doesnt say the location of rca or anything relative to the wiring

hatcher4niner

can someone tell me thte loc. of the rca's on 97 civic dx? im bout to rip it apart and do it myself even though its whippin snow outside

Zeferint

iTrader: (2)

on the stock radio? do you still have stock speakers too..? if its not in the owners manual its labeled on the wiring harness...but you really should have an aftermarket radio, otherwise your amp is not going to perform at it's potential. to be perfectly honest, im not even sure if installing an amp in a stock radio is possible..

hatcher4niner

still have the stock HU

if its not possible this little project just bumped up 200 F*n dollars. worth it i guess, and replacing it isnt hard.

got stock front door speakers, the rear speakers are into two subs.

hatcher4niner

i still want to know about rca inputs, but do you know if a 50x4 stereo is good enough? seems like thats all i can find, 52w being the highest.


i really just want to keep the stock HU, i just want some soft thumps no jackhammer bulllll for my ears.

Zeferint

iTrader: (2)

Whoa. Hang on, I'm really confused. Your powering two stock speakers with an amp, with a stock HU, and you have two speakers wired into subs?

If all you want is decent sound, sell the amp, get an aftermarket HU, buy a pair of nice 6 1/2'' speakers, some 6x9's in the rear and call it a day. Otherwise you're looking at spending almost ~1200$. As for the location of the RCA's, on a stock HU there are none. There are no pre-outs for amps or subs on a stock HU because, well, its stock. You just have four sets of speaker wire for the factory speakers, a wire for the antenna, ground and a few other oddities. None of which are for an amplifier or a sub. How are you even powering your subs?

hatcher4niner

the wire that connects to the rear speakers are going to the subs. the HU is powering the subs, barely. get it?

i dont have to spend 1200, just a new stereo and kit so i can plug in my amps rca's.


i had this sub enclosure for a while so i figured getting amp wouold be a good idea, obviously i need an aftermarket stereo.

hatcher4niner

i got a speaker wire adapter instead of cutting the pos and neg wires for the rear speakers. thats how the subs are hooked.


i really didnt want to spend more on a stereo, and i could just return the amp+kit, take out the subs and buy new rear speakers.

do you think theyd provide anything comparable to even a small sub system, i really dont want boomy, just tight precise kick for various music types.


sorry for the headache im a complete freaking newb to all things
i just wanted to have those hooked up

hatcher4niner

i looked reall quick at sonicelectronic. most of the 6x9 speakers they have are high wattage.

i feel like an *** for wasting yall's time, do you think its worth returning that amp and just getting new rear speaks?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

lol, got confused reading all this.. Maybe because I just skimmed it trying to figure out what's going on..

Can you make a list of all the components you have, preferably with applicable RMS wattage ratings?

Zeferint

iTrader: (2)

I didn't say you needed to spend $1200.

Heres what you should do...buy an aftermarket head unit, buy a pair of 6x9's for the rear and 6 1/2'''s for the front... Rip out the wiring currently in your rear speakers. Keep the amp. Wire your 6x9's and 6 1/2's directly to the amp. If you don't want a really boomy sub, the one I am selling on my parts for sale thread is perfect for that, since I don't like shattering my windows, either. Also wire the sub to the amp (assuming the amp is 5 channel).

There, now you have a really nice sound system for under 400$.

TiggerDX

iTrader: (1)

This is not an accurate statement, you should ground your amp to the battery to correctly do it, but it is not necessary.


Since your amp is only 2 channel your risk damage to it if you try to run it as 3 channel (although I have done it)

With a stock headunit and that amp, you will need to wire up the speaker leads from the rear speaker connectors to the amp (assuming it is located in the rear) Depending on what you want to power with it, you would disconnect the front speaker wires from the head unit and connect a set of wires from the amp speaker outputs to the speakers. Or you would bridge the amp and connect to the sub.

You really are better off getting a new headunit. You can find decent ones for under $100 that will power your speakers and let the sub run the amp.

It you really want to keep the headunit, get a good set of front speakers with a sensitivity level of at least 93. I think Infinity even makes a set that's 3 ohm designed to be used with a stock headunit. Then hook the amp to the sub.

As for the RCAs being thin, it's not an issue. They carry signal, not power so are fine. You will run the power wire from the positive battery connection with the fuse you have being placed within 1 foot of the battery. (Cut a 1 foot piece of the power cable off, run the rest to the amp. Hook the wire from the amp to the fuse. Connect the 1 foot piece to the other side of the fuse. When finished hooking up everything else, then connect the other end of the 1 foot piece to the positive battery connection)
If you are keeping the stock headunit, you will need to connect the remote connection of the amp to a switched connection. (You can use the fuse for the radio)
Ground the amp and hook it to the subs.

Zeferint

iTrader: (2)

Be more specific...? Look at any wiring kit on the market. The ground for the amp is always exactly 3 feet, never more. If it's any longer it won't be able to properly protect the amp from a short.

TiggerDX

iTrader: (1)

I would really love to know how a 3 foot piece of 4 gauge wire is going to protect my amp from a short. What is the fuse rating of a ground wire????? 500?? 600amps maybe?

In this case it is called resistance on the ground return. Electricity is an algebra equation, what you do to one side you must do to the other. It is not about the size of the metal used in the chassis of the vehicle, it still must be connected to the ground of the battery. It is about the resistance through the chassis, it's crappy weld joints, glued together unibody panels, tack welded seatbelt bolts (and similar) that all add up to a high ground return resistance.

The proper way to ground a system is to ensure that the ground return resistance is as low as possible, best to be below 1/2 ohm. If the return cannot be made to co-operate by means of threats, thrown tools or all adequate and proper grounding procedures (known as the BIG 3), then it is best to run the ground direct to the battery.