HOW-TO Question

[megzhill]

Hey guys,

Can someone lead me to a good How-To on hooking up my Clarion 2-4 channel apx 400.4 and two 400W clarion subs to my stock deck in my 2003 focus SE. I know nothing about car wiring, I've researched a lot but it would be nice to have a "manual" to follow.. Even a good wiring diagram would be good. I've got 8G wiring kit and inline converter, just need to plug it in, so to say.. haha

Thanks..

Megz

[alistair]

0) DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE FROM YOUR BATTERY BEFORE WORKING ON ANYTHING AND SECURE THE TERMINAL SO IT DOESN'T SLIP AND RECONNECT ITSELF
0a) DID YOU DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY?
1) Dry run 8 gauge wire from your battery to the trunk. Find a clear path for the cable, make sure nothing rubs against it, etc. I ran this on the drivers side of the vehicle to make life easy. 8 gauge wire will easily tuck under the floor trim pieces.
2) cut the wire and install in your inline fuse no more than 12" from the battery +12. I mounted my inline fuse holder on the drivers side wheel well and ran my +12 cable behind the battery. I also used a regular lug to bolt onto the existing battery post. I think the hole is 3/8th" You MUST install an inline fuse. If you don't and there is a short somewhere down the line, you run the risk of setting your entire vehicle on fire (wire will heat up and melt, battery explodes, etc.) I used zip ties on the wire in the engine bay to make sure it doesn't move around and made sure it was far away from heat sources.
2a) apply heat shrink tubing where possible. Electrical tape can have issues in winter which is why it's better to use heat shrink tubing.

3) Mount your sub box in the trunk, Make sure the box is secure and won't slide around on you. Be careful screwing into the frame, as the gas tank is underneath the trunk.

4) If you must, attach the amp to the sub box. Ideally the amp should be mounted remotely as the vibrations from the box can cause premature failure of the amp. Ideally you should have an amp rack and mount the amp there. For the longest time I used the plastic shelf on my zx5 to hold my amp.

5) This is the annoying part, you need to tap into your rear speaker channels for the line output converter to work. Your best bet is probably to tap in right at the deck, and run your RCA's from there. I ran my RCA's down the passenger side of the car to avoid any possible interference

5a) Does this Clarion amp support turning on based on a signal it receives over the RCA? If not, you will need to find a switched +12 to tap into and run that back to the amp. While you're installing your line output converters, you might just want to identify the switched +12v lead for the deck, and piggy back that. You'll want to use the small (usually blue) wire that came in your kit for this. You can run this wire along side your RCA's without worrying. This will be your REM wire (usually how it's labeled on the amp)

6) You should now have your fused +12V run to the trunk along with your RCA's and your remote wire. You now need to install a ground. Find a good, solid chunk of bare sheet metal, I used a spot along the drivers side rear seat. If you can find a spot where you can install a nut + bolt this is ideal, otherwise use a self tapping sheet metal screw probably. You will want to sand the paint off where you are installing your ground to ensure a proper connection. Put a lug on your ground wire, solder it, and install it with a washer or two onto the bare sheet metal. Ideally your ground should be under 12" from the amp.

7) terminate all the wires that require terminating in the trunk if required. Some amp's require you to use spade connectors or a connector of some sort for the +12 and ground, others allow you to just insert bare wire.

8) you'll most likely want to wire up your subs so they present a 2 Ohm load to your amp. This will give you more power. Depending on if you have Single voice coil subs, or dual voice coil subs, and how they are wired up in the box, will determine how you connect them. If they are already presenting a 2 Ohm load, just connect one sub to each channel. You may have to bridge 2 of the four channels. I can't find the install spec's on your amp, clarion only says they make a APX 400.2M amp, not an 400.4.
http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/wo...igurations.asp can help you wire up your subs properly.
If you have a multimeter use it to determine that you're pulling 2Ohms per channel. If you don't have a multimeter go buy one. They are cheap and a life saver.

9) Double check all your wiring, make sure nothing is exposed, nothings going to rub, nothings going to slide around and your +12 wire isn't going to contact anything in a worst case scenario. Apply more electrical tape where needed.

10) reconnect your negative terminal on the battery, it might spark just a little bit. Once it's reconnected make sure your +12V line you're running to the back isn't getting hot and that none of your fuses you just installed popped.

11) Assuming everything is ok, turn down the gain on your amp to 0. Turn your car on (actually start it) and make sure your amp turns on. If not, double check the settings on the amp, and make sure your remote wire has current. If not you tapped into the wrong wire from the deck

11a) make sure you have the LPF (low pass filter) on your amp turned on and set to 50 or 63hz. I have my subs deal with everything @ and below 50hz. You do not want your subs trying to play anything above 120Hz. You may want to adjust this cut off and see what sounds best to you.
12) Turn your radio up to 75% and if possible, put on a track with some beat to it. Use a CD if possible as this will ensure you've got a nice clean signal to work with. Turn the gain up on your amp until your subs start to distort/bottom out then back it off a little bit. Set your bass boost to where you want it on the amp, again making sure it doesn't distort/bottom out with your deck at 75%. Listen to a variety of tracks always making sure your subs don't bottom out. If you find you are constantly having to turn the bass boost down, then set it to something conservative (+3dB or so) or turn it off entirely. I have 0 bass boost set on my amp, and use my deck to deliver more bass when I want it. If you find the bass is overpowering the music, turn down the gain. do NOT turn your gain past 75% or you will run into issues w/ clipping which will destroy your subs. I usually leave about 10% headroom or more, so that when I want it to be stupidly loud, I can do it without worrying about damaging stuff. Also if your amp came with a remote bass knob, you can always use that to adjust stuff from the drivers seat while on the go.

13) Triple check your wiring, clean everything up, replace any trim panels and you're done.

I am not responsible for any damage caused by doing this. I am not a certified technician by any standard. The above information may be grossly incorrect, incomplete and inaccurate and by following it your are doing so at your own risk. Myself and anyone else can not be held responsible in any way, shape, or form from any damages, losses or injuries incurred by following the above text.

Gotta love legal disclaimers ;)

[alistair]

Oh, and for determining your fuse size for the inline fuse, this should be the size of what your amp takes, +10% or the next size up, whichever is less.