93 Altima Firewall

[DJ Bran Boogy]

ok. i know many of u dont own 93 altimas but i need help 4 my first time 2 be right. does any1 know any existing holes on the drivers side of firewall. im gonna run a 12 gauge thru it 2 my amp. everything else is perfect so far. its just this 1 problem.

THANK YOU

[rjdmmfl1]

ok. i know many of u dont own 93 altimas but i need help 4 my first time 2 be right. does any1 know any existing holes on the drivers side of firewall. im gonna run a 12 gauge thru it 2 my amp. everything else is perfect so far. its just this 1 problem.

THANK YOU

Surely you are joking about running a 12 gauge wire to power an amp!

[DJ Bran Boogy]

NA MAN. Thats how the kit came. IS THAT WHAT I ASKED YOU?

[AppleBonker]

NA MAN. Thats how the kit came. IS THAT WHAT I ASKED YOU?

Whoa, chill dude. The only reason Doc said that is 12 gauge would be horribly small to power anything on, let alone an amp. What amp are you running? In any case, I would think that 8 gauge should be the minimum, and maybe even 4 gauge to be safe.

On to your question, unfortunately, I've only been in an Altima that old once. And it was about 10 years ago. I can't say for sure that there is a spot, but I would have to image some one has done it before. Pop the hood and look for rubber grommets through the firewall. See if there are any that you can reach from the engine bay, then check inside the car by the pedals to see where they enter the car. If you can reach one deep enough behind the engine, you should be able to get the wire inside the car. If not, check the passenger side as a last resort.

[rjdmmfl1]

NA MAN. Thats how the kit came. IS THAT WHAT I ASKED YOU?

no, that's not what you asked, but I can't advise some one on installs without pointing out the first huge problem I see. 12 gauge wire is good for about 200 watts of power, if you are powering anything over that, I would suggest going AT A MINIMUM to an 8 gauge kit, preferably a 4 gauge kit to be safe. Actually, I don't even know of any reputable companies that make a 12 gauge amp kit.

In any case, unfortunately, there aren't many 1 st Altima folks on here, but if you email REVEREND D, he may be able to help you with that, I think he has a bit more experience with earlier generation Altimas

[DJ Bran Boogy]

IIGHT thanx. its a scosche wiring kit. SAD STORY. i had a 95 altima(same body) n i got crashed. stupid insurance say they cant fix it cuz of airbags so its gone. that was my baby. i have the amp n stuff from that. but i bought a new kit cuz the power wire looked dusty. ill try 2 cut the ends and use it. btw im tryna use a Jensen 500watt amp. plz talk 2 rev 4 me cuz i dont no him. n im charging my ROTO MATIC just in case i have 2 drill.

[rjdmmfl1]

IIGHT thanx. its a scosche wiring kit. SAD STORY. i had a 95 altima(same body) n i got crashed. stupid insurance say they cant fix it cuz of airbags so its gone. that was my baby. i have the amp n stuff from that. but i bought a new kit cuz the power wire looked dusty. ill try 2 cut the ends and use it. btw im tryna use a Jensen 500watt amp. plz talk 2 rev 4 me cuz i dont no him. n im charging my ROTO MATIC just in case i have 2 drill.

he's one of the ADMINS, you should see a post from him somewhere, if not, go to search at the top, and put in reverenD

here's his email address

[email protected]

[DJ Bran Boogy]

Thanx 4 your concern but what can happen if i use a 12 gauge with a 500watt amp.

[rjdmmfl1]

Thanx 4 your concern but what can happen if i use a 12 gauge with a 500watt amp.

here's a good reference tool

http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp

Actually, I don't know anyone that has EVER used a 12 gauge cable to try and power an amp... it'd be a nice experiment, but for starters, I don't even think it would provide enough power to get any sound out of your subwoofer, if it did, the sub would continuously cut off...

Hmm, I would also think it could be a fire hazard as the amp tries to draw 500 watts of power through that small of a wire, it may get so hot that it melts, catches, fire, who knows... but absolutely nothing good would come from powering an amp with a 12 gauge wire!

[DJ Bran Boogy]

ok. ill use the old wire then. it is kinda thick compared to the 12 gauge. idk the exact size. n i am a starter. lol im 14 years old. DONT UNDER ESTIMATE ME THO.

[AppleBonker]

Hmm, I would also think it could be a fire hazard as the amp tries to draw 500 watts of power through that small of a wire, it may get so hot that it melts, catches, fire, who knows... but absolutely nothing good would come from powering an amp with a 12 gauge wire!

Well, this shouldn't happen because everyone SHOULD be fusing their wires. You should always fuse to the wire size (see here). That table seems to be a bit conservative. I generally would say for 4 gauge go 150 amp fuse, 100 (maybe 75 depending on what you're running) amp for 8 gauge. I've got 300 amp fuses on my 0/1 awg power cable.

Using that chart, I wouldn't recommend going higher than about a 50 amp fuse. If you run some physics on that (with battery voltage), it looks like you can peak at about 720 watts before running the risk of frying the wire. That would give you about 350 watts rms. What is the model on that Jensen amp? I'm going to guess it is only putting out 500 watts max, so you might be ok. In either case, be absolutely sure to fuse the wire. Otherwise it could short and light your car on fire (which is never a good thing). Hmm, probably should add this to the FAQ when I get a chance...

[AppleBonker]

ok. ill use the old wire then. it is kinda thick compared to the 12 gauge. idk the exact size. n i am a starter. lol im 14 years old. DONT UNDER ESTIMATE ME THO.

You said the wire was dusty. I'm assuming that's on the outside of the wire. Dust doesn't matter. If the wire is broken anywhere (especially the insulation around the cable), that will be a problem. Just make sure the wire is intact and you can still use it.

Bit off topic: If you're only 14, how did you have a previous car that got wrecked? Were you driving? Did I miss something?

[DJ Bran Boogy]

ITS a Jensen XA2150 and ye its a 500 watt. im usin this for help with the car. i dont acually own but its my step dad's. he crashed the 95. some1 cut him off while they were on cell phone and they had a hitch on their jeep so... ah damn. the old wires dont have the fuse thing. ill look 4 a 4 gauge with fuse holder. can u give ne links that that have the 4 gauge ALONE.

[AppleBonker]

ITS a Jensen XA2150 and ye its a 500 watt. im usin this for help with the car. i dont acually own but its my step dad's. he crashed the 95. some1 cut him off while they were on cell phone and they had a hitch on their jeep so... ah damn. the old wires dont have the fuse thing. ill look 4 a 4 gauge with fuse holder. can u give ne links that that have the 4 gauge ALONE.

You can find power wire kits with power/ground/fuse just about anywhere (from best buy/circuit city to online at crutchfield). You can also check out partsexpress.com and buy a fuse and a fuse holder for an existing cable (although they probably only have fuse holders for 8 awg and larger cables). Plenty of options here.

[DJ Bran Boogy]

ye but im 14. i dont have a job. im tryna find it cheap. im tryna suprise my step dad again. i already put in jvc n two oem speakers

[DJ Bran Boogy]

would 5 gauge b safe?

[DJ Bran Boogy]

ok i think im just about ready 2 give up.

[AppleBonker]

ok i think im just about ready 2 give up.

Hang in there. No point in giving up now. Find that old power cable that was in the last car. You should be able to get a measure on it. If it is larger than the 12 gauge you have, you should probably be safe finding an 8 gauge fuse holder and 100 amp fuse. I can't imagine this would cost more than $20 online shipped. They should also sell those at best buy/circuit city. It looks like RadioShack might even have one. You could go there and ask what size cable that accepts (maybe even bring yours in and check) and get a fuse as well.

[DJ Bran Boogy]

UM YE I NO IM KINDA LATE ON DIS REPLY. i found the wire but it had no fuse or curcuit breaker... i put it in neways nd da sub is bumpin. thanx 4 da help newayz. every1 is impresed cuz im only 14 nd we spent NOOOOO MONEY 4 DIS. only old left overz. lol

[AppleBonker]

UM YE I NO IM KINDA LATE ON DIS REPLY. i found the wire but it had no fuse or curcuit breaker... i put it in neways nd da sub is bumpin. thanx 4 da help newayz. every1 is impresed cuz im only 14 nd we spent NOOOOO MONEY 4 DIS. only old left overz. lol

Glad to see you got it working. However, you REALLY need to add a fuse to that power line. If that shorts out, you're risking a nice fire in your car. Not a good risk when about $15 tops in parts can prevent it.