[SVTGuy02]

So as part of my installation of my DVD deck I looked at what I was dealing with. This was my first car where I started wiring s*** in myself and over the months and as the projects went on, I started employing better methods of doing things.

I looked at the wiring I had CURRENTLY in the car and thought to myself "If I was some random guy, and saw this wiring I'd wonder WHO the f*** did it and slap him for it!"

It was disgusting... so messy, wires everywhere.... not tied down etc etc. IT all worked! but, not clean whatsoever.

I also noticed that under the carpets it was quite dirty, front passenger side was very moist (underneath the carpet) and on the Driver side it was very oily (from when my Master Cylinder was leaking brake fluid).

I decided to just remove all the side paneling, remove the seat belt bar things, and take out the carpet. I'm now scrubbing the ENTIRE body, internally, with soapy water cleaning up the dirt and oily mess that was there. Over time, it gets dirty, and with water creates 'green stuff'.... yea, probably small mold colonies forming. Nothing severe but I could tell with another couple years it would've sprouted to something nasty and gotten "old car smell." Clean that up, and everything around it!

While the carpet is out I plan on wiring everything up cleanly, taping it down, tieing it together etc so that its not everywhere. Wires ran properly and cleanly will last alot longer than some makeshift job.

Here are the before and after pics:








Prep for taking out the carpets....



Carpets removed!




DRIVER SIDE FRONT:
(completely covered in brake fluid)


PASSENGER SIDE FRONT:
(whole area is damp)


DRIVER SIDE REAR:

[OAC_Sparky]

Unless you need to insulate a connection, avoid using electrical tape to bundle your wires; after a while with summer heat (or inside your dash) it loosens and gets gummy.

Black cloth hockey tape works better, or tyraps. It's close to the cloth tape electricians use over top of insulating tape.

[NefCanuck]

Props to you for going the extra mile (or kilometre in this case ;))

Aside from cleaning up the wiring and drying out the car underneath the carpets are you planning on tackling anything else while the car is stripped bare in there? (I'm thinking maybe new replacement carpet or the like)

Geez as far as I'm willing (or able) to go interior wise is letting the local Fine Details franchise have a go at cleaning up the car once the weather gets better (Not overly impressed with my Ford dealers work last spring and considering that I paid them $140 + taxes <_<)

NefCanuck

[Focus man. Focus.]

Using the same colour wire for everything makes baby Jesus cry. :blink:

[NefCanuck]

Focus man, Focus.,Mar 12 2008, 10:43 AM Wrote:Using the same colour wire for everything makes baby Jesus cry. :blink:
[right][snapback]259837[/snapback][/right]

No, it makes the owner cry after they fry everything forgetting which wire goes where ;) (Or giving themselves an afro frying themselves :lol:)

NefCanuck

[ANTHONYD]

Got to this site EDEAD and buy some deadning material for the floors. It will cut down on road noise and help the audio sound cleaner. (this stuff is cheap too!)

You may as well do it while you have the car torn apart!

[ZX3_2NV]

/\ Good suggestion

[SVTGuy02]

Focus man, Focus.,Mar 12 2008, 08:43 AM Wrote:Using the same colour wire for everything makes baby Jesus cry. :blink:
[right][snapback]259837[/snapback][/right]

No no.... theyre all labelled with coloured tape
You probably noticed the 2 red wires running to the back? Those are the wires for my euro tails bLue and gReen tape is attached to them
bLue has an L in it.... so thats the Left tail light
gReen has an R in it.... so thats the Right tail light

Kinda nifty colour scheming eh!? LOL I honestly laughed when I thought of that, but it made sense..... so I did it and it works!!

ANTHONYD,Mar 12 2008, 09:02 AM Wrote:Got to this site EDEAD and buy some deadning material for the floors. It will cut down on road noise and help the audio sound cleaner. (this stuff is cheap too!)

You may as well do it while you have the car torn apart!
[right][snapback]259839[/snapback][/right]

So I just ordered 40' of the eDead v1SE² stuff..... its DAM cheap! Just got the 40' for $88 shipped.
Dynamat would be WAY more expensive and this stuff is made of the same compound! thanks for that link.

[ANTHONYD]

I told you!

They're sound proofing stuff is way cheaper than dynamat and it does just as good a job!

The stuff ships quick too. I wouldn't be surprised if you have it by the end of the week.

I've coated my car in the stuff. Makes the doors nice and heavy too.
It just makes the car sound more solid.
I can't rally hear road noise anymore :P

[SVTGuy02]

ANTHONYD,Mar 12 2008, 11:49 AM Wrote:I've coated my car in the stuff. Makes the doors nice and heavy too.
It just makes the car sound more solid.
I can't rally hear road noise anymore :P
[right][snapback]259867[/snapback][/right]

That being said.... I've noticed that the SVT doors sound ALOT more solid than the NON-SVT Doors.

I've also noticed that the SVT comes with more sound dampening than the non svt does, which is probably part of the reason for the more 'solid' sound.

I wonder how the car is going to react with more of this dampening stuff everywhere, and solid motor mounts vibrating the shat out of the car :lol:

[konafocuswrc]

omg, why is the aftermarket harness is connected to factory harness but not protected??
espeically the yellow wire, that is 12v battery constant wire, if it touches metal chasis, you will short out something and worst case, catch on fire..

and looks like 2 power wires are running driver side and center..
what is the purpose of running 2 wires??
i hope you pulled out fuse from power wires before doing those wiring..

i m not trying picking on you..but safety is first..

[OAC_Sparky]

konafocuswrc,Mar 12 2008, 06:18 PM Wrote:omg, why is the aftermarket harness is connected to factory harness but not protected??
espeically the yellow wire, that is 12v battery constant wire, if it touches metal chasis, you will short out something and worst case, catch on fire..
[right][snapback]259893[/snapback][/right]

All wires including the factory harness are protected at the fuse box. Unless you run wire directly from the battery, it's protected.

[focusracer]

His is run straight from the battery, he has to remove the faceplate to turn off his stereo. I've questioned Jon on this before...

[konafocuswrc]

OAC_Sparky,Mar 12 2008, 04:28 PM Wrote:

konafocuswrc,Mar 12 2008, 06:18 PM Wrote:omg, why is the aftermarket harness is connected to factory harness but not protected??
espeically the yellow wire, that is 12v battery constant wire, if it touches metal chasis, you will short out something and worst case, catch on fire..
[right][snapback]259893[/snapback][/right]

All wires including the factory harness are protected at the fuse box. Unless you run wire directly from the battery, it's protected.
[right][snapback]259895[/snapback][/right]

look at the first picture and don't tell me you don't see bare strands..

and try this..

hold yellow wire, and touch the chassis..what do you get??answer is spark..of course fuse will blow first..but what i said was "in worst case", those spark can fire up something behind there..

[OAC_Sparky]

konafocuswrc,Mar 12 2008, 10:56 PM Wrote:hold yellow wire, and touch the chassis..what do you get??answer is spark..of course fuse will blow first..but what i said was "in worst case", those spark can fire up something behind there..
[right][snapback]259905[/snapback][/right]

Thanks for the remedial electrical lesson.

Try this:

OAC_Sparky.

OAC as in Oakville Assembly Complex (Plant).

Sparky as in "a common term referring to an electrician".

Put those together, I'm a licensed electrician (and a machinist), certificates in robotics and PLC and motor control, on top of having worked assembling Ford vehicles and/or installing and repairing the equipment that builds them for 19 and 1/2 years. Meaning I have been building cars for Ford since you were seven, and working on my own cars since before you were born.

And I have the schematics to the Focus.

So forgive me if I sound like a dick, but I know what I'm talking about.

The first thing that the main wires from the battery go to is a fuse, and then to the central fuse panel that protects everything in the cabin. So unless (a ) the person has bypassed all of this by running direct to the battery or (b ) replaced the fuse with one way oversize or a wire jumper or (c ) doused the interior with gasoline, the chances of a short to ground starting a fire in the passenger cabin is very, very small. That's what the fuses are there for.

Your own quote:

Quote:omg, why is the aftermarket harness is connected to factory harness but not protected??

...if it indeed the factory harness, it IS protected.

However, if focusracer actually has first-hand knowledge with the OP's car,

Quote:His is run straight from the battery, he has to remove the faceplate to turn off his stereo. I've questioned Jon on this before...

then he isn't using the factory harness, right? That, then is an issue.

Just thought I'd clarify things. No offense.

[konafocuswrc]

i am also CERTIFIED(if this really matters) mobile installer..it got nothing to do with eletrician experience..

i know what is going on with what happens to the car who bring their cars in like that..
fuse is protecting it so what..
fuse sometimes not blow perfectly..same goes to circuit breaker..which means. when it tries to blow itself, inside might got welded together or something and cause wire to be melted..


there is fuse, so there is voltage to it, why would you leave bare wire strands exposed to danger??
yellow wire is 12v constant wire, without keys in ignition, there is same 12volts going through yellow wire.


and what is hard to understand the word "WORST CASE SCENARIO"??
is that word hard to understand??

even bit of "dust" can catch on fire..


let me tell you about CAPACITOR that lots of audio guys trying to put it on and blow it like a bomb..

of course the power wire got fuse in-line to cap's + side using ring terminal, they forgot to tighten it all down and all in sudden ring terminal touches - side, then it burst.
i heard harley davidson guy accidently put his finger with ring caught in btw +,- terminal and blew his finger off..
isn't it scary?no?

SO ALL I M SAYING IS, WRAP THAT BARE WIRE BEFORE SOMETHING HAPPENS!! SHORTING OUT OR WHATEVER THAT IS..
HE GOT THE TAPE THERE, SO WHY BLOW FUSES AND SPEND $$$ ON NEW FUSES WHEN HE COULD PROTECT IT BEFORE HAND??

i m not gonna say anymore about "certifed" or "licensed"..

i am not here to make an enemy..

i was just sharing my experience that i saw from customers' cars..

[OAC_Sparky]

konafocuswrc,Mar 13 2008, 01:18 AM Wrote:i am not here to make an enemy..[right][snapback]259910[/snapback][/right]

Not at all, neither am I. (I will admit to being a little annoyed when I wrote my last post, but that in the big picture that doesn't mean squat).

And I agree it should be all taped up as well. I 100% agree there.

Where we diverge in belief is the "safety issue". I could give you a box of fuses and you could short a fuse-protected line until the second coming and you have little concern from a safety standpoint. Fuses. Not breakers. Yes breakers can fail, but I have yet to see in my years of experience a fuse "blow improperly". WHich is why fuses are still in use even in high-end cars.

Now from a diagnostic standpoint and just good wiring practice, I see a number of problems. Unless it's a short run, (like <2') I abhor using all the same coloured wire. Coloured tape that means only something to you doesn't help the person coming after you trying to figure out your spaghetti (that's the industrial electrician in me). Personally, I'll use wire markers (labels). I prefer solder joints and shrink tubing over butt connectors. As I mentioned before, I avoid electrical tape especially in the dash, because is gets hot and the tape gets gummy and falls off.

And just to let you know where I'm coming from about the fusing issue. Sometimes, "overfusing" (if that's an actual word) presents a whole new set of issues. You should only put another fuse on a line with another fuse if (a ) the ampacity of the branch circuit is less than the feeder (ie you splice a 22 guage wire onto a 14 guage wire that's protected with a 15A fuse) or (b ) to help protect a device that has a lower rating internally (ie a sat radio that needs a 5A protection and putting a 15A on it could cause a fire). Putting a 15A fuse (at the fuesbox) in line with a 15A inline fuse (in the dash) only creates headaches because a short can cause either or both fuses to blow. It just makes things harder -- finding the fault and finding the fuses.

A perfect example is my buddy's truck cap. Someone figured it was a great idea to put a 15A inline fuse between the splice at the tail brake light and the connection to the third brake light on the cap. So when the line between the tail and the cap shorted, it blew both fuses (panel and inline). Since my buddy didn't install the cap, he had no way of knowing that there was an inline, it was taped up and tucked up deep inside the rear fender behind the taillight. Now if the installer had followed better method (the cap light only needs a 10A fuse), my buddy wouldn't have been driving around without brake lights for a week and it wouldn't have taken an hour to find the short and the fuses.

Anyways, I've whored on this thread enough. No hard feelings.

[SVTGuy02]

konafocuswrc,Mar 12 2008, 04:18 PM Wrote:omg, why is the aftermarket harness is connected to factory harness but not protected??
espeically the yellow wire, that is 12v battery constant wire, if it touches metal chasis, you will short out something and worst case, catch on fire..

and looks like 2 power wires are running driver side and center..
what is the purpose of running 2 wires??
i hope you pulled out fuse from power wires before doing those wiring..
[right][snapback]259893[/snapback][/right]

Leo..... the 12V yellow wire is protected at the "radio fuse" or wutever its called

The 2 power wires running driver side and center..... well.... thats PART of the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing. I looked at the wiring and saw ALOT of redundant wiring! I actually had THREE power wires coming in. becuase I installed 3 different things at different times. If you ask me... its RIDICULOUS to run 3 power wires. I'm going to completely clean it up. Run ONE power wire, then splice off that to the 3 things.

And don't worry.... I'm doing ALL this with the battery unplugged. Both + and - are unplugged from the battery so I can do whatever the hell I want without worrying about a fire or sparks etc...

Also..... the yellow wire on the Head unit side has an inline fuse on the wire right at the connection point

And as focusracer said.... yea, my old DEH-7600MP MP3/CD player was wired up so that the only way to turn off the deck was taking out the faceplate, that way I never forget my faceplate (becuase I can't leave the car with music playing)

Leo, is there a way to SECURE the DVD Head Unit to the dash? I installed a cd player in my 2005 Focus and that one has the braket that attaches to the dash with screws. Totally securely attaches the HU to the car. In my car theres nowhere to attach the HU so technically someone could just smash the window and pull it out hard enough. :(

Any ideas? I see nothing to attach it to
-------------
UPDATE:
I've finally finished cleaning the interior.... all the dirt and s*** from the corners and just the body itself. The driver side rubber mat thing under the carpet WAS soaked in brake fluid (from leaky master cylinder). That was a bitch to get all the oil out, but now its foamier and not seaped in oil. The car was pretty dry last night when I left it but today it should be completely dry.

The spare tire well has some rust here n there which is annoying. I'm going to look into fixing that, but thats an easy one, don't have to remove a huge carpet to get to it.

Today, I start on running wiring and attaching it properly. I'll probably pickup some hockey tape or somethin to the sort to tape the wires up. That means the fun stuff! Wiring in the DVD deck! Re-running the speaker wires so they're taped up, hiding the monster 0-gauge wire on driver side. I'll grab a pic after the wiring is all cleaned up :D

[SVTGuy02]

focusracer,Mar 12 2008, 04:32 PM Wrote:His is run straight from the battery, he has to remove the faceplate to turn off his stereo. I've questioned Jon on this before...
[right][snapback]259896[/snapback][/right]

after wiring up last night I remember why I did this.

I bought an aftermarket harness that plugs into the stock harness. The one that has (+) (-) and the yellow battery wire.

I used my circuit tester to test the (+) wire on the harness and there was no power to it! The only way that I was able to get power to the deck was through the Yellow wire so I just tied them together and hooked it up like that!

Anyways..... I've got majority of my wires ran.... I want to tape em down to the body to make it super clean. What kind of tape would you guys recommend? Hockey Tape?
I don't want to use Electrical tape (as was stated above) becuase it gets gummy in the summer.

[ANTHONYD]

Coloured zip-ties.

Hockey tape goes gummy too. However, remember, chances are you'll NEVER go back under there for anything.

Also, I would have waited until summer to do this project. With the mild temps during the day and cold temps at night currently, you're taking a chance on having condensation on the floor when buttoning this little project up.

It might not hurt to grab a can of undercoating and give the whole floor a thin coat to prevent future rust before putting all the carpet back down. I dunno, just a suggestion.