Wow, I had almost an entire write up, and I hit the back button on my mouse!!! That button is going to make me kill myself some day!!! Ah well I'll start again.
I took off a few day this week to get some work done on the CarPC (and to just not be at work). I got a lot done but not as much as I had wanted to. I had some things come up that needed my attention. I also had a few complication arise that required 6 or 7 trips to Pep Boys, 3 or 4 to Radio Shack, 3 trips to a local installation shop, and two to Lowe's and at least two to Microcenter. And on top of that the weather did not want to cooperate.
Just so you can follow along, I used these two guides today:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2672579
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=967146
[
edit: found a better guide since writing this up:
http://diy.oempl.us/article_info.php...id=15b07ca6273]
I started off removing the battery and battery box to find a place to run the 4 awg power line into the cabin. There was supposed to be something that looked like udders or nipples to run the wires through. I never saw anything that looked like that. What I did find was the plug where the clutch would be if I had a standard transmission. Pops right out and is big enough for 4 or 5 0awg wires! I poked a hole with a knife into the soft rubber plug just big enough to work in the wire (to avoid as much water as possible) and voila, I'm IN! I then added a 4 awg maxi fuse in-line fuse holder; the source of two of the trips to Pep Boys, three trips to a local audio install place one trip to Lowe's to try and fix it when I broke it, and $20.00 extra dollars to buy a second fuse holder when I gave up on that idea...I'm not even going to go into that story. (sorry, no pics for this. It was raining a bit during this process and I didn't want to get the camera wet)
Once I was in I ran the big power wire [red] down the car under the door sill trim. The stuff just pops up. The guide mentions having extra clips, but all of mine were intact and unbroken. Some were still stuck in the door sill, but careful work with plyers got them out in pretty good shape. I also ran the monitor power wire [black/red] as well as the ignition wire [blue] from the trunk to the front of the car. The trim just pops back into place.
I now started on tearing out the dash. The guide that I was following must have been for an MKIV jetta instead of the MKV as there were some sneaky screws holding on the dash that were not listed in the guide. I'll include some of the pictures from the guide here: [
edit: now that I'm already done with this part I find a good guide =). Here it is:
http://diy.oempl.us/article_info.php...id=15b07ca6273]
In addition to the two screws here...
...there is one hiding right above the steering wheel to the left under the trim (the trim is just held on with clips, it pops right out)
and there is one behind the headlight switch. You have to kind of push in and turn (can't remember which way) and it will pop out (the nasty scratches on the switch are not from me removing it, it is the crappy paint that VW used to cover everything that just peels right off! It's about the only thing I hate about this car. It's part of the reason I am replacing the radio...it's covered in the same thing and looks like it has leprosy. See pictures lower down.)
same with the right side of the driver's side dash, there are a couple of hidden screws. I remember one was under the trim directly above the ash tray (again, the trim just pops out)
I then started on the center console. I can't provide a lot of helpful info here as the person who had the car before me tore into the console and broke several of the clips and never put back a lot of the screws. I believe it's pretty straight forward though.
I also took off the shifter cover (pops out) and the ashtray (two screws)
Once the path was clear, I ran the black/red monitor power wire and blue ignition wire through this spot here:
The monitor power went up to where the HU used to be
and the blue wire went down under the ashtray and looped through one of the unused stock button spots where I will install a switch. I then ran it back out to the fuse panel where I was going to tap a fuse. However, I think I'm going to route it up to where the head unit was instead and tap the stock harness for switched 12V. I wrapped it around the gear shifter to keep it from falling back through the hole till I got around to installing the switch.
With these wires tucked away where they belonged, I put the ashtray, shifter cover, and dash back together. I left the center console apart as there are more wires headed for this area.
The passenger side dash came apart much easier. I think I was just more confident and knew better what to look for. There are three screws under the glove box and three more inside the box. Again, I had to take out the trim above the ashtray to get a sneaky screw. I had to give it a good tug, but the glove box and dash came out. There are several wires and hoses that have to be disconnected from the glove box to remove it. Once out I ran 4 sets of 16 awg speaker wire to the center console via the passenger side door sill trim. I will be wiring these to the stock harness and use the stock wires that are already installed to go to the speakers. Then I ran the monitor extension the same way. Sorry, I was running out of steam at this point and didn't take any pictures, but it was the same process. Besides, any more pictures on this page and it will take half an hour to load.
Now, I have to leave everything as is until my two USB extensions get here in the mail. One for the touch screen and another will go to another one of the unused button locations for flash drives and what not. I will have to eventually run a third for the slot load dvd drive I will install some day.
And that brings us up to date. I also had to replace the negative battery terminal as the stupid bolt was striped (not by me). Then I had to do the same thing with the positive terminal for the same reason. The negative was a piece of cake...the positive was a pain! There is NO slack whatsoever in the positive wires and I felt like I was wrestling my car to get that one on. I'll have to work out some other option eventually, but it works for now.
Besides running the USB wires I still have to find some way to secure the amp and PC in the trunk so they are not rolling around, ground the ground wire (I'm thinking about the roof of the trunk...is that considered the chassis?), install the tuner and run the antenna to it...is that it? I'm sure I am forgetting something.
working on that...
Linear Mode
