Hey Guys,
So I'm buying subs and an amp for my 1994 Volvo 850 Sedan. I just recieved the wiring kit today and put in the remote and RCA cables just fine. When it came to figuring out how I'm going to get the power cable from the battery in the engine compartment to the amp in the trunk, I came up clueless. I took off the underside cover of the driver's side and looked around and can't seem to find an opening to the compartment. Has any one had any success with running an amplifier power cable from the battery to the trunk? Any pictures or specific intructions/links would be greatly appreciated! I can't seem to figure this one out...


Thanks,
Jonathan

I wish i had something to help you with! im going to be installing subs (well a sub) and this info would be great. Curious, what subs/amp are you putting in? Im putting in a single rockford fosgate P3 and a pioneer amp (cant remember make or model).

there is usually a rubber grommet right down in the corners by the bulkhead where the wiring harness goes through in the engine bay...

this you should just be able to put a cross (x) cut in and push some cable through. it will come through the inside on the corresponding side, you might have to remove some trim.

from there it is easy to route it back, you may have to remove the back seats to properly feed it through tho.

neo ... nice choice on sub. not so good on amp (imho) not a fan of pioneer amps, much like sony headunits in my mind ... gonna get flamed for that

thanks jonofmac. I cant waittt to get this sub in. i went with the pioneer amp because i was running out of money (not very good planning). But i think that it will get the job done. Im also putting in a alpine cde-9881 which i loooovee.

i have a wagon but the frotn end is probably the same. i went the lazy way and wired it through a hole i found in the fender and then under the driver's door seal.

Read a nice post a few months back on I believe Volvospeed. The write up was on an 850 model for an amplifier installation. This included both photos and a detailed description. Thought I read a description only post perhaps in this 850 forum.

Ok, I actually went playing around and found the tube by accident. Then after that I found a nice little guide that explains it. Ok, so for people that have the same problem.


Under the steering wheel that big plastic thing on the bottom that has 3 screws holding it, you take that out with a T20 Screw driver and then you'll look for a black tube that will have a wire or a few going through it actually that has a rubber cap on it sort of. That's where I fed my 4 Gauge wire through (used some WD-40 to get it to go through it easier) then the same cap was in the engine compartment at the end, it wasn't too bad once I found it. This guide i found tells you the same, but has some pictures.


For those of you wondering, I have an Alpine CDA-9883 currently (i got rid of the stock unit, that thing was bad) and I absolutely love it with my iPod. I'm getting a 1200 Watt Crunch 2 channel Amp for my subs with 2 Kenwood 10's RMSing 350ish (I wanted 10's to get faster response since I listen to metal/rock with real fast double bass. It's not an extreme setup at all, but I wanted some more bass and the simple 130 Watt sub i had before was OK, but it when cranked it wasn't able to get be heard over the music. So this should fix that.


The link to the article is http://volvospeed.com/obd2/subinstall1.htm

I just completed a complete stereo system upgrade in my 1995 850 Turbo Wagon (havent done any pictures yet, but I can later if wanted).

In the upgrade I did install an Infinity Basslink, powered 10 subwoofer in the rear cargo area (which works wonderfully). During the install I pent awhile looking for the best way to run the power wire back to the subwoofer, and here is what I did.

In the engine compartment, remove the 4 torx screws that hold the cover on the fuse box (driver side by the window), then remove the cover. As you are looking at the fuse box (from the side of the car), the upper section is where all the wires are coming in and it has a fair amount of open space. to the right upper corner (with a flashlight on the driver floor board) you can see directly to the carpet inside. If you look closely on the upper edge of the fuse panel you can ee where the wires go down inside the dash. I was easily able to feed a 10 gauge wire down alogn with those wires, and come out inside the dash where you have some remaining relays above the brake pedal. From there it was an easy pull (wire never hung up or got tight on anything), and I feed it under the carpet along the left side of the car, under the back seats and into the cargo area below the cargo area floor panels to the left rear corner (behind the wheel well) where I placed the subwoofer, so that it doesnt interfere with cargo or use of the 3row flip up seats.

What remained was running the wire out of the fuse box to the battery.Again, facing the open fuse box from the side of the car, on the upper left corner is a large square rubber grommet that feeds the wire to your ABS module (actually your fise box is inside another box, so there are 2rubber part tho go through. I simply cut a V in the top of the first rubber part to feed the wire out of the fuse box, and then poked the wire through the second rubber plate (no cutting needed) and then fed the wire around the left strut, behind the air intake and to the battery (I added an inline fuse at the battery as well).

It was much simpler than I though and retained all the seals that was intended. Cutting the V shape in the first rubber part was necessary a not to put any extra strain on the wire when you put the fuse cover back on...otherwise you would end up pinching and crimping the wire when you put the cover back on.

In a wagon at least, finding a ground in a wagon is very simple. There are plenty of bolts under the rear cargo area panels to use for this.

For more detailed informtion on my system upgrade a well as what modifications were necesary and what size speakers will fit where, you can view my other post here at:
http://www.volvo-forums.com/t21128-stereo-...5-850-wagon.htm

hey yea i got a couple of jensen 10s in a band pass box powered by a bluapunkt amp goes nice an i just run my power cable the easy way along the throttle cable ove to a gromet bnext to where the cable goes is an sliced a hole in it an pushed it through no worries once i found that though but was looking like a mission till then lol