Fiesta ST subwoofer wiring project

[LilPartyBox]

check your levels/gain on the amp. you might be clipping. I've seen some amps very sensitive to clipping and shut off the output channel. does it still happen with the volume at the head unit at 0?

also check ur ground if you used a bolt from the body and not the negative terminal. body grounds should be free of absolutely all paint.

And finally, your speaker wire to the sub should be no thinner than 8 guage. anything thinner and ur pushing it, imho.

 

[Based]

What do I do about the ground and 12v for the LOC?

 

[MKVIIST]

What do I do about the ground and 12v for the LOC?

Which one do you have? Mine didn't require either.

 

[Based]

Which one do you have? Mine didn't require either.

It's a scosche something. I got it from Walmart.

 

[Based]

Maybe it's because mine has a bass remote and needs power.

 

[letitreign]

Great thread, very helpful. Question for ya, the LOC taps into the speaker signal but my understanding was that you want to tap into both the L and R side for stereo bass. I see you used the signal from the passenger side B pillar, did you just put both the signals to the R side speaker?

 

[PearlGreenNMean]

Took a look at where you drilled around the clutch for the power line... Yeah no. Going to have my buddy do that. Looks way too busy for me to be piercing a brand new car lol. Plan on having a Rockford p3 12" on 1600w inside a 2.15 cu.ft. 3" ported box. I dropped that pull out black shelf below the part it sits on so I have more room. That box is a monster.

 

[chicagoslick]

No need to drill. Take the battery out of the car and you will see a big grommet on the rear firewall. Just cut a small hole in it and use a fish tape or metal hanger to pull your power lead. Get rid of the spare tire and you will have plenty of room for that speaker. Best of luck...

 

[MKVIIST]

Great thread, very helpful. Question for ya, the LOC taps into the speaker signal but my understanding was that you want to tap into both the L and R side for stereo bass. I see you used the signal from the passenger side B pillar, did you just put both the signals to the R side speaker?

I only did it for one side since I was using it for subs.

 

[Stormy]

Bass is typically not mixed in stereo unless you're talking about 9.2 cinema surround. 99.99% of the time a mono signal from either left or right is all you need.

 

[PearlGreenNMean]

Fwiw to those who read this... Tap into either L or R, but use the rears. The fronts are connected to sync and bluetooth calling. You won't notice bass fade from only being tapped from one side. I don't.

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[chogue]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I’m having issues with my subwoofer after following this install.
First issue: I tapped into the brown/yellow for the remote wire. This makes my amp only have power when parking or headlights are on. Not huge deal but just thought I would note this. If anyone knows of a better wire to tap into in that bundle please let me know. I haven’t been able to find a labeled diagram anywhere.
Second issue: My sub has a weird “rattle” sound to it, almost like as if you laid it on it’s back and had a screw sitting on top of the woofer. However, this issue is only persistent while the car is ON, when turning the car off and leaving the doors shut and the radio keeps playing, it sounds great. Turn the car back on, the weird vibration sound is back. So this odd rattle sound is only happening while the vehicle is fully on.

I have tried a ground loop isolator, and a different input source, and this still happens so I’m positive it’s not the speaker tap, I have also tried a brand new woofer and this still happens. This leads me to believe it is an issue with the amp/power related. I have no idea what to do next...any help would be greatly appreciated. I have read through this entire thread as well as multiple others and can’t find anything similar to my issue

 

[erdna14]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I’m having issues with my subwoofer after following this install.
First issue: I tapped into the brown/yellow for the remote wire. This makes my amp only have power when parking or headlights are on. Not huge deal but just thought I would note this. If anyone knows of a better wire to tap into in that bundle please let me know. I haven’t been able to find a labeled diagram anywhere.
Second issue: My sub has a weird “rattle” sound to it, almost like as if you laid it on it’s back and had a screw sitting on top of the woofer. However, this issue is only persistent while the car is ON, when turning the car off and leaving the doors shut and the radio keeps playing, it sounds great. Turn the car back on, the weird vibration sound is back. So this odd rattle sound is only happening while the vehicle is fully on.

I have tried a ground loop isolator, and a different input source, and this still happens so I’m positive it’s not the speaker tap, I have also tried a brand new woofer and this still happens. This leads me to believe it is an issue with the amp/power related. I have no idea what to do next...any help would be greatly appreciated. I have read through this entire thread as well as multiple others and can’t find anything similar to my issue

Brown/yellow wire sounds like an illumination wire. I used an Add-a-fuse to the moonroof fuse location and it works perfectly. I would suggest trying that.

You may want to try a better ground (i.e. shave paint down to bare metal for any grounding point).


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[chogue]

Brown/yellow wire sounds like an illumination wire. I used an Add-a-fuse to the moonroof fuse location and it works perfectly. I would suggest trying that.

You may want to try a better ground (i.e. shave paint down to bare metal for any grounding point).


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I tried a different ground along with running a remote direct to 12v for testing and still no luck when car is on. When in accessory it’s fine, that’s what’s throwing me off. Sounds great as long as the engine isn’t on haha. I’m thinking faulty amp since I’ve troubleshooted everything else, but I still wouldn’t understand why it would sound fine without the engine running. Crank up the engine and it sounds like the most obnoxious rattle (like a screw or something sitting on top of the woofer)


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[erdna14]

I tried a different ground along with running a remote direct to 12v for testing and still no luck when car is on. When in accessory it’s fine, that’s what’s throwing me off. Sounds great as long as the engine isn’t on haha. I’m thinking faulty amp since I’ve troubleshooted everything else, but I still wouldn’t understand why it would sound fine without the engine running. Crank up the engine and it sounds like the most obnoxious rattle (like a screw or something sitting on top of the woofer)


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RCA and power cable ran on opposite sides of the car?


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[chogue]

RCA and power cable ran on opposite sides of the car?


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Yup, power and remote ran down driver side, RCAs are in the passenger B-Pillar.

So lost on why it sounds fine when car isn’t running but as soon as I crank up the rattle starts.


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[Carve]

I wired everything up for a 10" pioneer shallow sub and a BOSS amp, however I cannot for the life of me get the remote power wire to function correctly..

My Fiesta ST has a Moonroof so using the typical Moonroof fuse I get: No power at remote wire and Moonroof stops working (fuse is fine, even replaced and still wont work). I re-did the power wire and re-crimped the ground and remote wire as well. I've also tried the instrument cluster (caused weird issues with SYNC and Climate Controls turning off when I powered on car but the AMP did power on). What would you suggest for someone with an ST2 (Moonroof, No heated seats) for the remote power wire? I'd really rather not tap into the wires behind the steering wheel and use the tap / fuse I currently have.

 

[Hypergram]

Sorry to dig up an old thread by car stereo systems are something that is very new to me, and I do have a few questions. I was looking at this JBL BassPro Hub (link bellow) since it fits in the spare tire meaning it shouldn't take up any additional space. I see that it has the amp built in, so I'm not quite sure what to do with this when it comes to wiring the whole system. Obviously I still need to take power from the battery with the above method, but do I also need to connect the remote wire to the brown/yellow under the dash (or fusebox method) so it turns on with the ignition? I take it I also need a PAC adapter into the passenger B pillar as mentioned. And finally, I take it the grounding method is the same too? Sorry for the dumb questions but I'd like to see if I can learn this myself instead of paying to have it done. Thanks!

https://www.jbl.com/car-subwoofers/JBL+BASSPRO+HUB.html

 

[SrsBsns]

Sorry to dig up an old thread by car stereo systems are something that is very new to me, and I do have a few questions. I was looking at this JBL BassPro Hub (link bellow) since it fits in the spare tire meaning it shouldn't take up any additional space. I see that it has the amp built in, so I'm not quite sure what to do with this when it comes to wiring the whole system. Obviously I still need to take power from the battery with the above method, but do I also need to connect the remote wire to the brown/yellow under the dash (or fusebox method)? I take it I also need a PAC adapter into the passenger B pillar as mentioned. And finally, I take it the grounding method is the same too? Sorry for the dumb questions but I'd like to see if I can learn this myself instead of paying to have it done. Thanks!

https://www.jbl.com/car-subwoofers/JBL+BASSPRO+HUB.html

Awesome, I was looking at a sub like this, so I hope that I can get your feedback on it once it's installed!

You should be able to do this yourself. It should be pretty straight forward.

I would think that you'd take the positive cable and run it along the driver's side floor, tucked away behind the trim of the doors and then up through the dash and through the firewall. From there, you'd just connect it to the battery. I'm assuming there would be an inline fuse close to that connection as well.
You should be able to ground it in the trunk.
For the remote turn on, I'd think you'd need something coming from the head unit and that's the part I'm least sure about. I think I've heard that people splice into the rear speaker for that since it's close and would be pretty easy. Can anyone confirm?

 

[Hypergram]

Awesome, I was looking at a sub like this, so I hope that I can get your feedback on it once it's installed!

You should be able to do this yourself. It should be pretty straight forward.

I would think that you'd take the positive cable and run it along the driver's side floor, tucked away behind the trim of the doors and then up through the dash and through the firewall. From there, you'd just connect it to the battery. I'm assuming there would be an inline fuse close to that connection as well.
You should be able to ground it in the trunk.
For the remote turn on, I'd think you'd need something coming from the head unit and that's the part I'm least sure about. I think I've heard that people splice into the rear speaker for that since it's close and would be pretty easy. Can anyone confirm?

I'll definitely update here as I go along with this. As you said, everything seems simple enough except for the remote wire. I would really rather not take apart the head unit assembly just for this lol. I know it's possible in these cars, since one of the 5 reviews on the site says he installed it in his Fiesta ST. Small world...