Sealing Firewall After Running Cables?

[cafecito]

Sorry if this is overthinking or obvious, but I've never done much electrical stuff in vehicles before.

After reading several dozen posts about what a pain in the ass it is to get to the rubber grommet in the passenger footwell, I've opted to run my dash cam wires through the plastic plug on the driver's side (where the clutch line would go for a manual). Right now, it's just a round plastic plug, but I have some small rubber grommets that I plan to put inside of it after drilling a small hole in it for the cables.

My question is... does this need to be sealed with anything? Or would a rubber grommet and some electrical tape around the wires be enough? If I do need to seal it, what should I use?

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[abe57]

Fill the gaps with RTV ..But if you do what you are thinking and it gets sealed that way you are all set ! And Yes it is a pain to get the wires in on the right side but once you get a wire though " I used clothes line " and use a bit of grease slides right in !

 

[cafecito]

Fill the gaps with RTV ..But if you do what you are thinking and it gets sealed that way you are all set !

Awesome, thanks! I assumed some kind of silicone would be in play, but I wasn't sure if it needed to be a certain kind that withstood X amount of temperate from the engine or whatnot.

 

[am1978]

Sorry if this is overthinking or obvious, but I've never done much electrical stuff in vehicles before.

After reading several dozen posts about what a pain in the ass it is to get to the rubber grommet in the passenger footwell, I've opted to run my dash cam wires through the plastic plug on the driver's side (where the clutch line would go for a manual). Right now, it's just a round plastic plug, but I have some small rubber grommets that I plan to put inside of it after drilling a small hole in it for the cables.

My question is... does this need to be sealed with anything? Or would a rubber grommet and some electrical tape around the wires be enough? If I do need to seal it, what should I use?

Why run through that grommet in the firewall? It’s an option, but you can go under the cowl and down the inside of the panel along the driver side of the dash and then underneath to anywhere you want to go. This video shows how.

 

[cafecito]

Why run through that grommet in the firewall? It’s an option, but you can go under the cowl and down the inside of the panel along the driver side of the dash and then underneath to anywhere you want to go. This video shows how.

I've seen other videos do that, and I guess I'm just not a fan of having cables running around or through weather seals, door hinges, etc. The holes in the firewall are for this exact purpose; I'd rather do it the "right way".

 

[Orange01z28]

Sorry if this is overthinking or obvious, but I've never done much electrical stuff in vehicles before.

After reading several dozen posts about what a pain in the ass it is to get to the rubber grommet in the passenger footwell, I've opted to run my dash cam wires through the plastic plug on the driver's side (where the clutch line would go for a manual). Right now, it's just a round plastic plug, but I have some small rubber grommets that I plan to put inside of it after drilling a small hole in it for the cables.

My question is... does this need to be sealed with anything? Or would a rubber grommet and some electrical tape around the wires be enough? If I do need to seal it, what should I use?

I think you'll be fine with that. I just dremeled out a hole and put Gorilla tape around it on. The wires I ran through were already encased in loom so I wasn't concerned about needing electrical tape

And it is WAY WAY WAY WAY easier to go this route as opposed to the passenger side rubber grommet route

 

[cafecito]

Thanks man! And yea, I'm planning on installing the aux switches in my Gladiator down the road (this dash cam is for my wife's), and I'm not looking forward to that greased coat hanger bullshit.

 

[Undecided]

Someone has mentioned this plug before and I can't find it. Mind grabbing a photo while you do your install? Thank you

 

[Orange01z28]

Thanks man! And yea, I'm planning on installing the aux switches in my Gladiator down the road (this dash cam is for my wife's), and I'm not looking forward to that greased coat hanger bullshit.

I was trying that and I messed up something in my airbag system on the passenger side

Luckily they fixed it under warranty despite it obviously being user-caused

 

[cafecito]

Someone has mentioned this plug before and I can't find it. Mind grabbing a photo while you do your install? Thank you

This guy shows a good clip of it. From the inside, just look up above where your left foot would be while driving - it's pretty easy to spot.

 

[cafecito]

I was trying that and I messed up something in my airbag system on the passenger side

Luckily they fixed it under warranty despite it obviously being user-caused

I was wondering... would it be possible to install that aux kit from the driver side? I mean, it has you mount the PDC right in front of your driver side under the hood anyway, so I can't imagine there would be any issues with wire length. The only thing I don't know is if the orange wire splice that you do on the passenger footwell would work the same way on the driver side.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

For those trying to slip wires through things - I have used the same yellow stuff I used as an electrician - it's slippery, does nothing bad to wires, etc. Soap works......... but I prefer the yellow stuff (Can't recall the exact name now, the bottle is downstairs on a shelf)
I also have tons of grommets of all sizes and foam tubes like those used years ago.
I don't like wires rubbing on plastic or metal. Even a hole in a plastic plug can wear on wire with vibrations. Speaking of vibration, be sure to anchor any wires so that there aren't any long stretches of wire that can shake or vibrate. Copper work hardens and vibrations will do jus that to it, eventually leading to broken wires in the insulation. Secure them every few inches.

 

[Orange01z28]

I was wondering... would it be possible to install that aux kit from the driver side? I mean, it has you mount the PDC right in front of your driver side under the hood anyway, so I can't imagine there would be any issues with wire length. The only thing I don't know is if the orange wire splice that you do on the passenger footwell would work the same way on the driver side.

I have the S-Tech system. It has a driver-side mount bracket but the cables were a perfect length to mount the relay/fuse box on the passenger-side and go across the firewall to the driver-side hole. I didn't even have to dress any slack

After I did that I was so mad I had even messed with the other side

 

[mdyucca]

I was wondering... would it be possible to install that aux kit from the driver side? I mean, it has you mount the PDC right in front of your driver side under the hood anyway, so I can't imagine there would be any issues with wire length. The only thing I don't know is if the orange wire splice that you do on the passenger footwell would work the same way on the driver side.

I have the VOSwitch and did exactly that. Wire lengths all worked out. Easy install, looks good.

 

[cafecito]

I have the VOSwitch and did exactly that. Wire lengths all worked out. Easy install, looks good.

I was looking at that one as well. Do you have the option to have the panel work as ignition and/or battery only? Or is it only one or the other?

I saw that their kit came with a battery cable and ignition switch cable to go in the fuse box, but I wasn't sure how you communicate to the panel (and buttons) which one you want if they're both hooked up.

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