Acura TL - 1999 - rewiring the audio

Running new wire through the stock boot.

This is probably the most patience intensive part of the installation of my long-term car stereo installation project. On the driver's side, the interior run location is fairly accessible. On the passenger side, however, the car's diagnotics computer and climate control blower are completely in the way.

First, you'll need to remove the door panel and the plastic trim on the floor board. This is straight forward. I won't be covering that here.

getting into the boot

Pull and tug and twist all you want... To get the boot out of the hole, just push it in. Once its in, you can squeeze it, sort of fold it in half, and pull it out. There are wires running through there, be gentle.

Front Driver's side wiring

I did this side first. I recommend this. It's easier and will get you in the grove. Use a smaller speaker wire (perhaps the wire that came with your speakers) to fish from the inside of the driver's foot well through the hole and out near the door hinge.
Get some length to work with and, if you want, use a tiny amount of armor all to lube things up (try to keep the end inside the car clean so you can tape to it). Now work the wire through the boot from the top to the bottom. Straighten the bends so the wire can travel through. Use a needle nose pliers to grab the end if it gets hung up.
Make sure the wire end on the inside of the car is clean enough to tape to. Use either duct tape or packin tape and tape a good 6 inches of the think wire to the thinner wire. Wrapping around the wire helps it to grip but keep it as thin as possible and with as few bumps as you can. Now wipe a little armor all on the outside of the tape and the think wire and pull it all through. Insert into door. It is easier to work inside the door with the window up but be sure not to wrap the wire around the window rails and that the window can operate before you start tying things in place. I do recommend you tie things in place so they never get hung up. Replace boot, install wire to speaker... easy!

Front Passenger's side wiring

This one requires patience. Get some thin wire (for hanging and tying things) from the hardware store. You only need a couple feet or so. I don't know what it is called but it is about half the thickness of a coat hanger and fairly flexible. You also need a coat hanger or some more rigid wire. Remove the boot as decribed above. Make a small loop at the end of the thin wire. Thsi will prevent it from getting caught on and damaging other wires and provide something to hook when trying to move the wire around a corner. Insert the thin wire into the hole near the hinge, loop first, heading toward the car's interior. You have to get it pretty much straight back until you'll see it (if you have sufficient light), from the gap behind the computer. Use the coat hanger with a small hook bent in it to grab the hooked end you bent earlier and pull it downward, behind the computer. Be careful, you don't want to accidentally grab a ground wire and yank that off! Its not nearly as hard as I expected it to be and, once you've gottent this step done, your almost there. Tape a smaller speaker wire (same as driver's side) to the thin wire and pull it through from the inside to the outside. Run it through the boot exactly as before and then into the door. Replace the boot. Done! (now for the rear doors - I'll be hitting them next weekend)

putting the boot back

just a touch of armor all on your fingers, spread it on the ends of the boot, and push it back into its home. Don't try to push it in past its ridge and pull it back out, this doesn't work well. Just get the lip into the hole and you're done.