I have an '01 SE and I want to install an amplifier to power a sub. I already own the amp and the sub from a previous vehicle. I have three questions for you guys that I was hoping you could help me out with:

1). What are you all using for your remote wire (the wire that turns on your amp when the radio is on)?

2). How are you running the main power line from the battery to the amp? Where is the best place to come through the firewall?

3). My amp accepts High Level inputs, so I can use my factory deck. Where is the best place going to be for me to tap into the left and right rear speakers?

Any help will be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

When I installed an amp when I had the stock deck, I tapped the remote wire to an open spot in the fuse panel underneath the dash. The fuse was an accessory fuse and only turned on when the key was in the "ACC" position. Unfortunately, this turned on the amp whenever the key was in this position regardless if the stereo is on or not.

As for the running the power line, I ran the power wire from the battery through the firewall on the passenger side of the vehicle.



The wire will come out underneath the front passenger carpet like so



IMO, the best place to tap off the deck would be from the rear speakers. They are easier to access.

Thanks for the reply and the pictures lil_pino. How did you patch into the fuse panel?...with a Spade of somekind?

I thought about patching into the rear speakers at the speaker, but that would require removing both rear panels. How hard is it to remove the rear panels? Do you think it would be easier to remove the head unit and patch in there? Let me know what you think.

I just wrapped the wire around the blade fuse and pushed the fuse back in the fuse box.

It's not hard at all to remove the rear panels. Just pop off a clips and pull the panel to remove. You can tap off the back of the deck but to me it's much more of a hassle to remove the panel around the stereo and then remove the stereo and then tap into the wires and then install everything back. All in all, it's up to what you feel more comfortable doing.

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH That is a fire waiting to happen!!! Change the way you ran that power wire QUICK! I'm serious, that rubber grommet is pushing your power wire against the edge of the fire wall. With the amount of vibration in vehicles that can slice through the wires insulation fairly easily. Once that happens you are going to have big problems. I've seen too many cars burn up that way (even with a fuse under the hood) If anything slice a small hole in the rubber grommet and run it though that. The best way is to use a grommet and drill a new hole.

Please, please,please,please,please, change that

I'm sorry...I guess I shouldn't post that picture. That was the power wire when I first installed an amp in the truck. I see your logic concerning a possible fire hazard. Since then I've upgraded all my wiring (the main power line is now 2 ga). Since the wire is thick, I cut a hole in the rubber boot you see in that picture. Is that still ok or should I just drill a hole in the firewall and rerun the wires?

Also, I've neglected to add that I've placed plastic looming all around the wiring inside the engine bay including up to the firewall. That picture just illustrates where the wire would enter the cab and not how the finished install looked like. But thanks for your advice. I appreciate it.

Pino, as long as it runs through the grommet and not around the grommet you will be fine. On mine I took an exacto and cut an X in the grommet. this made it fairly easy to run 2 ga. through for me. Also be sure that all wires under the hood are zip-strapped to something safe and secure. I don't recomend using any A/C lines or other wires though.

yeah, what he said

The remote wire from the amp usually gets tied into the power antenna lead coming from the deck... This way, when the radio is on, regardless of ignition, the amp is also turned on. Without that power antenna wire though, the ignition switch "ACC" position sounds like a good workaround... But I can see the problem... Bummer. You can take the trailer way out and have a switch up front for manual control.

Don't some amps have sensing circuitry now that detect voltage across the speaker leads and automatically engages? I haven't been following trends in audio for a while... But I will be again down the road for the X. I'm in no rush for that just yet.

Rybo, hope this helps;

Here is a list of wire colors for the 2001 model;
2001 Nissan Xterra Wire Colors
Wire/Function.....Color.....Location/Description.....Polarity

12 Volts.....White/black.....Ignition switch.....+

Accessory.....Red or red/yellow.....Ignition switch.....+

Ignition.....Black/white.....Ignition switch.....+

Starter.....Black/green or green/yellow.....Ignition switch.....+

Starter2.....Black/ yellow.....Ignition switch.....+

Brake Switch.....Brown/red.....At switch above brake pedal.....+

Dimmer.....Pink/black.....At any illuminated switch in dash.....+

Parking lights.....Blue/red.....Drivers kick panel.....+

Doorpin.....Red/black***.....Pin-9 on Smart entrance module**.....-

Factory Alarm arm.....Yellow****.....Pin-30 on Smart entrance module**.....-

Factory Disarm.....Yellow/red****.....Pin-31 on Smart entrance module**.....-

Hand Brake.....Yellow or gray/blue.....At switch on hand brake lever.....-

Headlights.....Red/black.....At steering column.....-

Hoodpin.....Black/pink.....Pin-29 on Smart entrance module**.....-

Rear hatch pin.....Common with doors

Horn.....Lt. Green/red.....At steering column.....-

Reverse lights.....Yellow/red.....In driver’s running board.....+

Tach.....Blue*.....At distributor front of engine*.....AC

Key sense.....White/green.....Pin-24 on Smart entrance module**.....+

Speed sense wire(VSS).....Green/black.....Pin-37 behind instrument cluster*****

Lock.....Lt Green/red.....Pin-18 on Smart entrance module**.....-

Unlock.....Brown.....Pin-19 on Smart entrance module**.....-

Driver Window up.....Blue.....At master switch.....Rev. pol

Driver Window Down.....Blue/black.....At master switch.....Rev. pol

Passenger Window up.....Blue/yellow.....At master switch.....Rev. pol

Passenger Window down.....Blue/white.....At master switch.....Rev. pol

Left Rear Window up.....Green/red.....At master switch.....Rev. pol

Left Rear Window down.....Green/yellow.....At master switch.....Rev. pol

Right Rear Window up.....Green/white.....At master switch.....Rev. pol

Right Rear Window Down.....Green/black.....At master switch.....Rev. pol

also;

Radio
Harness #1 (2001)

+12V.....Red/yellow
Acc......Green/red
Dimmer.....Blue/red
Front Left -.....Black/white
Front Left +.....Blue
Front Right -.....Black/red
Front Right +.....Brown

Harness #2

Right Rear -.....Black/pink
Right Rear +.....Orange
Left Rear -.....Black/yellow
Left Rear +.....Green

* Same for both 2.4L and 3.3L. Tach can also be referenced at Pin-3 on the ECM at front of center console
** Located above drivers kick panel
*** On models without power door locks, this wire can be found in the drivers kick panel.
**** These wires will also operate the door locks. Double pulse yellow/red for unlock.
***** Also found at Pin-7 of the ASCD module on the left side of the steering column.

I just finished my install today...thanks for all of your help guys, you saved me a lot of aggravation. Here is my system now:

-Factory 6-disc head unit
-Factory front door speakers
-Pioneer TS-A6975 6x9 rear speakers
-Earthquake 250 watt 2-channel amp
-JL Audio 8" Sub in a JL Wedge truck box
-High level input taken from radio through 10 guage speaker wire to rear speakers and spliced feeds to the amp high-level inputs

Here are some major things that happened to me during the install that caused me to spend a lot of extra time:

1. I decided to keep my factory 6-disc head unit. Once I hooked it up to the high-level inputs of my amplifier everything worked fine....UNTIL I turned the volume up to about 75%. All of the audio cut out from the front and rear speakers and I had to turn off the key to reset the outputs. The head unit would cut front and rear outputs when the rears were connected to the high-level amp input, even if there is no power supplied to the amp...just having the audio connected to the high-level inputs caused this problem. I tried a different MTX amp and I received the same results. I solved the problem by purchasing a high-level to RCA converter from Best Buy for $15.99. For some reason the amp high-level inputs must have been pulling too much current from the head unit causing the head unit to cut off all audio outputs. I even tried it with the rear 6x9's disconnected. In fact, if you can think of it I probably tried it

2. I still haven't decided how to mount the amp. For now I am leaving it unmounted so that I can quickly disconnect and remove it from the vehicle if need be. If anyone has any unique mounting ideas, besides mounting it to the back of my rear seat...please post some pics.

3 The sound is AWESOME!...and that is the most important thing!