Trying to get wires through hatch door and grommet

[chevyboy]

Hey everyone,

I've decided to install a reverse camera in my 2012 Holden Barina after reading this thread:

http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/interior-ice-discussion/21128-backup-camera-install.html

The camera arrived the other day, and fits the license light perfectly. However, I'm now seeking your help. I want to run the reverse camera wires down through the hatch door into the rubber grommet, which would go into the cabin. I have taken a picture with the route I want to take. I tried routing cables down into there with factory wiring, and it doesn't want to come out the other end. I even tried cutting a coat hanger and fishing it through with that, but no such luck.

The black cable next to the yellow tag are the cables I need to run into the cabin. Does anyone have any tips of how to run cables through this section? On other cars, this section is usually removable as it's a plastic trim, but seems GM have made this section all metal and I can't see any obvious bolts which would allow it to be removed (looks all in one). Any ideas from people who have run wires in this section (or done this install/a rear dash cam install)? Doesn't seem to be covered in the above thread. Your help is much appreciated.

 

[4g63gst20]

I used the fiber cable fishing they sell at stores like Wal-Mart or Menards. It was hard to get it to turn and follow those tight spots but after about 1hr I got it all the thru when i installed power lock on my aveo5 hatch.

 

[chevyboy]

I used the fiber cable fishing they sell at stores like Wal-Mart or Menards. It was hard to get it to turn and follow those tight spots but after about 1hr I got it all the thru when i installed power lock on my aveo5 hatch.

Cheers mate, I was just looking for random things around my place that could possibly work, and I found a thick broken HDMI cable that seemed to not kink. Cut the HDMI ends off, and it went through like a charm. Now I just have to attach my cables to the end of it and see how it goes although the fishing cable is something I'll keep in mind for the future!

 

[chevyboy]

Success! Just as I routed the cables into the grommet leading into the cabin, it started to rain, so will wire up the power and run the RCA to the monitor when it's a bit drier

 

[turtletechno]

Success! Just as I routed the cables into the grommet leading into the cabin, it started to rain, so will wire up the power and run the RCA to the monitor when it's a bit drier

I am curious the route you took after getting the wires through the hatch and into the cabin. My rca cam includes a power wire that runs inside and my stereo has a power wire so really just trying to figure out how to keep it invisible from there to stereo

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[turtletechno]

I am curious the route you took after getting the wires through the hatch and into the cabin. My rca cam includes a power wire that runs inside and my stereo has a power wire so really just trying to figure out how to keep it invisible from there to stereo

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Forget my question.. they make a wireless transmitter/receiver for this.. only 10 bucks! https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/132261706115

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[bvz]

Ha. I just did this same thing today.

For what it is worth, I found running the wires to the front to be fairly easy. That said, I honestly have no idea what I am doing (I am not really a car guy) and so this is all off the top of my head.

What I did was to remove the rear C-pillar (you pop out the "airbag" plastic cover, unscrew one screw in the middle, and just pull it off). Then route the wire through the hole into the metal body of the C-pillar. On the inside of the car, on the metal part of the C-pillar, up just under the headliner is another hole. With a little patience (and using a length of flexible wire) I was able to pull the cables into the cabin. I have long fingers and I could just barely touch my fingers together by putting one through the hole on the inside, and the other through the hole where the rubber grommet is that runs the wires from the hatch into the body of the car. They are really only about 5-6 cm apart. That said, it was easier to use a metal wire to guide the camera wire through.

From there I just tucked it up under the weather stripping all the way to the front of the car. When you get to the B-pillar, you just push up a little bit on the headliner and it will give you plenty of room to stuff the wires in there as well. The wire is completely invisible and I don't need any wireless transmitter (not the cost, potential unreliability, or issues keeping it powered).

The whole process took me a couple of hours because I am completely clueless and had to figure it out step by step, but if I were to do it again, I could probably turn it around in about 30 -45 minutes. It really is quite simple. I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't use the transmitter, but if you wanted to take a shot at it, I would say that it is a fairly easy job even for a beginner like me.

 

[turtletechno]

Ha. I just did this same thing today.

For what it is worth, I found running the wires to the front to be fairly easy. That said, I honestly have no idea what I am doing (I am not really a car guy) and so this is all off the top of my head.

What I did was to remove the rear C-pillar (you pop out the "airbag" plastic cover, unscrew one screw in the middle, and just pull it off). Then route the wire through the hole into the metal body of the C-pillar. On the inside of the car, on the metal part of the C-pillar, up just under the headliner is another hole. With a little patience (and using a length of flexible wire) I was able to pull the cables into the cabin. I have long fingers and I could just barely touch my fingers together by putting one through the hole on the inside, and the other through the hole where the rubber grommet is that runs the wires from the hatch into the body of the car. They are really only about 5-6 cm apart. That said, it was easier to use a metal wire to guide the camera wire through.

From there I just tucked it up under the weather stripping all the way to the front of the car. When you get to the B-pillar, you just push up a little bit on the headliner and it will give you plenty of room to stuff the wires in there as well. The wire is completely invisible and I don't need any wireless transmitter (not the cost, potential unreliability, or issues keeping it powered).

The whole process took me a couple of hours because I am completely clueless and had to figure it out step by step, but if I were to do it again, I could probably turn it around in about 30 -45 minutes. It really is quite simple. I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't use the transmitter, but if you wanted to take a shot at it, I would say that it is a fairly easy job even for a beginner like me.

Thanks for the success story. I think you have inspired me to give it a shot. I was a little worried about pulling off that "airbag" panel on the c pillar but sounds like you had success. I do think the hard wire will be a better option in the long run because who knows about the reliability and potential interference issues with the wireless option.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[bvz]

Feel free to post back with any questions!

As far as the "airbag" bit... don't give it a second thought. I was worried too but once I pulled it off I found out that there isn't anything under there that has anything to do with the airbags. (In fact, I'll pop outside in a moment and take a photo so you can see what it all looks like). I think they needed to put a plug on there to hide the screw and it probably was a design decision to put the airbag logo on there (looks better than a regular plug).

I ran my wires to the rearview mirror (my dash cam and rearview cam are on a mirror that clips over the factory mirror). For this I needed to partially remove the front A-pillar trim too. That freaked me out. But it wasn't any big deal either. Just grab it from the top (where it connects to the headliner) and pull down. It will pop out a bit. Behind there you will see an unusual clip that is designed to hold the trim in place if the airbag deploys. I just left this trim hanging from that (it is still connected to the dash at the base).

You will see the actual airbag rolled up underneath. So, if you route any wires there (I had to because the wires had to go from the door to the rearview mirror) make sure you put them UNDER the airbag (i.e. put them between the metal roof and the airbag) so that if the airbag deploys, the dashcam wire isn't in the way. I doubt it would be able to hold back something as powerful as an airbag, but better not to test that theory.

I'll post a few pics in a moment.

 

[bvz]

Try taking a look at this album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2z2jxBwaEoyHcibv1

The first photo shows the C-Pillar removed. You can see that there isn't any airbag in there at all. Also, you can see the black wire going up under the weatherstripping.

The second photo is similar to the first, but imagine it rotated about 90 degrees counter clockwise (so the left side of the image is up). You can just barely see the hole at the top (left side of the image) where the red and black wires are going into. That leads to where the wires came in from through the grommet under the outside hatch.

The third photo shows my chunky hands, but also how easy it is to push up the headliner around the B-Pillar. If you look closely, just under my thumb knuckle is the wire coming out of the weatherstripping and going into the headliner.

The last picture shows (just barely) the wire under the weatherstripping. It is just barely visible near the top of the headliner.

Also, closeups of fingers are just weird.

Good luck!