How-To Tuesday: Aftermarket Amplifier Power
If you haven’t been spending enough time dealing with grommets lately, then have we got the DIY project for you.
Today’s How-To Tuesday article is all about installing an amplifier power wire in your Lexus. While this project specifically tutors doing so on 2004-2013 Lexus IS, GS, ES, and RX models, the information should be helpful for anyone interested in installing a new power wire for an aftermarket amp setup or for upgrading your speakers beyond the OEM variety.
Since you’ll be working with a live wire from the engine compartment (and a grommet!), this is a moderately difficult job that should take you a couple of hours. But you’ll likely save about $250 doing it yourself. Just remember not to touch the live wire, as emergency room costs aren’t factored in.
As detailed more thoroughly in this week’s article (and the corresponding video below), the first step is to remove your car’s battery. Of course, doing so will cause you to lose all of your radio and seat position presets, so you may want to set up an auxiliary battery to keep the juice flowing. After that, it’s grommet time! With the battery removed, you’ll notice the grommet stuffed with power cords heading into the cabin. Simply take a screwdriver and punch a small hole in the rubber for routing the new power cord.
After that, it’s a matter of removing the glove box trim panel and the passenger-side scuff panels, feeding the power cable into the engine bay, routing the wiring to the the trunk and feeding the wire through, re-installing the battery, and finally attaching the new power cord.
And then, just like that, it’s time to rock out!
