twistedsymphony

I hate when I have X hours to work on the car and after pulling crap apart and scratching my head I run out of time and don't get anything done

i was hoping to
-locate the connector where the door speakers and pillar tweeters meet up
-install the cross over units and my new speakers
-fix the rattling drivers side window (it's solid when all the way up but if partially down it moves about and rattles.)

Window problem
Pulled off the door panel and checked out the window I determined where the problem is but I have no idea how to fix it. the horizontal metal bar that connects across the bottom of the window, the mount nearest the front of the door is loose, I can't see well enough to determine if the nut is loose, missing, or if something is broken. looking straight down from the top with the window partially down I can pull the window up and down and clearly see the brace moving separate from the window here... not cool. The problem is that nowhere in the windows path does this bolt become accessible... maybe it is accessible if you put the window in some magically perfect position but i couldn't see one.

Locating the speaker breakout connector
Pulling off the kick panel and sitting upside down on the floor of the car I couldn't figure out where the pillar tweeter wire came down for the life of me... nor could I reach to where the door wires came in to trace it that way... I couldn't see crap either the Cruise control, keyless entry, and auto transmission units are all shoved up in there blocking my view. After digging around aimlessly to no avail I checked out the FSM (which I probably should have done in the first place) and determined that I was looking for the "M49" connector... according to the FSM this connector is located top center of the dashboard... well Fsk-ME :banghead:

So now I need to rethink how I'm going to hook up the new speakers. There's plenty of room to mount the cross over units in the door but that means I need to get at least one set of speaker wires run to the door from the a-pillar .. Even worse is that the Tweeters have speaker wire soldered to them meaning that the wire has to be run from inside the car out. I suppose I could desolder it and run it from the door in and then re-solder it, but then I'd have to run the wire up to the A-pillar instead of running it down FROM the a-pillar which presents a whole new challenge.


OK so if anyone has any ideas on how I can fix my window

or if anyone a has any tricks or can lend advice on running wires through the door conduit on an S14

.. I'm all ears

thanks

projectRDM

The joint connectors for the front speakers are located against the firewall, top of the dash, behind the passenger side airbag. Pull the dash and bag to find them, you can mount the crossovers there. It's more work but there's no point in running wiring if it's already run for you, especially if you ever have to remove the door and cut/splice the wire back together.

For the window your explanation makes no sense, but the glass is removed by unbolting the two M6 nuts at the bottom of the glass to the regulator, then lifting it straight out. You'll need to loosen/remove the window stops and guides at the top of the door too. Then the regulator is free to come out from below by removing the two M6 nuts and four M6 bolts that secure it.

Buy/download an FSM.

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twistedsymphony

Thanks for the advice +rep (not that you really need it :P)

The wires:
Since no one else was replying for the wires I was thinking about mounting the cross overs in the door, I'd still have to run the tweeter wires from the a-pillar down into the door but to do that I would pop off the rubber conduit and use a wire snake to get the wire through it.. It's sounds like removing the dash and mounting the x-overs in there is the optimal solution.

How long does it take to remove the dash? is it difficult to do? I'm sure I can look it up in the FSM (I do have one, I even referenced it in my first post) I have a DCC waiting to be installed too so removing the dash might be good to kill two birds with one stone.

unfortunately my S14 has become my daily driver since I had to sell my pickup back to Toyota for the frame so either I can get this done in a day or I wait until I find myself a new daily driver and can take the car off the road for a few days while I work on it.

The Window:
As for the window I couldn't find window removal/replacement instructions in the FSM. I apologize for being vague. Basically my problem is that when the window is not all the way up it's lose , I can grab it and pull it up and down and push it side to side, because it's loose it also rattles when going up and down and when left open.

the glass has two bolts through the bottom where the window attaches to the mechanism. the bolt nearest the dash is lose, I can see that when I pull and move around the window it moves separately from the metal bracket that it should be solidly bolted to.

I'm not sure if the nut just came lose, or if something else is broken entirely, but I couldn't figure out how to get to it. you recommended removing these nuts first (the ones attached directly to the glass) but how to I get to the one on the dash side of the window?

Thanks again

projectRDM

Dash removal for the first time takes maybe an hour. I can now do it in less than 10 minutes. Once you know where everything is it's pretty straightforward.

The M6 nut securing the window to the regulator nearest the dash can be accessed when the window is almost all the way down, there's a hole in the door about two inches in diameter that lines up with the bolt. Just roll it down until you see it clearly.

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twistedsymphony

Thanks again I'll give the window another look and see what's going on with the M6 nut....

As for the dash I'm trying to locate a good picture of the back side of an S14 dash so I know where all the clips are (the last thing I want to do is crack or otherwise damage the dash)... I'm still looking but if you know of a picture off hand a link would be appreciated.

projectRDM

FSM shows disassembly. There's no clips securing it, only the six M6 bolts, two behind the upper defrost grille, one behind the passenger side defrost grille, one behind the cluster, and one on each lower corner. After all the trim and parts are out only those bolts hold the actual dash in place.

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twistedsymphony

cool... I didn't see any clips in the FSM but people said there were a few which is why I was trying to find a picture.

it doesn't sound too difficult to remove.


I found a promising vehicle for a daily driver on Craiglist this morning so if all goes well I'll be able to take my time with the S14 mods now and not worry about having to get it back together by the end of the day.

thanks again.