Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

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cheba
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by cheba »

ciclo wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:41 am Whatever you do you have to remove this panel obligatorily. :arrow: https://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php? ... 86#p532576

An example of how to use the wires guide (pg 6,7,8) :arrow: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2nv91 ... ZrU0k/view
I assume you suggest that I use the wire guide and go through the same hole as the main wiring harness. And I understand that for that to be possible, the plastic panel must be removed to gain access.

Then I will simply have to find another way. Because I've tried removing the panel, I tried on every possible place, with as much force as I have in my fingers. It will not come off. They only way I see it coming off the car is if a workshop is taking the entire windshield out to change the windshield.

Using a wire guide is not a problem, but I need an open grommet to push it through.

Now I'm thinking of using a wire guide to go through the same grommet as the Bowden cable for the bonnet latch. Not a pretty solution, but it may be my only chance.
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iichel
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by iichel »

If you can only lift the plastic cover by a little bit, maybe you can use the grommet that's intended for the RHD bonnet cable on the passenger side. It comes out behind the glove box.
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by ciclo »

cheba wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:12 am And I understand that for that to be possible, the plastic panel must be removed to gain access.
NO :lol:
The panel shown in the image is not the panel you are referring to.
I do not know its name in English, it is a metal panel fixed by 8 screws.

You also must overcome this metal panel to get with the hose to the engine compartment.
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by iichel »

Cover plate for plenum chamber, according to etka. Number 4.

Image
cheba
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by cheba »

iichel wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:21 am If you can only lift the plastic cover by a little bit, maybe you can use the grommet that's intended for the RHD bonnet cable on the passenger side. It comes out behind the glove box.
If I was routing an electrical wire, I would use that one since it's easy to get to once you lift the plastic a bit (it's not like on the driver's side where the wiper mechanism is in the way). However with a pressure hose for a boost gauge, the hose length must be kept to a minimum.
ciclo wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:23 am
cheba wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:12 am And I understand that for that to be possible, the plastic panel must be removed to gain access.
NO :lol:
The panel shown in the image is not the panel you are referring to.
I do not know its name in English, it is a metal panel fixed by 8 screws.

You also must overcome this metal panel to get with the hose to the engine compartment.
iichel wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:28 am Cover plate for plenum chamber, according to etka. Number 4.
Oh, you meant the metal panel, my bad. I can only find 1 screw on the passenger side out of the 8 screws holding it, and it seems (at least on the WRC) a lot of other stuff has to come off first in order to remove the panel (heatshield, ECU, air filter box, turbo inlet pipe...). I'll keep this option open in case there is no easier way. But at the moment I'm aiming for the same hole as the bonnet cable.
cheba
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by cheba »

OK, so I found the main wiring grommet on the inside. I was looking in the wrong area all the time :lol: So it is accessible, just hidden by a piece of insulation just above the pedals.

I thought the second of these photos (the one with 2 white circles) was showing the grommet on the inside, but it's actually the outside of it (I was confused since there was no black tape on the main wiring). The 2 small grommets are closed on the outside, not the inside. I can easily feed a wire through one of these from the inside.

So the only issue now is I need to cut the tip of the small grommet on the outside. It's tight, but I think it can be done with one hand from the side, above the suspension tower. Or maybe I could simply pierce the rubber grommet with a wire from the inside.

Edit: So I may have gotten overly optimistic. Feeding a wire through the hole shouldn't be a problem, but poking a hole in the grommet wasn't as easy as I though. The rubber should be a couple of millimeters thick at most, but it will probably require a sharp special tool to poke through it.

Also it is definitely not possible to cut the tip of the grommet from the outside, not with any of the tools that I have at least. There just isn't enough room without removing the cover. So poking through it from the inside seems to be the only option.
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by ciclo »

Image

Image

These images belong to a WRC. They can be found in my guide for the installation of automatic lights.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2nv91 ... E1bk0/view (which you should have)
cheba
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by cheba »

Yes, exactly! I lifted the part of the insulation with the brownish-grey plastic on it out of the way. Then I could feel the main wiring grommet with my fingers, and the small hole in the rubber next to it. Now I just need to get a sharp tool in there so I can poke through the rubber hole and feed a wire through it.
cheba
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by cheba »

Another week of failed attempts...

Any tips for finding the hole of the small grommets (those in the white circles in the second photo here: https://servimg.com/view/18943939/865#) on the inside of the car? I thought I had found it in the soft rubber square, just next to the main wiring grommet. Unfortunately, the hole seems to be only about 5mm deep, so I assume it is not the correct hole. If it was the correct hole, it would be something like 25mm deep (the grommet seems to be about 30mm long on the outside).

At first I was thinking it would be easy to poke through it from the inside, but it is too tight between the firewall, the clutch pedal and the relay carrier. I cannot get my hand in there while holding a tool, only when keeping my hand flat. I managed to use my fingertips to get a small nail in there, and only then I felt that the hole was too shallow and realized it was the incorrect hole...

In a last effort I again tried going through the main wiring grommet, using a metal wire with rounded tip. I managed to get the wire to enter the grommet, but I could only feed it like 15mm until it just wouldn't go any further. Tried it many times, both from the inside and the outside, but with the same result. It most be some kind of double grommet or something.
cheba
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by cheba »

ciclo wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:23 am
cheba wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:12 am And I understand that for that to be possible, the plastic panel must be removed to gain access.
NO :lol:
The panel shown in the image is not the panel you are referring to.
I do not know its name in English, it is a metal panel fixed by 8 screws.

You also must overcome this metal panel to get with the hose to the engine compartment.
iichel wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 11:28 am Cover plate for plenum chamber, according to etka. Number 4.
Are you sure that this metal panel is only held by screws? I am wondering because in my latest attempt, I tried removing/loosening the screws holding the panel. I only removed the ones on the driver's side (some screws are hard to get to on the WRC so I wanted to try if this method will even work before going through the hassle of removing the rest of the screws). Then I tried pulling the metal panel on the driver's side but it wouldn't move a millimeter. It is completely stuck to the body of the car, like it is glued or something. Have you ever had to remove the metal panel and if so, have you had a similar problem?
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by iichel »

Yes, I've removed it on several occasions (i.e. climatronic retrofit, power steering retrofit) and it was attached by screws only.
cheba
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by cheba »

iichel wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:00 pm Yes, I've removed it on several occasions (i.e. climatronic retrofit, power steering retrofit) and it was attached by screws only.
I see. Maybe the metal panel is simply so stiff (beacuse of its shape) that it will hardly bend at all. I guess I'll have to try to remove all the screws then and see if I can get the panel off.
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by cheba »

OK, so I've finally done it. After removing all 8 screws of the metal panel, it came off easily. First I had to remove the air filter box, ECU bracket and a cable console on the passenger side, then 3 clips which held the insulation (the black fluffy stuff) to the metal panel. Then I was able to access all the screws holding the metal panel itself. One of the screws was hard to get to (the one down towards the turbo heat shield) but I was able to get to it with a Torx bit on a small ratchet.

After the metal panel was gone, the wiper mechanism was still in the way which made it hard to see, but I was able to get my hand in under it so I could feel one of the small rubber "nipples" next to the main wiring grommet and use a pair of small side cutters to cut the rubber nipple open and feed the hose through it. I was able to grab it on the inside from the footwell area, then route it under the dash up to the air vent.

Where the main harness goes through the bottom of the water tray and into the engine compartment, I punched a hole through the grommet and forced the boost line through that hole in order to get into the engine compartment.

Finally with the hose routed through the firewall, it was just a matter of finishing the installation of the boost tap and the boost gauge and connect them to the ends of the boost line.

Big thanks to ciclo and iichel for guidance :D
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iichel
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Re: Routing hose through firewall, LHD driver's side

Post by iichel »

good job!
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