Removing A-Pillar trim / electrical routing.

bicknell · Apr 11, 2013

I've got a new 2013 Touring that I need to put the old radar detector and dash cam from the old car into the new one. I've poked around a little and I have a game plan, but I wanted to see if anyone had some tips or suggestions.

Both units will mount "behind" the rear view mirror. I'm thinking the best bet is to tuck the wires into the headliner, over to the passenger side A-pillar. It looks like it removes with one screw/bolt (under the "SRS" cover). This brings up my first concern, I don't think there are any airbag parts in the A-Pillar itself, but I'd like someone to confirm. Down the A-Pillar and in behind the glove box, then on down to the passenger side fuse panel. Looks like there is a "premium amp" slot that would get a 30A fuse on a touring elite that's empty that I can tap with an add-a-fuse to power these two low wattage accessories.

Sound like a good routing plan? Any tips/tricks for getting various trim bits off and on?

bicknell · Apr 13, 2013

Well, answering my own question, but here we go.

First pull off the door seal around the trim, it just pulls off. The A-pillar trim removes by popping off the cover with "SRS" on it, and removing a single bolt. I just pulled it away a bit and didn't totally remove it. There is a side airbag behind the A-pillar trim that comes down about 10". To route a cable from the rear view mirror area I just tucked it under the headliner, then when I reached the A-pillar ran it behind the metal shield behind the airbag along a factory wiring harness. I tie-wraped it to the harness (loosely) to past the airbag, and then ran it down between the trim.

The glove box comes out real easy, push down on the piston to release it from the door, then lift up on the bottom it just snaps out! A slight left to right motion releases the top stops. On the back is a connector for the USB which can be undone and the entire glove box set aside.

The wires coming down the gap behind the door seal trim can duck in behind the glove box just above the bottom trim panel. There's a ton of room back there for wiring or even hiding small gizmos.

For my purposes I used an add-a-fuse in the factory "headlight leveler" location, which my Touring doesn't have. It's a 7.5A factory slot. I fused it at 2A for my low powered electronics. On the outside wall behind the glove box is a ground screw with about 5 grounds attached. I attached my ground here. A couple of quick splices, heat shrink, and a tie wrap to an existing harness finished up the wiring and secured it.

The radar detector and dash cam are now nicely mounted, wiring is all hidden, and they turn on and off with the car. I couldn't ask for more! Having done similar installs on multiple vehicles I have to say this was one of the easiest due to the space behind the glove box, the convenient ground screw, and empty fuse box slot.

BigBoat · Apr 13, 2013

Thanks for posting back with the DIY. For the benefit of the members, if you are able to share some pics of the work done it would be great

Raistlin · Apr 14, 2013

I used the MirrorTap to "hard wire" my Valentine 1, I also happen to have the Blendmount in my Ody and couldn't be happier with the setup.

Blendmount.com - MirrorTap Power Cords

bicknell · Apr 21, 2013

To get the routing I did was really easy. Open the passenger side door. Pull the black weather seal / trim away from the front side.

On the A-Pillar trim, the "SRS" logo pops out (use a plastic spudger), and under it is a single bolt (10mm, if my memory is right). Remove that bolt, and the trim pulls away. I think it will actually pull up and out at that point, but I did not fully remove it. Behind it is the side curtain airbag with a metal shield above it, and above that a wiring harness.

I mounted my radar detector and dash cam sort of behind the rear view mirror, and routed the cables up the same cabling hiding device. I simply tucked them into the headliner to the passenger side, there's a little space the tuck into no problem. Once to the A-Pillar I tie wrapped (gently, but firmly) to the wiring harness above the side curtain airbag, and above the metal shield for it, until I was past the front of it by a good 4-5 inches.

From there it really is trivial. There's about a 3/8" gap behind the weather seal all the way down to the passenger kick panel. For a simple tie in, you're done.

I had a small box I had to mount for the dash cam, so I removed the glove box. Open it, push away from you on the "stopper arm" with it mostly closed, and it pops off. Now simply lift up to unsnap the bottom, and wiggle left to right to free the top stops. No tools to remove the glove box, awesome! There is a connector on the back for the USB that needs to be removed.

From the passenger kick to the glove box is wide open, and there is tons of room behind the glove box to hide stuff. There are also about 5 grounding screws were the car's electronics are grounded, I loosened one and added my own to the stack.

Seriously, one of the easiest cars I've ever done this routing on, and one of the largest spaces behind the glove box. Would be a 1/10 project if not for the air bag, that makes it only a 2/10 though, just make sure to route the cables away from it and not in the path of where it would go off!

I'm pondering adding an inverter behind the glove box. One of my very few complaints about the Odyssey was that the only 110 outlet is all the way in the back. I'd like the passenger to be able to easily recharge a laptop on the road. I think I could hide a 400W unit behind there, run a cable through to the battery for juice, and jumper off the feed I already put in for the radar detector and dash cam to turn the relay on and off. The only thing I have to figure out to do that is how to get through the firewall, but I can't imagine that would be too hard.

BigBoat · Apr 22, 2013

^^ Thank you

vcmh8tr · Oct 8, 2014

Thanks. This was of great help to me. I outlined my experience installing a dashcam here:

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/11-au...rums/11-audio-video-security-navigation/207241-dashcam-inquiry.html#post1179394

psychojet · Jul 27, 2016

bicknell said:
To get the routing I did was really easy. Open the passenger side door. Pull the black weather seal / trim away from the front side.

On the A-Pillar trim, the "SRS" logo pops out (use a plastic spudger), and under it is a single bolt (10mm, if my memory is right). Remove that bolt, and the trim pulls away. I think it will actually pull up and out at that point, but I did not fully remove it. Behind it is the side curtain airbag with a metal shield above it, and above that a wiring harness.

I mounted my radar detector and dash cam sort of behind the rear view mirror, and routed the cables up the same cabling hiding device. I simply tucked them into the headliner to the passenger side, there's a little space the tuck into no problem. Once to the A-Pillar I tie wrapped (gently, but firmly) to the wiring harness above the side curtain airbag, and above the metal shield for it, until I was past the front of it by a good 4-5 inches.

From there it really is trivial. There's about a 3/8" gap behind the weather seal all the way down to the passenger kick panel. For a simple tie in, you're done.

I had a small box I had to mount for the dash cam, so I removed the glove box. Open it, push away from you on the "stopper arm" with it mostly closed, and it pops off. Now simply lift up to unsnap the bottom, and wiggle left to right to free the top stops. No tools to remove the glove box, awesome! There is a connector on the back for the USB that needs to be removed.

From the passenger kick to the glove box is wide open, and there is tons of room behind the glove box to hide stuff. There are also about 5 grounding screws were the car's electronics are grounded, I loosened one and added my own to the stack.

Seriously, one of the easiest cars I've ever done this routing on, and one of the largest spaces behind the glove box. Would be a 1/10 project if not for the air bag, that makes it only a 2/10 though, just make sure to route the cables away from it and not in the path of where it would go off!

I'm pondering adding an inverter behind the glove box. One of my very few complaints about the Odyssey was that the only 110 outlet is all the way in the back. I'd like the passenger to be able to easily recharge a laptop on the road. I think I could hide a 400W unit behind there, run a cable through to the battery for juice, and jumper off the feed I already put in for the radar detector and dash cam to turn the relay on and off. The only thing I have to figure out to do that is how to get through the firewall, but I can't imagine that would be too hard.

I know this is a stretch given it's been three years since your post (so you may or may not still be a member), but is there any way you can post a pic of where you grounded your adapter wires? I'm planning to do a hardwire with an A119 dash cam into the passenger fuse on my -14 ody.

Removing A-Pillar trim / electrical routing.

bicknell

bicknell

BigBoat

Raistlin

bicknell

BigBoat

vcmh8tr

psychojet

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