2001 Chevy Impala

Post by **firemed9** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 7:03 pm

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I finally broke done and bought a semi-new car to replace the truck. I bought a 2001 Green Chevy Impala. Heres the scoop, I need tips on how to do my install in this car. here is a list of whats going in it:

* 1 Kenwood Tk-760 VHF
* 1 Fedral Signal Switch Panel
* 1 Motorola Maxtrac UHF
* Whelen Dashmiser II (above the mirror)
* 2 Sho-me LED grille lights
* 1 Survivor light charger
* 1 Streamlight SL-20xp charger
* 1 HT 600 vehicle charger

Any suggestions on where to tap power? I plan on putting the HT charger and the Survivor light charger in the trunk.

Thank you in advance.
Steve

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 7:40 pm

On the Impalas, entry can be made directly in the middle of the firewall. If you stand in front of the car and look at the middle of the firewall and down there is a large grommet. Using a pullrod, (an antenna rod sharpened at both ends) push down and to your left. The pullrod will come out at the passenger's side floorboard near the air conditioning duct. Tape all wires that you need to run outside to the pullwire. Add a little soap, and it will come out very easily.

As for the power, on the passenger's side of the engine compartment there is a power distribution box. On the side of the box is two red plastic covers, use the top one marked battery for your power.

It's that easy.

As for the chargers, I would run a 14 gauge wire from the battery to the chargers, and find a common ground in the trunk. As for entry from the trunk to the passenger compartment, if you fold down the carpet that lines the trunk on the floor where the shock tower meets and towards the edge of the seat, there is a hole were the taillight wiring goes to the back just follow it back into the passenger compartement.

Mountings another issue, personally I would look into getting a console for an Impala to mount everything in since you have a few pieces of equipment going into your vehicle.

FFParamedic571 · Post by **FFParamedic571** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 10:26 pm

I agree with Fire-Medic on the power. One word of caution with using the factory hole. The Manifold is right by that hole. Try to keep any wires as close to the Firewall as possible. We used that hole on the first cars in 2000. We now drill a hole in the firewall just behind the antifreeze resevior.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 4:54 am

fire-medic8104 wrote:Mountings another issue, personally I would look into getting a console for an Impala to mount everything in since you have a few pieces of equipment going into your vehicle.

Last I knew, Jaymz had a Jotto Desk contour type console for the Impala that he was trying to get rid of. He bought it to see if it would work with his Lumina; no dice. You may want to shoot him a PM if you're interested.

JAYMZ · Post by **JAYMZ** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 8:02 am

I still have it. Check your PMs.....

jim · Post by **jim** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 2:34 pm

The firewall hole is much easier to make if you do it on the passenger side righ above the floorpan/firewall seam. It's away from all exhaust and easy to get to. When you peel away the firewall liner, you'll see a depression in the corner of the sheetmetal right near the condenser drain. This is where to drill.
Under the hood, you'll peel away a small section of heat blanket on the firewall near the condenser drain. The harness will run between the coolant bottle and the strut tower to the fron of the car.

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 4:54 pm

I guess I forgot to tell him about the exhaust.

You know how when you do these all the time, you get into the habit of doing but not telling. Yes, the exhaust is close. We normally loom these wires, tie wrap to the cross bar, and use a loom clamp to secure between the bar and the hole. It keeps it tight against the body that way.

007 · Post by **007** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 1:24 pm

You can also use the existing harness grommet (it's rather large) on the upper part of the passenger side footwell. You can easily pass 2 8ga and 6-10 10/12/14 ga wires thru it, in addition to the existing 1/2in wire harness in the grommet. You run your wires thru the slits in the rubber above and below the factory harness, and poke a hole thru the rubber boot on the other side to pull the wires thru. Put some silicon on the boot when done, and you are good to go. Follow the factory harness up and over to the battery/distribution panel area and you good to go. I just loomed and tie wrapped my harness to the factory harness with no problems after 6+ months now.

You can see the whole article on this at http://www.impalahq.com, under the "how to" section. it is the 5th acticle down on the right side of the page.

This is where I have '02 LS harness. I have 2 8ga, 2 10ga and 6 14ga wires going thru it....not all are power though: some are relay control lines from my SmartSiren for my pushbar lights, etc.

Hey Jim- Where can I drill a seperate hole relative to the that grommet to run a couple 6ga wires thru for my X9000's?

007 · Post by **007** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 1:57 pm

fire-medic8104 wrote:On the Impalas, entry can be made directly in the middle of the firewall. If you stand in front of the car and look at the middle of the firewall and down there is a large grommet. Using a pullrod, (an antenna rod sharpened at both ends) push down and to your left. The pullrod will come out at the passenger's side floorboard near the air conditioning duct.

I just went out and looked at mine....You are talking about the hole with the spongey rubber "plug" that is directly behind the metal bracket that the gray engine cover is held in place by, right? It is to the left of, and lower, from the heater hoses.

On my car, the shifter cable comes out this hole (I have console shift). Is this the hole you speak of?

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 4:16 pm

That's the one. I wondered why it was there if they didn't run anything through it. Now I know it was for the shift cable. Is that the only thing going through it? If so, I assume you could still use this if you wanted.

FFParamedic571 · Post by **FFParamedic571** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 5:44 pm

That was the place I was talking about Jim. I just finished an Impala ( non Police package). I had to fit an 8g 14x2 zip 3 14g and 2 whelen strobe cables thorugh a 1 1/4 hole with a grommet. Its tight. Having the accessory drop in the polce package is nice.

007 · Post by **007** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 7:09 pm

Thanks guys! I didn't ever look that hard at that hole, since it had the shifter cable coming thru it....I will have to re-examine it for usability.

The only drawback to using the factory grommet down low that I mentioned/used is getting at the backside of it. It is right above and behind the right side of the steering rack. It is easist reached with a small arm/hand by reaching into the engine compartment between the anti-roll bar and half axle. Even going that way, your arm ends up looking like a ballet dancer by the time you get it in there.

007 · Post by **007** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 7:13 pm

fire-medic8104 wrote:That's the one. I wondered why it was there if they didn't run anything through it. Now I know it was for the shift cable. Is that the only thing going through it? If so, I assume you could still use this if you wanted.

That's it....it is a small (about 1/4 in.) and hard cable too, no flex in it whatsoever. If one had to, they could use the quick-disconnect on the cable (usually next to the cruise control module) to be able to move it around a little. Once the snow is gone and it warms up, I will have to look at using it....I like the fact I could run the wires up higher and see the whole harness, unlike now.