How To: Install An Amp In a Dodge Caliber

I got my amp installed today, and figured that i would write up a how to, seeing as how i didnt find a decently detailed one on here.

On my car, i didnt want to drill ANY holes, or splice any wires, therefore, i did a few things differently than i would normally do with an amp install.

Instead of splicing wires, i opted for wire taps. Wire taps have a bad rep, BUT i find them to work great, and there is no harm done to the wiring on the car.

I also mounted the amp to the back of the box. I realize that this is not the most secure way to do things, BUT again, i DID NOT want to drill ANY holes on the car.

Obviously, you will need some basic tools, screwdrivers, socket wrench and sockets, etc etc..


First order of business, DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY!! Its always a good measure to disconnect your batter when your working with anything electrical


I chose to run my power wire though a grommet right next to the gas pedal. The hole is JUST big enough to run 4awg wire and have the a/c drain tube fit though. It is a tight squeeze, but it works perfectly.

Here is the grommet, the a/c drain tube has a white stripe on it.







your going to need to peel the carpet up a little bit, its a litte tight there, but you can get your hand in there no problem and push it though there



Under the hood, i had to remove the battery cover, and intake box. Intake box comes out really easy, unscrew the hose clamp that connects the tubing to the box, and then give a little tug on the box, and it pops right out.



You will see your wire coming through right above the power steering rack, pull it out and towards the battery


Now that you have your wire run, attatch the fuse and ring terminal to the wire, and get a general measurement of how much slack you need to get it from the grommet to the battery. The less wire you run through there the better, becuase it gives you more slack later on

Run your wire, and make sure to zip tie the wire up so that it doesnt rub on anything hot and burn the insulation, that could cause a FIRE, and thats never good.


so here is my wire, all ran and wrapped in a wire cover


Dont connect the power yet, your battery should still be unplugged..

After you are done with that, move into the car, and work on your remote wire. I run the power and remote wire on the drivers side of the car, becuase they carry current, and running rca's and power wire can cause massive amounts of engine whine or noise thorough your rca's and that is also never good or fun to fix.

I tapped the remote wire onto the cig lighter wiring.

Remove your shifter, and the bezel around the shifter so it looks like this:



Remove the two screws, and set them aside in a safe place. The lower panel will then come loose, and give you better access to the cig lighter. Be careful, because the wiring for the cig lighter is very tight, not much slack, so you wouldnt want to pull out any wiring.

Tap your wire, the wire with pink is your hot wire, that turns on and off with the car, that is the wire you want to tap into. DO NOT PUT THE PANEL BACK ON YET



After wire is tapped, run the remote wire along, under the carpet towards your power wire. Make sure you take your time and hide everything nicely and make sure there is enough slack in the lines.

When i run the power and remote wires, i use a little electrical tape, and tape the remote and power wires together. This makes it easier to run both wires at the same time, and keeps things looking clean.

You will need to pull the panels along the floorboard off to run the wire. The kick panels are a tad tricky and tight, just make sure to take your time and do things right. The kick panels are held on by a black round looking clip, word of warning, these things are CHEAPLY made, and i broke one of them putting it back on. Wasnt using any force or anything, just cheap thin plastic bent.

So, run your remote and power wire along to the back, again, take your time and make it look clean and do it right the first time.

Once its ran to the back, you will have this, notice the remote and power wires taped together


Now, depending on what radio you have, this may or may not apply to you. I am keeping the stock radio for now, so i needed to install a line output converter. Cost about 25 bucks at best buy.

Pull the rest of your dash apart from when you installed your remote wire. It is just clipped on there, and takes a little patience and tugging to get off. Just be careful to not tug too hard and crack your radio surround and or break tabs.

Pull your radio out, it is held in by four screws, set those aside in a safe place.

Disconnect your radio, and set that aside.

Now, to install the line out converter, depending on what line out converter you buy, tap into the rear speaker wire coming out of the back of the radio. Your loc should come with instructions to tell you what wires go where. Simply match them up with the wires on the radio harness

Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Dark Green/Dark Blue
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Dark Green/Brown
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Gray/Dark Blue
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Gray/Orange

And this is what it should look like when you are done:


Now, you can connect your rca's to the loc, and run the down the PASSERGER side of the car. Same process for running power wire, pull the panels, and tuck the wire nicely. Take your time, make it look good!

Now, keep your dash taken apart, becuase depending on the loc, it should be adjustable in how much power it puts out, you may need to adjust this once you get the amp and sub in and wired up.

SO by this time, you should have a power wire, remote wire, and rca's run.

Now its time for the ground. The seat bolts will work prefectly for this. There is a smaller bolt, a 13mm that i used. Unbolt that, and sand the area down to bare metal where your ground wire will go. Make sure to use a rung terminal on your ground wire, and place it over the screw, and re-bolt the seat bolt back down.

I chose to mount the amp to the box, so if your going to mount it the the seat back, now is the time to get that done.

Connect all your wiring to the amp, rca, power, ground, remote, etc.. connect your sub to the amp.

At this point, you should have your amp and sub connected and in your trunk, your dashboard should still be apart with the radio still out.



Go and plug your radio back in, but leave it unscrewed in case you need to take it out to adjust the loc..

Now, plug your battery back in, attatch the power wire to your positive terminal, and put your air box and etc.. back in place.

Now, moment of truth. Start up your car, and see if the amp turns on, if it does, then make sure you are getting sound out of your sub.

At first, start with your gain and all settings the lowest they will go. Slowly turn the gain up to match the voltage from the loc. You may or may not need to adjust the loc to suit your needs, i needed to adjust mine.

Once everything is set up, and tuned right, then put your radio back in, screw it in, and put your dash back together.

Now, youre done. Bump safely and smart!