Install/hiding wires of a windshield mounted “dash” cam

KentuckyKen said:
Thanks. I will reinspect immediately and have a trusted mechanic look at it.
Better safe than sorry.
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If you look at this picture you will see where Kyle's Clarity ran his over the bag. I did the same and it was pretty easy. Not a piece of cake, but not bad, either.

Kyle’s Clarity said:
I got some feedback on this on my post on Reddit. It’s pretty tight and running the wires (for the hardwire line and the rear camera) behind the airbag is a bit tedious but it’s doable. I was rewiring my incorrectly wired install so I ran the cable from the door frame under the airbag toward the camera (not from the camera, under the airbag, toward the doorframe as I indicate in the instructions) and I managed to get it. The included cables have some chunky parts (ferrite core and the USB connectors themselves) that require some nudging to get through. I feel like coming from the other side (across the headliner to the pillar and under the airbag) would be an order of magnitude more difficult because visibility would be practically 0.

This is the best picture I could get of the wiring under the airbag at the seam between the headliner and the pillar of the driver’s side door:
index.php


Excuse my fingernail. The plastic in these parts is treacherous.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
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@KentuckyKen somewhat OT for this thread but I know in the past you have mentioned disconnecting the 12V battery cable for a few minutes as a way to basically reboot the car, which sometimes can cure odd problems. I noticed in reading through the emergency responder manual linked to in post #36 above it mentions on page 16 that you can completely power off the car by pressing and holding the power switch for three seconds. According to the document this:

"turns off the vehicle and immediately shuts down the high-voltage system controllers,
thereby preventing current flow into the cables. It also cuts power to the airbags and the front seat belt tensioners, though these pyrotechnic devices have up to a 3-minute deactivation time."

So that may do the same thing. It's not mentioned in the regular owners manual at least not that I could find, but I wouldn't think it does any harm.

The responder document says if this is not possible they can accomplish the same thing by cutting the 12V cable and the DC-DC cable at the points marked with the yellow tags. So that's why I'm assuming that pressing and holding the power button for three seconds will accomplish the same thing as disconnecting the 12V cable.
 
2002 said:
So that's why I'm assuming that pressing and holding the power button for three seconds will accomplish the same thing as disconnecting the 12V cable.
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That’s handy to know as that would be much easier and safer than physically disconnecting the 12 V lead. Trouble is, I just tried it and there got no indication that it did a hard reset because I did not get the plethora of warnings upon restart or loss of history and resulting range reset. So I couldn’t get it to do a hard reset. In fact it didn’t give any indication it did anything other than turn off the car as usual. Anybody else tried this?

Ohliuw said:
The problem with approach is that the wire passes in front of the airbag, so it might cause issues if it has to deploy...
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Ohliuw said:
The airbag is one piece that extends all the way form the dash to the rear seats. Page 9 of the emergency response guide:

https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/web/AJA07616.pdf

So if you run it across the joint, it would interfere.
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I asked the service manager about that and after the expected mandatory “we don’t recommend any modifications to any part of any Honda car...”, he shared this with me sub rosa.
The side curtain air bag covers both the front and back row so my power cable does in fact go over it. However there are two considerations that make it a moot point. First, the cable runs down the A pillar (after going over the airbag) under the gasket so it is easily pulled out by the explosion of the air bag initiator and has plenty of play so as not be a choke point. And mine plugs into the cam and can easily be ripped out by said explosion. So although he could not give it the Official Honda Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, he said off the record, common sense says the way it’s routed vs. the way the airbag deploys is not a concern and he would be comfortable leaving it like it is. He mentioned the explosive force is going to rip off the trim pieces and headliner like they’re not even there. So pulling the wire out of the gasket with the opening facing in the direction of the pull coupled with the geometry means it’s not going to matter a bit. I was glad to hear that since I can be safe without having to do a lot of rework.
He also mentioned the side airbags deploy out of the front seats and pretty much destroy the seat in the process. He was of the opinion that any accident severe enough to deploy the airbags would more than likely total a Clarity.
 
KentuckyKen said:
I just tried it and there got no indication that it did a hard reset because I did not get the plethora of warnings upon restart or loss of history and resulting range reset.
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What I'm thinking now is the power button probably just shuts down what the responders manual says it does which is the high voltage system and the pyrotechnics for the air bags and seatbelt tensioner. The pyrotechics are on the 12V system so that would explain why the backup method requires cutting not only the DC cable but also the 12V cable.
 
Quick question - any issues with using 3m tape for holders over the polka dot section of the windshield? I've been using a suction cup underneath this section, but wonder if the 3m tape could pull the dots out in the event I may need to remove the holder. My wife's Ody, the dots are embedded inside the windshield so no issues on using a suction cup there.
 
su_A_ve said:
Quick question - any issues with using 3m tape for holders over the polka dot section of the windshield? I've been using a suction cup underneath this section, but wonder if the 3m tape could pull the dots out in the event I may need to remove the holder. My wife's Ody, the dots are embedded inside the windshield so no issues on using a suction cup there.
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We need someone with a broken windshield to have the repair shop give them the dotted area so they can perform such tests.
 
insightman said:
We need someone with a broken windshield to have the repair shop give them the dotted area so they can perform such tests.
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Well, yeah.. but I'm sure someone else has done this before. All prior cars, the dots were inside the windshield itself so the area was glass. I don't like to 'stick' stuff if I'm not sure taking it out will cause problems. Like sticking stuff on the dashboard. I'm sure you can slowly take it out but chances are the are will get some sort of discoloration. In the case of the dots, I'm concerned these will come off.
 
So, going to rewire my camera soon (as soon as the true 4k A129 Pro comes out, possibly next week) to enable parking mode. As part of this, need to wire down the A-Pillar (I currently have a switched tap to the mirror). Does anyone have a nice guide to disabling the airbag and pulling the A-pillar cover written up?

thanks
 
JustAnotherPoorDriver said:
So, going to rewire my camera soon (as soon as the true 4k A129 Pro comes out, possibly next week) to enable parking mode. As part of this, need to wire down the A-Pillar (I currently have a switched tap to the mirror). Does anyone have a nice guide to disabling the airbag and pulling the A-pillar cover written up?

thanks
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Best way to disable it is to disconnect the 12v and let the system shut off. The a pillar has a clip within the side airbag stamp. Pull that and the other clips pull out.
 

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Search the Clarity forum for VIOFO and you will find a thread titled "Experience Hardwiring VIOFO A129..." There is a picture there that shows placing the wire above the air bag. That is what I did.
 
And make sure when you disconnect the 12 V system that you wait a while before proceeding. Someone posted a doc that said it needed a few minutes to de-energize to a safe, non-functional state.
 
Wow - you guys have covered a TON of ground. The only other thing I'm gonna contribute is that I ran all my wiring through the little cover that the powered rear view mirror wires go through. The only catch there was that the original OEM cover wouldn't fit anymore with all the wires, so I had to 3D print a new deeper cover to hide the wires. Will take some pictures later.
 
your_chum said:
Wow - you guys have covered a TON of ground. The only other thing I'm gonna contribute is that I ran all my wiring through the little cover that the powered rear view mirror wires go through. The only catch there was that the original OEM cover wouldn't fit anymore with all the wires, so I had to 3D print a new deeper cover to hide the wires. Will take some pictures later.
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If you have the 3D printer file, it would be appreciated...
 
Oh, wow, that's an old post, but thanks to multiple member's contributions it's a treasure trove!

Going to be installing the Thinkware FA200, also want to use fuse slots 2 and 18 -- I don't have the car yet, what size are these? Regular, small, mini? I want to order the add-a-circuit ahead of time.

Thanks!
 
Stan-O said:
Oh, wow, that's an old post, but thanks to multiple member's contributions it's a treasure trove!

Going to be installing the Thinkware FA200, also want to use fuse slots 2 and 18 -- I don't have the car yet, what size are these? Regular, small, mini? I want to order the add-a-circuit ahead of time.

Thanks!
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they are low-profile mini fuse iirc
 
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