2006 Lightning 38 stereo help
 

Hey guys. Routing wire from head unit in cabin to side dash for wired remote. Thought there was hole under dash..no such luck. Anyone ever do this? What do I remove to get access and fish wires through? Where's the main wiring? Nothing under step in the cabin either. Thx

Not sure how the newer fountains are, but in my 98 32', you can unscrew the cover inside the cuddy, behind the cuddy door. It has 12-ish covered screws, pull the staples out of the vinyl, if you have a staple gun to put then back in, and you'll probably find a hole already drilled. Mine has power wires for the stereo, sink, and cabin lights running to the cabin power switch on the gunwale at the right of the helm. All that being said, the wires run ABOVE the cabin step after you remove the interior cover. My stereo amps are mounted in the driver's side footwell, and yours may be in a different location, but that's how I ran mine with the holes already drilled.
I hope this gets you headed in the right direction.

I removed both side panels and went from one gunwhale to the other, on top of the fuel tanks with a fish tape. The passengers side gunwhale gives access to the stereo wiring.

There are some wires on mine going through that wall behind the dash to power the compass and signal the depth finder in the cabin bilge. However it looked far more complicated so I just went my route.

dont know if you have the head hooked up yet but if you have the amp in the cabin, the groun wire is going to have to be like a 0 or 00 or the stereo wont work.

But as for what you are doing, can you go up and above the head liner and drill a hole beind the dash?

Already have head unit powered up and working. Will try taking off panel. Hopefully it's not a big PITA

hey if its sunny and 60 I may put in do a shake done run

Would love to bobby. No props. Marina is closed sat and boat is locked inside. Still new to do both impellers. Doesn't look good for me

Well I've tried just about everything. Took the interior trim panels off under the dash along the side....in the head on the back wall....in the hallway around the head door and even around the cabin doors. NOTHING NADDA ZIP ZERO. No access to anything!!! I can stick my head on the storage slider by the back seat and see that the old wired remote was wired in and zip tied from the factory. Wires all seem to dive around a corner and behind the dash...but no access to that point from under the dash and no access underneath...What the hell is the deal? Tired of taking this boat apart...and now I have a 2' hole where the old remote was. Does anyone have any ideas?

Remove the lower leg of the bolster, then remove the side panel that has the sliding door. With that panel off you can fit you whole body in the gun whale area. You can then fish the wire to the other side over the fuel tanks like I told you in an earlier post. I have had my boat stripped to nothing, I wouldn't lie to you...that is where the wires are ran.


Also The back wall of the bathroom behind the toilet, but you will have to cut the vinyl wall in the bathroom and fish across the headliner. Would be a very difficult task

I attempted to do so but I cannot get the panel off without unbolting the driver bolster! The damn plastic piece was put on before the seat and it keeps it from coming off!! Such a PITA. Wish I never would have started this stupid idea.

If you take the top of the back seat off, and the leg off the bolster, you can fish it out without removing the bolster. I remove mine all the time this way, my stereo amps are behind one panel.

Or, just remove the 4 bolts holding the bolster on through the hole in the cabinet. If you have a 5 year old that can turn a wrench they can stand in the gun whale for you :lolhit:

Well I finally did it....took waay too long but ran wire threw both gun whales, across back seat storage and then used electricians tape to fish through the 1.5" hole running into cabin. What a stupid setup!!!! Kept some rope in there just in case I wanted to run RCA's and power cable later for subs. Don't plan on it anytime soon!!!!

yeah I dont think fountain had stereos in mind when they set up their boats. I think I spent over 8 hours hooking mine up. the drill was getting very tempting after hour 4.