How to get a cord into Model Y?

[TechOps]

I am wanting to have an entry point for a Starlink cable to come into the Model Y without leaving a window down or the hatch opened. When I put the cable in the corner of the rear hatch and close it, it really bites down on it.

Does anyone have a good solution of how to get a cable into the vehicle while it's fully closed, without affecting the waterproof / sealed nature of the car? Maybe cut out a small corner of the rear hatch rubber seal or something? This could equally be used for a power cord, extension cord, antenna, etc. Any suggestion that is minimally intrusive to the vehicle or undo-able is appreciated.

 

[nate704]

Drill a hole in the corner of the rear hatch? It will be way better than cutting out the rubber seal which might cause a leak.

 

[Watts_Up]

I installed an additional rear view camera and I found an unused grommet behind one of the rear read lights,
so I was able to pass thought a wire without making any additional hole.

I I would recommend removing one of the rear read lights and see if you can find a way to pass thought
your cable using or sharing an existing hole.

 

[C-Bus Y]

Drill a hole in the corner of the rear hatch? It will be way better than cutting out the rubber seal which might cause a leak.

Do not drill a hole in hatch. Use an exiting grommet.

 

[nate704]

Do not drill a hole in hatch. Use an exiting grommet.

There is no grommet on the exterior of the car. You might be able to run the cable through the under the rear bumper and through the rear bumper side air vents inside the bumper cover, but I don't think OP will want to run the wires that long from the Starlink receiver to the bottom of the rear bumper on the outside of the car.

 

[Watts_Up]

There is no grommet on the exterior of the car.

There are some behind the rear red light, may be to accomodate some particular foreign countries specific lighting requirements.

 

[mswlogo]

There are some behind the rear red light, may be to accomodate some particular foreign countries specific lighting requirements.

Probably some in firewall too. Then go around frunk tub and out under the front grill or wheel well. Sure there are many paths out with no new holes.

Might be something you could do around charge port too.

Curious what OP is trying to do and what is “starlink” to do with it. Why do you need a LAN connection in the car?

 

[nate704]

I was talking about the actual exterior without taking things off. Of course there are so many access points when you start removing stuff.

 

[mswlogo]

I was talking about the actual exterior without taking things off. Of course there are so many access points when you start removing stuff.

Again, no idea what you are doing. If you want to do it right, poping off a few panels here and there, ONCE, to extend the point of connection to some place water tight and convenient is worth doing.

If you want a hack, then just shut the door on the cable running out the bottom.

You can also get flat Ethernet cable. But I don’t know if you are running coax to just a Starlink dish or what.

 

[TechOps]

Curious what OP is trying to do and what is “starlink” to do with it. Why do you need a LAN connection in the car?

I will be in the middle of nowhere with the Model Y as power source for Starlink. The inverter plugs into the model Y's cigarette port, and then the Starlink plugs into the inverter. I need to run the cable to the satellite dish which sits on the ground outside the car, hence the need for a cable to go outside. I will be in a dusty and windy environment so I want to leave doors and windows closed.

Closing the rear hatch (or a door) on the cable causes a lot of pressure / crimping, which will degrade the cable pretty fast, which is why I asked for suggestions here.

 

[mswlogo]

I see now.

I don’t know how thick the cable is.

You should check what kind of coax it is.
If it’s a standard impedance you can replace it (or a section) easy and might find a thin variant of it.

Depends how long you are gonna be there on how good you want to make it. If only a week or two you can probably close your hatch on it. You could raise the stops on the hatch so it doesn’t clamp as hard. Should be some leeway there.

 

[ED_SFO]

I see now.

I don’t know how thick the cable is.

You should check what kind of coax it is.
If it’s a standard impedance you can replace it (or a section) easy and might find a thin variant of it.

Depends how long you are gonna be there on how good you want to make it. If only a week or two you can probably close your hatch on it. You could raise the stops on the hatch so it doesn’t clamp as hard. Should be some leeway there.

I like the idea of adjusting the tail gate bump stops. I would also wrap where the cable gets pinched with a little foam and tape...it would help protect it over the long term.

 

[Mrbrock]

I will be in the middle of nowhere with the Model Y as power source for Starlink. The inverter plugs into the model Y's cigarette port, and then the Starlink plugs into the inverter. I need to run the cable to the satellite dish which sits on the ground outside the car, hence the need for a cable to go outside. I will be in a dusty and windy environment so I want to leave doors and windows closed.

Closing the rear hatch (or a door) on the cable causes a lot of pressure / crimping, which will degrade the cable pretty fast, which is why I asked for suggestions here.

Have you tried your setup to see if it works? I know the cigarette lighter didn’t provide enough wattage to power an LED tv. It’s only 12A at 12V. Converting to 120 leaves you 1.2A.

Also, I was able to insert a 1/4” od into tube into my rear hatch seal to stiffen it to reduce boominess inside the car. If your cable is less than 1/4” od it should close just fine. The rear seal has a lot of air inside.

 

[nate704]

As I mentioned above, your best access route is thru the bottom of the either side of the rear bumper cover and there are air vents inside either side of the rear bumper

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/attachments/pxl_20220227_194256003-jpg.786147/

 

[Mrbrock]

As I mentioned above, your best access route is thru the bottom of the either side of the rear bumper cover and there are air vents inside either side of the rear bumper

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/attachments/pxl_20220227_194256003-jpg.786147/

The privacy cover works nicely. Audio sounds good. Navigation history shows multiple trips to SpaceX.

Also, the car came with the mobile charger, which was a nice surprise. I suspect the Tesla employee who went to SpaceX packed the charger "just in case."

Car is off getting an XPEL Stealth PPF wrap now.

I will be in the middle of nowhere with the Model Y as power source for Starlink. The inverter plugs into the model Y's cigarette port, and then the Starlink plugs into the inverter. I need to run the cable to the satellite dish which sits on the ground outside the car, hence the need for a cable to go outside. I will be in a dusty and windy environment so I want to leave doors and windows closed.

Closing the rear hatch (or a door) on the cable causes a lot of pressure / crimping, which will degrade the cable pretty fast, which is why I asked for suggestions here.

To OP, are you loving the car at all while in the middle of nowhere? Or just parking it for a period of time?

If moving it daily, going through a panel will not work unless there is an easy way to add an additional patch cable to disconnect the dish.