I am trying to go stealth on my gps unit and want to hide a powerpoint behind the dash. I only want power with the key and I am wondering what to tie into for power? I was thinking about keeping the unit up high by the rearview and wondered if there is anything in the overhead console to tie into. I am okay mounting by the bag hook but don't know what to hack into. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

If you are somewhat saavy with a 12v tester light and don't mind pulling wires you could probably find an empty space for a fuse in the main fuse panel and then tie into that. Just use the tester to see if any of them are switched. You would then be able to pull the wires to wherever you wanted the power point to be. You would probably only have to pull the power wire, and you could tie into an existing ground. I am not sure what the draw is for your GPS, but I am always leery of tying into a circuit that is dedicated to something else. I have heard of people tying into the power from the rear view mirror, the overhead console, and the switched power source from the radio. I have also seen things tied into the circuit that lights the power switches in the back door. I am not advocating doing this, just saying I have seen it done. I am not a professional, but that is my $.02

EH

 

Be careful tieing straight into 12 volts as it may fry the unit. It may be better to tie a female power adapter into the 12 volt and then plugging your charging adapter into that.

 

I was planning on putting in a new power point (already bought it -- just doing my homework first). I don't have a tester to check the fuse box. i was looking at that idea and using a add-a-fuse but didn't even know where to start. I thought i would check here first to see if anyboby had a quick solution under the dash.

 

The owner's manual would give you some idea of unused fuses. A 12v tester (the type that has a pointy pencil type end with a light in it and an alligator clip on the other end)
Voltage Test Light
would be able to tell you what comes on with the ignition. I haven't poked around under my dash too much otherwise I would probably be able to give better directions.

EH

 

That's what I did on mine. I tapped into the radio switched power with a female adapter, ran the unmodified GPS cord behind the dash, and plugged it in.

I was going to tap into the powerpoint power behind the dash but I didn't want to leave the cord "hot" all the time. I recently got an email forward about a cell phone charger burning up someone's car when it was left plugged in. Not 100% sure if it was true but I figured why chance it?

 

I did not burn up my car, but I did almost melt my Garmin Nuvi. I plugged it into the charger for my Blackberry. I came back out to my truck after about two hours and the Nuvi was too hot to touch. I could see where that could start a fire. Not the same as just leaving the courd plugged in, but scary nonetheless.

EH

 

Curious I am

Are you talking about permanent mounting it in view ?

Currently I have the 765T on a bean bag that I throw on the dash when needed and put in center console when not....
I have a patch cord for the external speaker connection that I hide by running through the overhead console back to the rear dvd inputs so we can listen to our audio books thru the Ex's speakers.

but if we could make a mount that doesn't advertise "COME STEAL ME"
I might be game ....

your thoughts ? Thanks !

 

What year is your X? You have a lot of options, the best being off of the acc delay circuit.. Most important thing for you to decide is where you want the display mounted.. Everything after that is easy..

 

i just spoke with the wife and she would prefer it up by the rearview. i have it suction cupped to the windshield above the rearview. I would also like to leave it there for convience. We take it down and out of sight when out traveling. I just wanted to have power to it so i didn't have to remember to charge and hang. I am okay running a lead up to the overhead console but not sure if there is room for a power point hidden in it?

 

it is an 02 by the way.

 

IMO, the best thing to do is get yourself an add a fuse, and identify the existing fuse that feeds the stereo.. The stereo circuit is switched with the key and powered from under the dash.. Take your power from the CJB(Central Junction Box/fuse box) to above the console.. Bring in a good ground also..

You have the power point, so pulling the overhead console to see if it can be mounted in there is the next step.. It should just be a screw in one of the cubbys and friction clips holding it up.. Pull straight down to get it from the roof.... If you can get the power point mounted in there, here's how to wire it.. If you're not comfortable with wiring, find someone who is.. This isn't difficult work, but you don't want to create a fire danger.. Always disconnect the negative battery terminal(s) when you're doing work with the electrical system..

The way the add a fuse works.. Remove the existing fuse serving the desired circuit to be used(in this case, radio).. Install the add a fuse in it's place, which has terminals for two new fuses.. One set of terminals will protect the existing load of the circuit(radio).. Install the fuse you removed earlier into these terminals..

The second set of terminals is for protection of your added load(GPS).. The add a fuse has a small wire(pigtail) coming off of it and this is protected by the load side of a new fuse.. Install an appropriate fuse based on the size of the smallest wire you will be running to your new device.. The GPS unit will not draw much power, so a 5A fuse will be fine..

Now get some wire to run up to the console.. I suggest a pair of 16ga wires colored red and black.. The lighter color is typically the positive lead, darker is negative/ground.. Run a length of these wires from the overhead console (leaving a foot or so up there to work with), above the front edge of the headliner, down the A pillar, and near the fuse box.. Connect the red wire to the pigtail on the add a fuse, and the black to a good ground(a screw into bare metal) under the dash.. Get a basic terminal kit to crimp a ring connector onto your ground wire where it'll attach to the screw in bare metal, and for making other basic connections with your other wires...Make sure your connections are tight.. Install your fuses..

Connect the wires up top to the power point you've installed, making sure you have the positive and negative leads attached to the correct leads of the power point.. The positive lead will feed the center point down inside, while the negative is the inner wall of the power point.. This is very important.. You're assuring that you have the correct polarity for your future devices.. If it's reversed, you can fry them..

If all your wires are finished, reconnect the batteries..Get yourself a test light as suggested before.. This device will tell you if there is 12vt power present a the testing point by energizing a small light.. Take the alligator clip and connect it to a good ground(bare metal).. Take the pointed end of the test light and carefully touch the inner wall of your power point.. The light should stay off.. If it does light up, you have a reverse polarity situation and need to correct it in the console where you connected to the new power point.. If the light has stayed off, you can test the inner terminal of the power point.. With the alligator clip to ground, very carefully insert the test light probe into the power point, as to only touch the tip of the terminal down at the bottom.. Do not let the probe touch the sidewall and base terminal of the power point at the same time.. This will cause a direct short and you'll get sparks in your face.. If it all checks out, your ready to plug in and enjoy... If this is your first wiring job, you might want to find something cheaper to plug into the power point than your GPS, just to make sure it works correctly..

Make sure you post questions if you have them.. We don't know how much experience you have under the dash.. Get this project done and you'll know the basics to get just about anything wired on your truck..

 

W04X

That was a great well thought out post. Follow this info and you will have no issues down the road. Kudos W04X

 

Thanks Erik.. I'm all for people covering their vehicles in electrical gizmos..

 

thanks for the reply. that is excactly why i look here for info. I can already tell that that write up will be showing up all over this website for future reference. thanks again W04EX.