Dear Club,
I've a Tomtom One GPS system that I want to hard wire to the car. I don't like the look of thinks plugged into the cigarette lighter--looks "Kragen-ish" to me. I want to mount the Tomtom and have the wire tucked inside the right side of the stereo/console. I don't know much about this car nor am I an advanced electrician. I used to splice cable & install telephone/DSL for SBC so I know a little somethting-something--but no "tech-talk" please, as I am unfamiliar with the wiring of our car.

Please, anyone can you help me with clear step by step instructions on how to/where to wire the end of the tomtom cable to the car? I was thinking maybe having the added security of a fuse and so that it would cease to "suck" power after the car has been turned off--not the engine but with the key out of the ignition?

Any serious attempts to explain this to me would be very appreciated as I don't really want to pay BestBuy like $300 to do it if I could do it myself.

 

Just splice it into the back of the cigarette lighter once you remove the ashtray. Simple and hidden. Piggyback connectors would do this nicely.

 

Mr. Wilson is right, use the lighter.

Take off gear shift ****,
Pull straight up on leather shift boot,
Lift shifter surround straight up and off,
Unscrew (2) lighter/ashtray unit,
On the back of the lighter is a 12v switched wire,and a decent ground,
Splice and run wires back and up near glovebox.

S

 

Now with this splice, the cigarette lighter fuse will protect both, no? Also, will I still be able to use the lighter & gps at the same time?

 

Yes,

and Yes.

The cigarette lighter has a 15 amp fuse, that's good for about 180 watts, WAY more than you'll need.

S

 

More? The thing is I need less, no? To protect my GPS, I don't want a "larger" capacity fuse. I think it needs like a 2a or something puny...

 

then splice and put in a 2 amp fuse...

beers

 

Question for a few of you...

I'm thinking of doing generally the same thing with my Garmin Nuvi 350...EXCEPT I was hoping to maybe be able to run it up higher to the map lights/sunglass case region. I would imagine that splicing into the sunroof switch would be optimal, considering how it is a accessory power switch, meaning it's only on when the ignition is turned on.

I read that there was a mod done to hook a V1 up there, but they spliced into the mirror. This is slightly different, and i'm looking for anyone that knows which colored wires would be negative and with is 12V accessory power.

Any reason why the sunroof wouldn't be a great idea? Would i need to change out any fuses?

Thanx in advance.

 

I, too, wanted to put my Gps up high. Either in the sun-visior or by the sun-glasses compartment. The thing is, most gps's need "line-of-sight" to the sky. That is, unless you have an external antenna, which is more wire running/concealing. I've read a good thread on here where someone put the antenna pod inside their 3rd brake light! Sounds like a ton of work though...

 

why not put the antenna on the back of the rear view mirror...

i stuff my garmin gps 10 reciever there all the time and get great reception..


beers

 

ok...WORD TO THE WISE fellas...

if your GPS unit has a regulator on the cigarette cord adaptor, you MUST MUST MUST include it when you hardwire it. Even if you have to stuff a TON of wire up there (because the regulator is usually located on the end where the adaptor plugs into the lighter), you still MUST include it.

I was never informed of this, and just recently learned the hard way...

...yes...i fried my unit by sending 12V to it. Apparently only 5V was called for.


DO NOT FORGET THIS STEP. I hope no one else has to experience this. It's an EXPENSIVE loss.

 

Any body has a photo of how it looks like when you wire it behind the cigaratte lighter? or any other installation of the GPS?

 

I'd imagine most people are wise enough to forego this step. I know my above post says it all, but just make 210% sure you know what your doing before you hardwire anything besides a radar detector. I'd successfully hardwired 3 radar dectors and still wouldn't suggest this.

It's a gamble where the house usually has the upper hand.

 

Or you could hardwire it down to the fuse box by the bottom sill of the driver's side door. Best Buy sells a fuse kit that is plug and play for about $13. Comes with universal adapters. All you would do is use the ACC fuse. Then all you do is push the wire down into the crevace between the windshield and the dash, and you have a very nice looking hardwire job.

 

^^^This is what I plan on doing. I use the cigarette lighter for my computer so I don't want anything else connected to it.