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How to: Turn cig. port on-off w/ ign. and override it

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  • How to: Turn cig. port on-off w/ ign. and override it

    Ok, so I recently got an FM transmitter and kept forgetting to shut it off when I turned my car off, thus it kept playing music. I noticed my fiancé’s Toyota shut the cigarette port off when she turned the car off, so I figured I'd do the same. The only thing is, I can recall on several occasions when I wanted to charge my phone in her car when the car was off and I couldn't, thus annoying me greatly. So, I wanted to setup the cigarette lighter port to turn on / off with the ignition as well as have an over ride switch to turn the port on when the car is off if I wanted to charge my phone when I was visiting grandma.

    Total project time: appr. 3 hours
    Total project cost: < $10
    Project Difficulty (1-10): appr. 6 if you have no wiring experience.

    So, this is my version of the relay activated cigarette port with manual override.

    These are the parts you will need:

    1. Single Pole Dual Throw (SPDT) relay - This is a five pin relay that you can buy at almost any car audio installation place. I checked Wal-Mart, radio shack and all auto parts stores and none of them had the relay. You can find a lot of them on eBay and they will come with a wiring harness. Typical relay should run between $3.50 and $8.00 depending on whether or not you get the wiring switch.

    2. A single pole single throw (SPST) switch - I used a non-lit low profile rocker switch. This is because of where I put the switch. But any SPST switch will work :-)

    3. 18 gauge wire - At a minimum I would use two colors, but to make sure you hook the right cables up to the right spots, up to 4 colors could be used.

    4. Electrical tape / heat activated electrical shrink tubing.

    5. (Optional) 1/4 inch, 18 gauge female terminal connectors - You can see these in my pictures below. I found that these terminal connectors fit perfectly over the switch and the relay. This kept me from having to solder everything to the relays and switches that making this a fairly simple job.

    6. Lot's of tools!! (ok, not really, but I like to work with as many tools as possible to make me feel better for having bought them.

    Steps:

    Part I: In the car
    1. Take the fuse panel from the passenger side off to gain access to the fuse box, cigarette lighter port wires, and cubby hole panel where the switch will be located.

    2. Since I chose to mount my switch in the cubby hole in front of the gear shifter, I extracted this. Now, many people will tell you that you need to tear apart you entire dash to get to this. I did not find it necessary. I merely pushed up on the piece to pop it out of the right tab. I then took an L-pick (similar to the ones at the dentist's office) and moved it around to unhook the left tab. The left tab sits kind of down inside the console so you'll have to push up and to the right to get it out. Just play with it a little bit.

    3. Once the panel tabs are popped out move the panel around a bit and push it through the console toward the fuse back. Reach up in there and grab it. It comes out pretty easy. Take the panel inside and get it ready for the drill.

    Part II, A: Drilling

    1. If you bought a switch like me, it came with a mounting bracket. Use this as your template for drawing a whole on the panel you are going to drill your hole into for the switch.

    2. Use the necessary bit to drill the hole for your switch. Since mine was almost 1 inch, I had to use a 7/8 inch wood drill bit. Trim the hole with a knife as needed to make the switch fit very snug. The final product should look something like:



    Now that your switch is mounted, it's time for the fun part!

    Part II, B: Wiring the relay:

    For reference, the wiring diagram for this setup looks like:



    These are the steps needed to accomplish this in the physical sense.

    1. Cut six (6) strips of 18 inch wire. You can follow the color code on the image able for guide on where these will go.

    2. Use a wire stripper and strip about 1/3 inch of wire at each end of the wires.

    3. On five (5) of the wires, place one female terminal connection on one end of the wire like this:



    4. On the sixth and final cable, put a terminal on both ends. This cable will be the connector from the switch to the center pole on the relay (87a).

    5. Plug each of the terminals wires into their designated pole on the relay and the switch. Your relay should look like this when you've connected each wire to the relay:



    6. Connect the double terminal ended wire from the switch to the center post on the relay. Should look like:



    Everything is wired you are ready to install in the car. Now, since I did not take the route of disassembling the dash, the work space was very small and pictures did not turn out useful. So, from here on out, you'll have to use verbal instruction only.

    Part III: Installation

    1. I chose to install the switch panel first to make sure I wasn't going through all this trouble and find out the switch didn't fit. I disconnected the wires from the switch and pushed the panel back up through the fuse panel access. Pushing it back over to the cubby hole, reinstalled the panel by pushing the back two tabs in first, then the left front tab, then finally the right front tab. I firm push down on top of the panel pushed everything into place.

    2. Reconnect the two wires you took off of the switch. You'll have to do this by feel as you cannot see the connections. It's doesn't matter which wire goes to which post on the switch. After the two ends are connected back onto the switch, make sure the wire which has a terminal connector on both sides is plugged back into the relay.

    3. Locate the back of the cigarette lighter port (CLP) through the fuse panel access. On the back of the CLP you will see a small, blue and grey piece which holds the power and ground cable for the CLP. Use a small flat head screw driver at the top of the grey section and pull out the grey section. Pull the set of wires as much out into the open as you can. If you need more room, you can remove the bolt holding the side of the console by using a small flat head screw driver and removing the bolt cover two inches from the access panel near the floor. The bolt has a 10mm head. Once you have removed this bolt, the panel will flex allowing you more room to work.

    4. Peel back the black electrical tape exposing the cables.

    5. Cut the red power cable approximately two - three inches from the grey terminal leaving enough room on each side of the cut to strip the cable and splice into the wire.

    6. Strip the cable on each side of the cut approximately 1/4 - 1/3 an inch.

    7. Slide small piece of the heat activated shrink wrap onto the cable on the side of the cut still connected to the grey piece and splice in the cable coming from the relay which is attached to pin 30. This is the green cable on the wire diagram above.

    8. Off the two wires connected to the switch, take the one with open wire and splice it to the cable coming from the switch connected to pin 87. This wire is red on the wire diagram.

    9. Take these two wires which are spliced together and slide a piece of the electrical shrink wrap over both of them, acting as one wire.

    10. Splice this pair of wires to the original wire of the CLP which is coming from the battery and no longer attached to the grey piece of the CLP.

    11. Take the black cable from the relay attached to pin 85 and ground it via the grounding bolt which is located just to the right of the fuse box toward the engine. The bolt head is 10mm and is already holding a black grounding wire for something else.

    12. Locate at fuse which turns off and on with the car. I used the fuse for seat warmers, but any one that turns off with the ignition will do. Once you have located a fuse, place the end of the remote wire from the relay on post 86 into the fuse slot and push the fuse back into place.

    13. Plug the grey connector for the CLP back into the back of the CLP

    You have now connected all wires from the switch and relay. If you have any open wires or connections, you have missed a step and should recheck the wiring diagram to see where the remaining wire should be connected.

    Before you close everything up, turn the key to the ignition and check your CLP with a device. Turn the car off and make sure the device does the same. Then, toggle the switch to the on position and see if the device has turned back on. If it has not, you missed a step or wired something incorrectly. Start over and make sure each wire is attached to the correct stop.

    After you have confirmed everything works as intended, take a small lighter and heat the shrink wrap around the wires you spliced earlier. I then used small black zip-ties to keep the wiring nice and neat and attached the relay to the large bundle of wires going to the fuse box; however, feel free to mount it anywhere. Put the cover of the fuse box back on and clean up your mess.

    Congrats, you now have a relay activated cigarette lighter port with manual override.

    This may sound like a lot of work to get this, but it was a fun project and very, very cheap. I can honestly say, this is one of the most gratifying modifications I've done to the G6 yet. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM. Good luck!!

    Nate
    2007 Black GTP w/ Taupe interior - SOLD 2/29/2012
    1/4: 14.341 @ 97.29 mph

  • #2

    Holy macaroni!! Alot of work for a kill switch, but i understand the purpose. Well done

    Just out of curiousty, why didnt you just find an ign. wire within the dash and tap in while leaving the cig. lighter as is?
    Hurricanes are like women : when they come, they're wet and wild, but when they leave they take your house and car.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Toyz

      Holy macaroni!! Alot of work for a kill switch, but i understand the purpose. Well done

      Just out of curiousty, why didnt you just find an ign. wire within the dash and tap in while leaving the cig. lighter as is?
      Thanks Kyle. Mainly because I would have had to manually turn the switch off and on each time I wanted to use or not use the port. Now, it does it automatically and all I have to do it turn it on when I want the CLP hot while ign. is off (which doesn't happen very often). Or am I not understanding your question right?
      2007 Black GTP w/ Taupe interior - SOLD 2/29/2012
      1/4: 14.341 @ 97.29 mph

      Comment


      • #4
        so our cig doesnt have a protection like inside lights huh? good to know

        Comment


        • #5
          I get what you are saying. Well done on both the endeavor and the how-to. Good work!
          Hurricanes are like women : when they come, they're wet and wild, but when they leave they take your house and car.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by bluegtp33
            so our cig doesnt have a protection like inside lights huh? good to know
            Nope. No rundown. Stinks.

            Nice writeup 07GTPBlackAndTan, glad you got it working!
            2009 PONTIAC G8
            MAGNETIC GRAY METALLIC

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by bluegtp33
              so our cig doesnt have a protection like inside lights huh? good to know
              If you are talking about protection from killing the battery, that I don't know. But I don't know it has always been hot when I had something plugged into it, no matter how long the car had been off.
              2007 Black GTP w/ Taupe interior - SOLD 2/29/2012
              1/4: 14.341 @ 97.29 mph

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Toyz
                I get what you are saying. Well done on both the endeavor and the how-to. Good work!
                Thanks for the compliments!
                2007 Black GTP w/ Taupe interior - SOLD 2/29/2012
                1/4: 14.341 @ 97.29 mph

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by ragingfish
                  Originally posted by bluegtp33
                  so our cig doesnt have a protection like inside lights huh? good to know
                  Nope. No rundown. Stinks.

                  Nice writeup 07GTPBlackAndTan, glad you got it working!
                  Thank you much. I don't know that this mod will apply to a lot of people, but for those who are trying the FM transmitter thing, it's a nice add-on.
                  2007 Black GTP w/ Taupe interior - SOLD 2/29/2012
                  1/4: 14.341 @ 97.29 mph

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Great job on the write up.
                    G6P member 340

                    G8 GT 334 0f 1st 888
                    Pedders Street II suspension. Pedders Strut Tower bar. VMS HSRK, VMS PCM/TCM tune, Forged and Stroked LS3, Garrett Turbo
                    Borla Cat back. SLP underdrive pulley. FAST ported 102 intake and TB ported. BMR trailing arms, Circle D 3200 stall converter.
                    20 percent tint by Scott's tinting and graphics.

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