How to find accessory power source

[Lib 3.0LR]

As the title suggests, can anyone out there point me in the right direction in locating an accessory power source in our cars, as I don't want to use the cigarette lighter as a power source. If anyone can tell me the colour of the wire under the dash that I can tap into, it would be much appreciated.

[Dropz]

Grab a multimeter and start poking. Personally i reckon the cigarette lighter power is the best for aftermarket gadgets. Alternatively, run a wire from the battery and throw a relay in it switched by the cigarette lighter. The reason I wouldn't want to use another wire is because I wouldn't want to risk tapping into a wire relating to the ECU or ABS or any of that stuff. if you use the cigarette lighter (or even the radio power) then you know you're not affecting anything safety related or engine related.

Out of curiosity, why are you hunting down an accessory wire?

[Lib 3.0LR]

Grab a multimeter and start poking. Personally i reckon the cigarette lighter power is the best for aftermarket gadgets. Alternatively, run a wire from the battery and throw a relay in it switched by the cigarette lighter. The reason I wouldn't want to use another wire is because I wouldn't want to risk tapping into a wire relating to the ECU or ABS or any of that stuff. if you use the cigarette lighter (or even the radio power) then you know you're not affecting anything safety related or engine related.

Out of curiosity, why are you hunting down an accessory wire?

Need to re-wire the car PC to get the M2 Intelligent Automotive ATX power supply to work right when shutting it down,might use one of these into the ACC fuse box what do you think. Also where do you get on from

[Robbks]

if you're wiring in this king of thing you want to be using an IGN switched power source and NOT an ACC one.
as when you crank the car, teh ACC drops back to ground for a split second.

your BEST source of IGN power is from the ECU/ Sensors power feed that runs through the car. usually Yellow with a red Trace on Subaru's.
and the easiest place to get it is at the ECU loom.

download the service manual and drag out the wiring diagram, read all the tuff about how to use the wiring diagram and understand it.
buy a decent multimiter from jaycar/ tool shop
then go huntiing for the wires you need.
the wiring diagram will show you teh IGN switched power wires by showing them in a different line thinkness to the others.

[tangcla]

Fuse taps would be your best bet. Utilise IGN2, as that stays constant whilst the car is cranking (as Jim pointed out just above).

[jdm rsk]

george drop over and i will show you where the SPECIAL PLUG is located. as it is a secret i cannot disclose the location on here

[teK--]

george drop over and i will show you where the SPECIAL PLUG is located. as it is a secret i cannot disclose the location on here

Nothing sus!!!

[SegR]

george drop over and i will show you where the SPECIAL PLUG is located. as it is a secret i cannot disclose the location on here

Nothing sus!!!

No, of course not. Please DON'T post pictures.

[Lib 3.0LR]

george drop over and i will show you where the SPECIAL PLUG is located. as it is a secret i cannot disclose the location on here

Might just do that. PM me your address and mobile phone number.
Cheers George

[dutch7]

I'm looking for something similar except in the engine bay fuse box. bought a 15A fuse tap tested all the 15A fuses in the engine bay fuse box, all seem to have 12V constant and none are ACC 12V. could anyone assist me in finding an ACC source within the engine bay fuse box? it doesn't have to be 15A, if needed I'll grab another rated fuse tap. oh my reasoning around this is I want to wire my LED DRL lights directly to an ACC source so as the lights are on whenever the car is on, any help would be much appreciated. cheers

[mihai]

I'm looking for something similar except in the engine bay fuse box. bought a 15A fuse tap tested all the 15A fuses in the engine bay fuse box, all seem to have 12V constant and none are ACC 12V. could anyone assist me in finding an ACC source within the engine bay fuse box? it doesn't have to be 15A, if needed I'll grab another rated fuse tap. oh my reasoning around this is I want to wire my LED DRL lights directly to an ACC source so as the lights are on whenever the car is on, any help would be much appreciated. cheers

I don't think you will find any in the engine bay. Easiest option is to run a thin wire from the centre console through the firewall and into the engine bay where you want it. I can give you a hand with this if you want, really simple to be honest.

[zch91]

Your DRL's should NOT run whenever the car is on. They should ONLY run while the car is running with the headlights/parkers off. So you will have quite abit more wiring incl relays to get this to work correctly.

[mihai]

Your DRL's should NOT run whenever the car is on. They should ONLY run while the car is running with the headlights/parkers off. So you will have quite abit more wiring incl relays to get this to work correctly.

Huh?? DRL's are on as soon as the engine is turned on. Regardless of headlight/parker position. When the headlights are turned on they usually dim on cars that come from factory with them fitted.

Easiest option for dutch here is to have them wired into the acc circuit with a switch in line to turn them off when in the acc position with the engine off.

[zch91]

Your DRL's should NOT run whenever the car is on. They should ONLY run while the car is running with the headlights/parkers off. So you will have quite abit more wiring incl relays to get this to work correctly.

Huh?? DRL's are on as soon as the engine is turned on. Regardless of headlight/parker position. When the headlights are turned on they usually dim on cars that come from factory with them fitted.

Easiest option for dutch here is to have them wired into the acc circuit with a switch in line to turn them off when in the acc position with the engine off.

You just repeated exactly what I said, only reworded..

[hks180]

hahah yeah .. same same but different ..

the DRL kit i got on my wife's car gets power direct from the battery .. it turns on soon as you turn on the car .. and its dims when i turn the parker/low beam on .. and it turn it self off in 30 sec after you switch off the car, plus its got indicator function (but i didn't connect that as white blinking LED as indicator don't look too right). So no need to get power from inside the car etc ... easy to install.

but yeah if you want to run other type of DRL .. as Mike said get power from inside the car is very good option !