remmie

Hey Folks,

1991 SR5 Pickup 4x4... let me preface by saying I'm a woman, not a mechanic and not an electrician, so I might say something really stupid just because I haven't done this before. I *did* install my CD deck in the truck, so I'm not afraid of wiring.

I would like to use a dash solar panel to keep the new battery in my truck in tip top shape, as I work from home and sometimes the truck sits for days or a few weeks without use, alarm on. (I just had to exchange a battery that was only 1yr old because it got completely discharged a couple times.) Cannot park in garage, so a battery tender (AC) is out. Problem is, the cig lighter only works with key on, and the solar panel needs it juiced.

I would like to either A> Re-wire the lighter so it gets juice all the time or B> add a second socket just for the solar panel and run juice to IT all the time.

I took a peek at the dash and it didn't look quick to get to the back of the cig lighter. Is there a trick to get to it easily? Would it be faster to run a hot wire from the fuse box or battery to a new socket and mount it somewhere out of the way under the dash?

Also, does it matter which hot wire I splice into for juice? Obviously my alarm wires have juice, but I didn't know if that was a bad idea. If I ran a new socket, should I run a new wire directly from the battery through the firewall?

Any and all help is appreciated!! Thanks guys.

firemaniac

I would be tempted to run a new socket and dedicate it to your charger, and leave the stock as is for things that you may plug in occasionally and not want to be on without the truck running, if you accidentally leave a cell charger plugged in, it wont drain the power put out by the solar panel.

I have taken my dash apart several times, it is not hard, just start at the bottom outside corners (kick panels) and work your way up. the lighter and its panel just pop out when you get that far, if memory serves me correctly

Hilux808

There is several ways of doing this and if you have installed a CD deck then this shouldn't be to difficult for you. You could do it by tapping in to the fuse box for a new socket, re-wiring the existing socket, etc, etc...

This is how I would do it on my truck (which I almost have, just never got the time to do it yet). Go with suggestion "B" and wire in a new socket that's "hot" all the time. Now you have two sockets, which could be more convenient for you. I'm not a fan of tapping into the fuse box or off other accessories, that's asking for problems in the long run...Run a wire from the battery + terminal into the cab through the firewall, just as if you were installing amplifiers. You might want to consider a distribution block so you can tap off of it later if you decided to install more accessories. If you do that be sure to run a bigger gauge wire to the distribution block to handle the loads of any accessory feeding off of it. You should also install a fuse on the wire too after it comes off the positive terminal. Mount your new socket to where ever you want. You can either drill a hole for a new one or you can buy outlets that come with brackets for mounting...now you have one that's hot all the time.

I don't have experience with solar panels for keeping the battery topped off but you might want to consider getting a strong battery, like a yellow or red top Optima. The truck can sit for weeks and the Optima's should still be able to start them.

dntsdad

remove the deck and find the blue/yellow wire and run it to center lead of your cig lighter removing the old wire as well.

I would run a new wire from the battery to a new lighter plug though. Maybe even stash it away in the glove box so its out of sight. Power to the center lead and ground to the frame of the lighter plug.

remmie

Thanks much for all of your suggestions guys, and I agree that a second hot plug is the way to go for all of the reasons mentioned. I really appreciate the details given. I am going to go directly from the battery, as Hilux808 outlined so nicely.

So the wire that comes off the + battery terminal should have a fuse of what amperage (if that's the correct way to say it?). And forgive my ignorance, but do I attach one end of the fuse wire to the terminal, and the other to the lead that runs through the firewall, or do I attach a tail to the terminal and place the fuse inline?

I like the idea of a distribution block, even though I have no plans for the hot socket to power anything but the solar panel... ya never know. Can I get a DB at Pep Boys? What gauge wire would you suggest?

Again, thanks so much for your help!

wheatus

i would cut the plug and hard wire the solar panel directly that way you wouldn't have to worrry about it inadvertently coming out. you could switch the connection so you could turn it off if you so desired.

remmie

That's a good thought and would simplify things, but the solar manual says not to drive with it plugged in, which means I would have to remember to turn the switch off every time I drive.... then turn it back on when I park. If it's plugged into a socket it's very visible and harder for me to forget, plus easy to see with a quick glance if it's "in/on" or "out/off." Also, the socket could be used for other things.

But a switch is a good idea and alternative...

wheatus

i know this is getting complicated but its just an idea. you could wire it to shut off when you start the truck and you could always wire another socket or two.

remmie

That would be an excellent solution. And you're right, I could always wire an extra socket anyway.

In thinking more on it though, I realized there will be times when I want to take the panel off the dash and put it away. Like when I'm using the truck a lot for a period of time and don't need it. So I think I'll stick with the socket application.

Great ideas though!

remmie

Hey everyone... an update and a question!

First, on looking at the dash I decided against adding a 2nd socket (for the solar panel trickle charger), as there really isn't anywhere to put it that would be more convenient than the one already in there. Also, I nixed the idea of running a wire directly from the + battery terminal because I'm not knowledgeable enough to plot a hole through the firewall without possibly screwing something else up.

So I opted for the final alternative, which was to pull the dash, cut the wire going to the lighter, and run a new wire to it by tapping into a hot wire already present under the dash. I did that today.

But here's the weird thing... The cig lighter works fine now [without the key], but the radio/CD deck doesn't get power now!! Why would that be?

I can only think of 2 possibilities:

1. When I pulled the dash and slipped the deck partly out, the power harness came loose in back.

2. When I cut the cig lighter's wire it somehow was tied into powering the radio too, and now that the wire isn't attached to anything, there isn't a "complete circuit" <?> and so the radio won't work? (Again, I'm no electrician. And I don't really know how cutting the cig lighter wire could have anything to do with the radio/deck, but... it ain't werkin'!)

Tomorrow I'm going to take the deck out again and check the wiring in back. Assuming the harness is plugged in and that's not the issue... ??

Any thoughts??

remmie

PS And I'm going to check the fuse for the radio before I pull the deck.

TNRabbit

I'd guess you touched some wires together that blew the deck fuse.

remmie

TNRabbit: Was a pretty clean job, AFAIK. There were two wires feeding the interior fuse box from what looked like was probably the engine compartment, as they were fed in through the chassis along the forward door frame on the driver side, going directly to the fuse box, with a fuse inline just before the box. One red, one orange. The red one had juice even with the key off, the orange did not. So I figured, red's my guy.

The wire coming to the back of the cig socket had a small connector on it to slide on to a post on the back of the socket. So I slipped off the connector and cut the wire about 2" back, leaving a tail on the connector so I could use it with the new wire. (At the point I cut this wire, it disappeared into a bundle of other wires with which it was bound, so I could not see where it went.)

I cut a length of wire I had on hand, same gauge as the red juice wire (and as it happened, the tail on the cig wire), and I connected the connector tail to one end. Then I disconnected the neg battery terminal, and took the red wire and shaved it's sheath away, exposing the wire. I wrapped the bare end of my new wire around this exposed area, then dropped a little solder and wrapped it.

Then I reconnected the battery terminal and tried the lighter without the key. Worked great. BUT.... no radio now.

I just checked all the fuses and they look good. The harness on the back of the unit was also in place and fine. I am stumped, but I did Google this problem and found MANY people get screwy results between the cig lighter and deck when working on one or the other, so something links them, electrically in some cars.

I'm stumped. If I took the dash off again and found the cig wire I snipped behind the dash, should I ground it or something..?? Also, even though all the fuses looked good, I don't know which one(s) are for the deck. Can someone tell me where they are located on this vehicle, or does someone know where I can read a wiring diagram online?? I'd much appreciate any help.

Thanks!

Tofer

for my GPS i mounted a 6 dollar cig plug from radioshack under the dash behind the panel above the pedals. then ran the lines direct to the battery.

this way the gps mount always has power, and it frees up the cig ligher on the center console.

remmie

Yeah, that was a good solution for your needs. The solar panel needs to be disconnected when I'm driving, however, so it's something I have to plug/unplug constantly. And I don't use the cig socket for anything else. At this point, I just need to get my deck back!

remmie

Okay... I just went to some site JustAnswer.com (I Do NOT recommend this site!) and paid $9 to get an "instant answer" (that took over an hour) from a "toyota expert" (which the ToS explain aren't really experts) who said I clipped the power to the radio cause the cig lighter and radio use the same power wire and to "put everything back the way it was" and add a socket if I want to use a solar panel.

I did NOT need to pay nine dollars to know I could fix this by reversing what I did. What I wanted to know was to how to get power back to the radio WITHOUT undoing what I did.

Arggggh....

So... if I get to that cig wire I snipped and add a wire to it and take IT to a wire that only gets juice when the key is on, I should be okay, right?

remmie

You know what.... I think I'm gonna just use the wire I added to the cig socket... run a small piece from the cut wire to the new wire.... then the radio will get juice all the time, just like the socket. Many are wired that way... to work with the key off. I never leave it on and it would be easy to remember to turn it off... I mean hello... it's making noise. Not too hard to remember to turn it off when ya stop. I'll just add an inline fuse. Whadaya think?

remmie

DONE!!

Okay, for the sake of those who might try this at some point and stumble upon this thread, I went back into the dash, found the cut wire that *had* run to the cig lighter, and connected it to the same junction where I wrapped the new wire to the socket. Added a couple drops of solder and re-wrapped it.

Now the cig lighter works for the solar panel (always has juice) and so does the deck. If I pull into a parkinglot and am listening to a song, it won't cut off when I shut off the motor, which I MUCH PREFER to how it was wired originally. It was always a pain to try to listen to the radio r something while parked, cause turning the key to ACC caused all kindsa beeps and flashing lights an &hit... was like getting pulled over!! Now it's all PERFECT. :-D

Thanks to everyone for your help.

abecedarian

Or you could've taken the wire from the cig lighter and cut it right behind the lighter and ran another from the lighter straight to the battery with a 15 amp fuse near the battery. That would mean the charger would charge if it were plugged in, you could light a smoke without the key, and the stereo would go off with the key... trust me... that will bite you later when you forget to turn the stereo off and the battery goes dead even though your charger is plugged in.

abecedarian

...or could make a 2 wire plug from radio shack or something (even like a headphone jack) somewhere and one end is the charger and the other is hard wired to the battery with a 5 amp fuse... and you'd still have a functioning lighter plug.