Pda Sat Nav Install

[Jiberjaber]

Hi guys,

Well I picked my Lexus up on Friday and have clocked up a few miles so far what with dashing up to the parents to see them at the weekend etc.... all without my beloved SatNav installed.

So called into Dashmount.co.uk and picked up a phone bracket to mount the PDA on as I already had a powered tilt and swivel holder from my install in the last car so the PDA is in and powered after a fashion....

Trouble is, I have had to wire the PDA holder into a cig plug for now, so I idealy need to locate a ACC +12V so I can make the installation a bit neater and free up the cig lighter socket.

So what choices do I have?

To get to the back of the cigar lighter socket looks to be a bit of a nightmare (it's an Auto I have btw)... However the panel with the seat switches and the traction control switch comes out easily and is within easy reach of the PDA holder. So the I guess the question is if there is a switched (ACC) live in that loom prehaps? (the current required for the holder is not a huge amount - I guess a few hundred millliamps)

Oh - the other issue I have is that I dont want to go drilling (visable) holes anywhere, so another reason to use the bottom switch holder as I can stick a hole in at the rear which can not be seen.

Any ideas ??

Now with added picture....

[Rob]

u could take a feed from the radio power supply! have a look in the workshop for a guide on removing the radio.

[MrADeveci]

Just get the power from the lighter ..... it's simple, read the instruction on the removal of the front console, .........

[Brettster]

I took the power from the cig lighter to power things in my car. its so easy to remove, it just pulls off .if you do decide to remove the raido make sure to remove the cd's from it first or else you could end up with cd's jammed in the mechanism.

[squarehead]

Yup, dead easy to remove the stereo out. I did that with mine - btw my PDA was the tomtom with that huge (I mean massive) sucker for the window. I took this apart and was left with the cradle, dismantled one of the air vents from the centre console (dead easy) & fixed the cradle into the vent with a cable tie, fed the 2 cables for the pda through the vent (power & gps cables) & now you cannot see any wires at all! Looks cool I think.

[Jiberjaber]

Just get the power from the lighter ..... it's simple, read the instruction on the removal of the front console, .........

Does the removal of the centre console cover Auto's as well, just checked the workshop entry and it's not too clear? Sounds like a load of hassel for my new car :)

Is there an easier way to get at the wires for the cig socket ?? (does it pull out ? )

[Jiberjaber]

OK picture added... so does anyone have the pin outs for the rear of the stereo then ?

[Brettster]

most of the center console just pulls out

on mine which is a V reg, the top dash tray just pulls away, the bottom tray with the trc and heated seat buttons just pulls out and the part with the cig lighter just pulls up and off

no screws at all

I dont have a wiring diagram for the stereo but if you have a multimeter you'll soon find the wires your looking for.

[Jiberjaber]

I noticed from trawling the forum that it might be a grey wire for the switched live.... would it be an idea to summorise all these little snippets of info (similar to the existing stickies) ??? :)

[ffcheung]

I'm getting the power for my PDA from the fuse for accessories. What I do is pull out the ACC fuse, wrap a wire around a pin of the fuse (15 amp if I remember correctly) and insert it back to the fuse socket. It works fine and is convenient to do.

[Jiberjaber]

OK, took advantage of the good weather yesterday to take the centre apart and got to the cig lighter fairly easily. I also fitted my external GPS antenna as well and wanted to wire it through the centre to the hole below the armrest but couldnt get the ventre out.. I released the 6 screws I could find (two in teh hole below the arm rest, 2 in the sides and 2 in teh front attaching it to the dash.)

Any ideas ?