Hello,

Is there any way to make the cigarette lighter lose power when the ignition is turned off? I bought a Garmin Nuvi GPS today and I don't like having to turn it off every time I leave the car. I called Ford and they said the cigarette lighter on the dash should do this (the car has two), but both the dash and center console one behave the same way.

If it is not possible, I guess I can live with it. Thank you!

 

Rewire the hot power wire(s) to the autolamp headlight switch.

 

Not my favorite feature as well. Just have to unplug your accessories.

 

You just need to rewire the acc. plug to a power source that shuts off when the car is off. The radio, A/C-heater are a couple of options for a power source. Also, you could probe the fuse box for other fuses that function the same.

You could run a new power system from the battery and use a relay powered from one of the above mentioned power sources.

 

This brings up an interesting point. With today's customer using the Cigarette Lighter socket for everything but lighting cigarettes there should be a master switches for both the lighter and power points which would let you select Hot at all times, Hot with Key on and finally Off. This would be a great feature. Ford are ya listening!

In the mean time this should be a simple mod for any decent auto stereo shop for those not wanting to do themselves.

KC

 

Ironically I had a SUV that did just the opposite, the lighter turned off when the car did and I wanted it to stay hot if I needed to charge my phone that had a POS battery life.

 

Here is how I did it for the console plug .. no problem charging my 7" Android tablet so a Garmin should be fine.

You have an AUTO so you are probably using this plug ... my standard shift care wasn't. Basically I used the GRAY/YELLOW wire out of that plug to power the ACC port .. it is KEY ON powered only.

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm not very car-savvy so messing with the wires is not an option for me. I think I'm fine with it always being on.

Next question -- is it OK to leave my GPS charger plugged in 24/7? From what I understand, it doesn't use that much power and won't drain my battery.

 

DAN DAN the Retrofit man! I thought of you when I saw this question. I kinda figured you would have an answer for this one! I guess those two marbles I got left in my noodle are still working.

KC

 

The issue with leaving the Garmin on charge all the time is the Garmin battery. After about 6 months of this action, one of mine developed a swelled battery. Unit worked good but it actually pushed it self out of the clip mounting.

Garmin said they cannot be charged all the time as the results are what happened to mine.

My other unit never had any issues but it was removed from the situation after about 3 months.

 

I would or have a friend hard wire it through the fuse box or tap into a wire that you know is switched like Dan posted above. Its the best way.

 

Now I gotta go out and see where the cig. lighter is. I haven't seen one in the 2013.

 

There are no "cig. lighters" in newer cars....all acc. plugs. Should be on in the center console and one on the dash between the a/c vents.

 

I didn't think I had one, but I am getting old.