Just curious if the 12V power outlets can be set to turn on and off with the car rather than being always on so things like a GPS can just turn on and off automatically.

 

The only thing you can do is rewire the power outlet so that the 12V+ is on a circuit that goes on and off with the ignition key...

 

It has occurred to me that it certainly would be nice if there where a switch next to each outlet so you could set it to shut off when the car is off or stay on all the time. Then you could have your dash-mounted radar detector or GPS turn off automatically, but still have your cell phone recharging in the console storage box while.

 

I'm surprised they didn't put switches on them

 

I'm surprised they have the outlets live all the time, but don't have the car off/radio on function.... like the new Fiesta

 

Has anyone actually tackled the job of re-wiring the outlet in the center console so it turns off with the ignition switch. I want it for my iPod.

 

I haven't done this but I think this would work. First you have to find the fuse for the dash power outlet. Then you pull that fuse test both sides of the fuse block you will find one side is dead all the time and the other side is hot. What you want to do is run a jumper wire to the dead side from a switched fuse. Make sure you put the jumper on the dead side of the new switched fuse so that the fuse you are jumping from is now in the circuit for the power outlet. Don't put the the original fuse back in just jumper from the switched fuse to the the dead side of the missing fuse. Good luck.

 

Has anyone gotten this to work?
I'm trying to figure out how to do this.....
The center wire on the Cig lighter is the one that needs to go to a 12v switched connection.....just not sure where the closest/easiest switched wire is that I can tap into.

Talking about the one in the armrest console...not center of upper dash.

 

I solve this today. My power point (cigerette lighter)goes on and off with the ignition now.

 

Here is a simple way to do it ... This will have Console Power Point go on and off with Ignition. Safe for Charging iPods and GPS ... I would not run an air compressor of it ..use the one in the dash for that.

Just rewire the power lead from the Console Power Point to the Harness under the console. My car is a stick so this may not work for Autos .. or it may ... not sure. I think its the 12V source for the shift selector lighting.

 

You did not connect to the 12V+ wire for the shift selector lighting as that only comes on when you turn on the headlamp switch, not the ignition key. What you found is the 12V+ switched wire that activates the auto shifter interlock system when the ignition key is turned to the on position. All these wires are contained in the same gray plug not used on manual transmission cars. Anyway tapping into this wire should be fine for either manual or automatic transmission cars as long the current draw for the outlet does not exceed the rating of the shared circuit's fuse.

 

I did it without cutting or splicing any wires. Pretty much like I said in my first post. I found the fuse which is in the engine compartment and wired a relay in place of the fuse and triggered it with a ignition on wire also from the fuse block so I have the 20 amps available but only when the ignition is on.

 

I'm not sure why Ford does this, but it is the same way in my Escape. I hate it and wish it would turn off when the key is out. Oh well. I'm not into splicing wires, so I'll just deal...

 

What's the Red Connector spliced in there for...where does that black wire go to?

 

The black wire is illumination ground for SHR start Button in Dash.

 

Just yesterday bought 2012 GT and today started wondering this 12 volt thing with my GPS. After reading your comments I had an idea. Could you jump power in fuse box? I mean is it possible to remove fuse from cigarette ligther slot and then bring power to its fuses output end from e.g stereo fuse's output end ...(ok fuse would be overloaded, but if you dont run fridge from it I think she would be fine) if this works it needs just one jumper cable and removal of one fuse...maybe some smarterone could comment this ( I hardly had a time to open my hood yet )

 

Easiest way here guys. Tie in a jumper wire into the ignition feed behind the radio. One wire will be 12v constant for memory and the other will only turn on with the ignition. Just tie in a single wire to the positive wire to the outlet. You're gonna have to cut the wire to the outlet so it doesn't backfeed from the outlet fuse also. That way the iPod stays powered up as long as the radio stays powered up. Leave the ground wire to the outlet alone since its already grounded.
Or just buy an iPod dock and wire it direct instead of using the outlet at all.

 

I had a 2005 Dodge Durango that had 2 spots for each outlet fuse. Basically there were 3 slots for the fuses instead of just 2. You just took the fuse out and moved it to the "other side" to make the outlets come on and off with the ignition. It looked like this:

1___ 2 ___ 3___


If you wanted the fuse on all the time you left it plugged into the 1 and 2 slots (came like that from the factory). If you wanted to change it to come on and off with the key you would remove the fuse and move it over to right in the 2 and 3 slots.... I'm assuming soemone would have seen this if it was available on our cars??

 

Yes this does NOT apply to the Mustang.

I spelled out a solution in an earlier response and you're ignoring it? Weird.

 

Would be a beautiful way of doing like 908ssp did but I did not have any relays with me (I am in UAE and sometimes finding simple things is hard) so I did with splice method.
I could not find stereo wire with confidence, few of them lighted up but only when switching stereo on, not just from ignition. My shifter had a grey plug on RH side and this did have a blue/white wire which I ised to feed my lighter ( cutting of original lighter power). Quick and simple, I don't know how many amps I can draw out but I use it only for gps.