Hi All,

I have just put in a GPS system just under the Rear view mirror. I need to get 12V power source from the Sun Visor area if possible since I don't want to dangle a cable to the Cigarette lighter. Does nay one know how i can tap into the power from the Sun Visor? Does this come out easily?

Thanks,

 

The easiest way to get 12v there is to tap into the fuse panel on the left hand side of the car. I did that for my radar detector. There is a plastic trim panel on the A pillar marked "airbag." Use a slotted screwdriver to pry it loose. There is a screw under it. Remove the screw and the trim panel pops right off. You can feed the wire under the headliner where it meets the windshield. Once the A pillar trim is removed, you can feed the wire down to the fuse panel along the existing wiring harness. Shove a bent coat hanger along the harness and you should be able to catch it at the fuse panel. You can use the screw that you removed as a grounding point and feed positive to the fuse panel. Buy a fuse tap and connect in where the trailer fuse is. The trailer fuse is accessory switched. The whole process took less than 10 minutes. With the fuse tap, you don't have to cut or tap into any wires in the car.

 

Correction. The fuse panel is on the right hand side of the car. Confused it with my Infiniti.

 

Ah, thanks, I will try this on the weekend.

 

Or you can grab th 12V wire that feeds the garage door opener on the mirror if you meter the wire to see which is hot.My radar is tied in there with no issues. I do this on all my cars as its a easy tap point for low power consuming things like gps/radars.

 

I was trying to do this with my Murano. Shorted out and essentially killed the car. It had over 1200 error codes thrown. The tech didn't know where to start.

A/C - dead
Nav - dead
Radio - dead
Gearshift - Locked in park

All this from just shorting out the power to the mirror. Go figure.

I paid $50 cash to a tech at the Jag dealer to run the power for my Valentine. Best 50 bux ever spent.

 

Where and how did the tech run the wire. Also - where on the windshield do you recommend mounting the Valentine (just got one!!)

 

If you are not sure how to use a multi meter to find the correct wire in the mirror then I suggest getting your power from the would be cigar lighter where your double cup holder is. Simply pull out the double cup holder and you will see the socket connecter staring at you.

Try something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Valentine-On...item19c9d10a26

 

For some reason, I have been wary of cutting into the electrical system of my last few cars (except for a switch to bypass the VSS for the nav on the Infiniti so that I could all of the functions while the vehicle is in motion- I wish we could do the same thing on the XF). I looked at tapping into power at the cigarette lighter and realized that it is easier to just run to the fuse box and use one of these:

Cooper Bussmann/ATM fuse tap converts one into two fusible circuits - 10 Amps maximum on added circuit (BP-HHH-RP) | Fuse and Accessories | AutoZone.com

I have an Escort 9500 and it has the smart cord, so tapping at the mirror wasn't an option. I actually ran the wire behind the driver's side A-pillar and mounted the smart cord control box to the right of the steering wheel. Valentine owners will likely want to do the same with the remote display. The trim pieces under the dash remove (and reinstall) easily. You can use a coat hanger to feed behind the dash (toward the back- below and behind the radio- there is plenty of space) from the passenger to driver side to catch the wire and bring it over to the fuse box. The project took less time to complete than it would have taken to drive to the dealership (roughly 10 minutes).


On a side note, if anyone has found out how to bypass the nav system on the XF to allow destination entry while the car is moving, I’d love to know how. It appears that the nav system gets speed signals from the CAN bus and that there is no VSS wire that can be temporarily bypassed without screwing up a host of other vehicle functions. It looks like the base software needs to be hacked. Several other vehicles use Denso nav systems and, so far, I haven’ t had any luck finding a workaround.

 

Becasue the GPS is mounted new the rearview mirror, I did not want any cables dangling from the top to bottom.
I am still going to try to source it by going through pillar A.

 

I don't know where he tied into the power. The power cord runs up into the headliner at the RD so you can't see it at all. It didn't take him any time at all, either. It is switched power so the RD isn't on all the time.

The RD is just to the left of the mirror. I also had the windshield tint brow added to you really can't see the RD from the front.

 

Look in the fuse panel in the passenger footwell. He may have tapped in there.

 

check out this thread from a few years back.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...r-visors-9968/