Console wiring help.
 

As this is my first post to the forum, I'll throw in some background.

I am a [very very happy] new owner of gorgeous red 2004 RX8.

Used, (and most likely abused judging from the dealership printout I picked up *after* my purchase) but just about perfect in my book.

I have pretty extensive DIY skills with cars, and have rebuilt a couple from the ground up.

HOWEVER, since the interior of my little red rocket seems just about ~perfect~ I am not going to monkey around with the "Lets see if this works" tinkering. I want to do it right the first time.

I have already changed out the factory cd player to the mp3 version, and that went without incident, (and was quite a bit easier than I expected!) so I have had the console "mostly" apart and I am familiar with the surroundings therein.

There are two things I need some help with.

1) [The easy one] Is there supposed to be a hook or some sort of fastener to keep the drivers side floormat from scooting around and bunching up under the pedals? I hate missing a gear (or worse) because of something so trivial, but I can't seem to find how to solve this problem.

There does NOT appear to be any hook or fastener under (or just in front of) the seat.

2) I would like to convert one of my 12v plugs (preferably the one in the center console, as the front one powers my Valentine 1) to constant on.

Is there a simple fusebox solution, or will I need to tap a 12V+ wire somewhere in the console, and if so what one would be best suited? (pretty low load, just the cell phone charger)

If the information is needed, my RX8 (affectionately known as Saffron, because she is a gorgeous and mischievous redhead who is certainly going to get me into trouble) seems to have all the options I have seen listed except the nav system.

Thanks in advance!

Shadow

why would you want your lighter plug to be constant on? you need to detect Leo's radar while your car is parked and shut off...?

if you want to tap a 12v line like your cigarette plug, why not tap that actual line? if you want constant on, then tap a constant on line... :uhh:

i've seen fuse box taps, where you replace the fuse with one that has a connection attached to it, but i'd never bother with that. just tap the line

1) yes there is by the seat, a little peg.

2)not sure why you would want to but if you were to pick up an add-a-fuse mini from autozone and run its wire to your cigarette lighter and replace the the yellow wire coming out of the back of the cigarette lighter (just a simple one wire splice job) you should be able to have constant power to whatever you choose to plug in to it, however I would add some sort of switch to the circuit before you get to it that way you can choose to power off if you intend to leave it on for long periods of time.

I think that would work but I'm no wiring guru by any means so if I messed something up someone else chime in.

For those of you who ask, the reason I want an "always on" port is because if I generally leave my bluetooth headset in the car, and its nice to come out in the morning and have it fully charged up!

Same thing for the crackberry if I am going into a movie or something, just nice to have it charge when I am doing something else.

If it was me, I'd just route a wire directly from the battery and put an inline fuse into it. That way you're protected if it surges, and then you aren't cutting/splicing up your baby, if you ever want it reversed, just simply take the newly ran wire off the 12v plug, and put the old one back on.

I can't parse that statement if my life depended on it.

Running straight from the battery would entail *much* more hack and slash to get to the console than a simple wire tap.

I'm just wondering *which wire to tap*

I've never been good at choosing which wire, which is why they really didn't want me back at EOD.

Sweet. You're in Morehead. We'll have to make a run down 64 sometime.

/Not playing on the AA anymore. Nope nope

Red wire, blue wire, red wire, blue wire!! I don't know!?!?

It wouldn't entail ANY hack n slash at all to run a wire from the battery to the console. Trust me, I just did it yesterday. All you do is pull the center console, and maybe the cig lighter and ashtray, and you have all the room in the world to work. The only slash you would have to make is putting a small hole in the rubber grommet by the clutch pedal, to run the wire, or you could drill a hole.

Like I said, it is what I would do if it was up to me. I don't know which wire to tap tho. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but I think all the wires under the console only get power when the key is on, so wouldn't you have to run a wire from the battery, or tap into the clock wire?

What happened on the AA..Bad ticket?

thats why you just add a fuse, just as easy as coming straight from the battery without having to go through the firewall

uh guys.. it's called a t tap connector. look it up...

Nope, almost got a two-fer.

Trucker crossed over into my lane as I was passing him, I swerved to avoid and realized the reason the trucker was "dodging" was because of a bull deer mating fight going on right in the middle of the road.

I locked em' up (90 integra- No abs system) when I hit those obnoxious rumble strips , and slid sideways into the deer meleé. The bigger deer jumped over my hood, and I barely missed the other one.

Just about the time I had managed to lower my heart rate enough to get back in gear, I got lit up by a local cop.

He talked about giving me a ticket for "failure to yield" to the truck, and "failure to maintain control".

I was about to absolutely LOSE it when I noticed that he already had a deer strapped to the hood of his cruiser, and it was NOT a traffic hit. I mentioned something about "poaching from a vehicle" and he got kinda quiet.

Basically, when he turned around, I left. He didn't follow, and I don't intend to tempt fate in the fact that he (or the local wildlife) might recognize me. ;)

Yep.

Actually, I was just looking at the wiring diagram for the fuse panels in the manual, and I see that the front and console outlets have separate fused circuits. I'll just jump a hot lead on the safer side of the fuse and be done with it.

good plan :biggthump

oh wow close calls