I'm looking for a 12 Volt source that is only hot when the vehicle is ON somewhere in or around the center console, anyone know of a good lead?
The switched wire of the radio comes to mind. How much current are you looking for?
Not a lot of current at all, I'm going to use it for a remote turn on for an aftermarket amp. The factory radio does not have a remote wire, from what I've read it turns on the factory amp by way of some kind of data bus. Anyway, I've poked and prodded around in there this afternoon and I think I found a suitable wire. In the harness that goes to the factory in dash 6 disc CD changer there is a pink wire that I checked with a multimeter and seems to only be hot when the ignition is on.
If anyone knows a reason why I shouldn't use this wire please let me know before I blow something up LOL
The pink wire is actually the radio's ON signal or 12 volt trigger. It is what you are looking for. It goes to 12 volts when the radio is turned on. The radio doesn't turn on the amp through a data signal until the 2003 year models. The amps trigger from the radio is a purple wire.
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sparky
but the pink wire was hot with the ignition, not when the radio was turned on? Also your last post was a little contradictory, you had said the pink wire is what I am looking for then you said the amp triger is a purple wire?
Everything actually works OK, I put a ON/OFF switch in the center console and ran it to the amp. It does the job but if I leave the button on and turn the radio off the amp stays on and the sub goes nuts..BOOM BOOM BOOM..... I thought that was kind of weird.