i was wondering...my MINI is a Aug 03 build MCS...and for some reason i dont have the cig accessory plug in the back...has anyone investigated to see if the plug harness is back there or is it gone altogether?

 

I don't recall off the top of my head, but I know the rear plug was a later addition, yeah. What are you needing to power? I'm sure I can suggest an alternative, either hard-wiring a 3-plug adapter stealthed inside the knee bolster or running an "extension" plug back to the rear - what exactly are you trying to accomplish?

 

You sure? My July '02 build has one

 

That's what someone told me. I've had a 05 and an 06 and both had the plug, but someone in m local club swore that their 03 was without. Maybe it's hidden under the battery cover or something?

 

I think the 02's had them....they removed them for a while.....and then started including them again(probably due to demand).

 

Your two Cabrio's? I have searched high and low in my 08 boot, and don't see the rear plug. I assumed that they didn't come in the Cabrio. Where do they hide the little varmont?

 

well i was trying to locate a 12v switchable power source for the remote term on a sub amp

 

My '04 build has one. i've never used it.

 

Yep, both my cabrios had it - it's on the DRIVER'S side, all the way in the rear of the boot (the side closest to the open end). You have to actually look BACK towards the boot lid, and it's there where the floor of the boot meets the rear. It's hard to see - the plug is matte black plastic and is very close to the battery cover panel, and can be obscured. It's a switched lead, so anything you plug in will turn off with the key out of the ignition.

 

Found it . All this time I thought I didn't have one, that they were only on tin tops. Thanks Matt.

 

LOL... no problemo! Glad you located it.

 

'03's got left out I had to add mine to my car. I think overall, it was less than $20 to buy the parts from Classic, and add it. It's really simple. The power is supplied by the battery (3 ft. away), and the ring light power is supplied by the light that's in the boot on the passenger side. It took me 30 minutes to install and wire everything up.

You can by a 12v outlet from Wally-World, but it just doesn't look the same.

 

Skillet, Do you have any pic of what you tappedp into? My '03 is adapter less.... unless its hidden..

I am kinda in the same boat, I wanna add another adapter so I can have one in the back...

-Thanks

 

I don't have pictures, but I can try to take some for you. It's pretty self explanatory, really...you'll have 3 wires. Red (+), Black (-), and another Red (+, for the ring light power). I ran all 3 from the plug, under the rear trim piece, connected 12V socket power to the (+) side terminal, (-) wire to the negative side terminal, and then continued to run the other red (+) wire over to the positive side of the boot light. I'll try and take pictures for you today after work

P.S. you don't have to do the ring light, but I chose to do it...

 

Now I am assuming you fused those, or are they already fused? I would appreciate it if you could snap some pics, I would like to try to get it done b4 MOTD.. 12 days w00t.. Thanks I wouldnt have to worry about regulating or blowing a circut from the 12v? My plans are to run an inverter from the 12v cigarette to the standard 2 prong wall adapter to charge phones and laptop and such... Any worries?

I am just real hesitant to tear into electrical... Thats all

 

Yes - if you hook up a power plug direct to the battery you must must MUST use a fuse!!! Most of the devices I've seen have no fuse protection whatsoever, and it will need to be added.

If something grounds on an unfused line then you're completely unprotected if you hook to the nearby battery - that's how fires start. Depending on what you mean to power, a 3A or 5A fuse should be PLENTY for you needs. Use a fuse holder like this in-line to protect the circuit:

http://www.oznium.com/atc-fuse-holder



If you're hesitant to tear into electrical stuff then RESPECT YOUR LIMITS. I'll be at MOTD this year - find me and I'll be more than happy to help you out with your installation. Better safe than sorry where your electrical is concerned IMHO.

 

Thats exactly what I was thinking, but I didn't see it mentioned so I wasn't sure if it was fused already... Where do those lines that will be tapped into, run to? Tail lights?

 

My bad, I forgot to include that the Red (+) wire was fused. Imagox has the correct image (thank you ).

This really is a simple mod. I don't have a lot of ***** (when it comes to this stuff ), but felt comfortable doing this mod.

Both lines go straight to the battery (in the MCS). By looking at your sig, you're going to want to find either a constant power (runs with car off...has benefits, and negatives) or a wire where power is only supplied when the car is on..., the negative can be grounded to a body panel, and then tap your ring light power still to that light source in the boot (this way when your interior lights come on, it'll illuminate.

Oh, I forgot, to splice into existing wires, by yourself some "vampire" splices, or I think there are some out there called "T" splices... You run the original wire through this plastic clip, stick your additional wire in (that you're adding), and then crimp the metal blade down with pliers...this is also self explanatory once you see what I'm referring to. Maybe Imagox has pictures of these?

 

Here you go:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

I generally do it right and manually strip the wire with an Exacto knife, then wrap the new wire and seal really well with liquid electrical tape (makes a totally vibration-proof firm connection), but the vampire taps work fine orovided it's on a wire that gets no moisture. I'd NOT use one anywhere under the bonnet or in a place that gets water though - these are not moisture-proof.

NOTE: As always, when doing electrical work, disconnect the negative battery terminal and tuck it well away from the battery before cutting into anything. Without a ground back to the battery, you can't cause a short. Disconnecting the negative means that you'll lose your clock settings and saved MPG data, but this is a small price to pay to avoid a nasty short or fire.

PS - the link above is a general link - you'll need to chose the right clip fort the gauge of wire you mean to tap. Also, when installing fuses, be sure to put the fuse AS CLOSE TO THE POWER SOURCE AS POSSIBLE to avoid the possibility of the short occuring in the "unprotected" section of the wire. I literally shudder to imagine a wire shorting then bursting into flame in the car boot close to the battery, so be sure to use the proper fuse and tuck it someplace whwere you won't damage it getting things in and out of the boot (under the battery cover, zip-tied to something firm would be good).

 

OK, so after piecing bits together I made this... am I close???



Heres a kicker, My battery is in the front (r50) any lines I can tap into???

 

damn you folks are quick...

 

SIlencer - I'm not sure about the ring light - haven't see that one, but it should have come with a wiring diagram ID-ing the different red wires. That looks logically correct though, assuming that both red leads share a common ground. ALso note that ANY connection into bare metal will be a grounding point - DC current flows back through the car chassis and into the battery ground, so it's not mandatory to run a second wire all the way back form the neg terminal - just look for a screw that goes into the metal and use a ring terminal to hook to it. Likelyplaces in the rear are the tail light screws or the securing points for the spare.

As for the front battery - I don't have a wiring diagram for the R50 in front of me and I'm not sure why they'd run an always-on straight wire back to the trunk. Since you have a frint-mounted battery, perhaps you should use an Add-A-Circuit to add a second lead off your existing cig socket fuse. the benefit there is that it will work exactly as your existing cig lighter socket does. You can get an Add-A-Circuit for about $15. Wired can be tucked invisibly into the plastic trim where it meets the carpeting - there's plenty of room to tuck a few wires. then run through the rear seats and into the boot!

This is an Add-a-Circuit - one fuse is the one you pull out of your fuse box (I'd use the one that protects the existing cig lighter) and the second protects the red wire running off the plastic housing:

 

do you guys have a part name or part number for the cig lighter from classic?

 

Note that the Add-a-Circuit is rated for 10 amps, while the Cig lighter has a 15 amp fuse. It may not be an issue, but I'd pick a 5 or 10 amp fuse. Also note that the Add-a-Circuit needs to be 'upside down' (fuses on the bottom) to effectively fuse the new circuit - otherwise you're just tapping the hot side. You can test that is correct by pulling the second fuse - if your <whatever> is still on, the AAC is in wrong.

 

realoem.com is your friend. Look under Vehicle electrical system - switch, or do a search for 'lighter'