I’m replacing one aftermarket radio in a 1997 Civic LX with another one. The new one has one wire that the old harness did not have: a fused (15 amp) yellow wire that is supposed to go to the battery. Since this won’t fit into the existing adapter (which already has connections for constant 12V current), what might be the most elegant way to tap into battery current with this other wire? Can I simply tap into another wire at the fuse panel? Suggestion?
By elegant I suppose you mean you want it to look good. With that in mind and since this new wire has its’ own fuse, I would run the same size wire through the firewall (use a steak knife and punch through one of the rubber “O’s” in the firewall, pull the wire through and tape it to the positive battery cable, on the bottom of the cable so you won’t see it, and run the wire around the battery terminal under the connectors so you won’t see it. If it were my car I’d simply tap into another wire under the dash . . . like the cigarette lighter. Rocketman
The cigarette lighter wire sounds like a good plan. I wanted to tap into an existing wire that is always hot if possible, and that should have a hefty enough rating to support an additional 15 amp fuse. Thanks.
I’d get ahold of a wiring diagram – Haynes Manual maybe – and try to identify an always on wire in the cabin area that is either unfused or fused with a huge “Main” type fuse on the order of 80A or more. If there is such a wire, you should be able to identify it by color code. Hopefully it will be someplace that you can get to, but isn’t very visible. Then just splice into it.
Personally, I have better luck with soldered or wire nut splices than with crimped splices, but maybe that is just me.
Do NOT splice into a YELLOW wire! There may be other forbidden wires, also. You need the power distribution wiring diagrams to find a good power source.
You want elegant? Plug it into the back of the fuse box, where all the other wires go.