Key-On Accessory Wire in the Engine Compartment?

Hey all,

Any recommendations for a key-on accessory wire under the dash? Looking for something to wire to my dashcam. It is wired to the battery, but it's annoying to plug-in/unplug every time I want to use it.

Thanks.

I'd use one of the blanks in the fuse box.

If your car is a 5 speed you will have a switched power terminal in the fuse block for the automatic transmission, that's where I put my gauges when I had to get them off the ECU circuit that I overloaded with said gauges...

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There's a couple power studs under the relay panel.
I used those for my Kenwood.

wonneber said:

There's a couple power studs under the relay panel.

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Terminal 75X is the switched one, if memory serves.

Thanks all. For some reason none of those footwell terminals function as they should - at least with this dash cam. I tried and tried to no avail. Then hooked it up direct to the battery and it functioned great. I'll take a look at the auto trans fuse panel as I do have a 5 speed.

Wire diagram should help. You may need to add a wire. But I would want that device on it's own circuit vs. sharing with something existing.

Fuse panel on drives side.. just pull a fuse out that is used for an accessory that is on only for key and push a wire into it and push the fuse back in. Get the side that is fused. That is what I do for the 'radio' signal and dash cam, hack but works great. I use 24, 26, 27 , 28, both are low amp so does not cause issue with what is already on that circuit.

BobnOH said:

Wire diagram should help. You may need to add a wire. But I would want that device on it's own circuit vs. sharing with something existing.

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Sharing is always a bad idea, when I did that I found myself coasting through a busy intersection and on the side of the road for hours

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Thanks for all the recommendations. No wires in the engine compartment that are accessory wires of which anyone is away off hand? I do not have a wiring diagram at the moment.

Vince Waldon said:

Terminal 75X

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has room for all kinds of accessory wires.

Keep in mind that the X circuits (generally, Black/Yellow wires) are turned Off during "start mode." They are hot when the Ignition is turned ON. Then they are turned Off during Start and back On when the ignition is rotated back to On .......... if any of that makes a difference for gauges, gadgets, etc.

Vince Waldon said:

Terminal 75X is the switched one, if memory serves.

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Yes X75 is 12 volts when key is on. Most excellent place to pull power from. Just take off the kick panel and there it is.

Gangles said:

Thanks for all the recommendations. No wires in the engine compartment that are accessory wires of which anyone is away off hand? I do not have a wiring diagram at the moment.

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The engine compartment doesn't have anything to power other than the engine. You might be able to pull off the vss wire which is powered by the 109, but pretty much everything under the hood has a function. Why not pull off the battery? If I were to want an accessory line there I would install a relay and hook it to the vss power so I didn't draw much from the 109.
No, I would just run a wire out to a relay from inside the car so I have a dedicated line. That way I can isolate it.
What are you trying to do?

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With the ALH in my Vanagon, I was using the positive to the VSS for power to multiple gauges. Long story short, the current draw, which must have fluctuated due to one or more of the gauges, affected the stability of the VSS signal for speed. My cruise did not like that at all.

Something to think about.

AndyBees said:

With the ALH in my Vanagon, I was using the positive to the VSS for power to multiple gauges. Long story short, the current draw, which must have fluctuated due to one or more of the gauges, affected the stability of the VSS signal for speed. My cruise did not like that at all.

Something to think about.

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This is why I would recommend a relay from the battery being switched on by the vss, very low draw and not directly supplying power to anything that will change voltage draw.
Also you can use the vss as a signal wire to the relay. And power the vss off the relay to ensure it has a good supply of voltage without fluctuations. I would put a fuse on the out side of the relay to 10A to the vss, and parallel the other suitable guse to the components desired.
You can't expect the vss wire and 109 to carry the power for anything else. Exchange the vss load for a relay, or pair of relays for separate circuits powered directly off the battery, one powering the vss and the other dedicated to accessories.

Okay, without digging into the VSS wiring on the ALH in my Vanagon, I'm not sure where I got power for it.

But, I can say with certainty that the VSS does not get it's power from Relay 109. The VSS gets power from Fuse #7 which is from D15 of the ignition (switched power, which would be no different than from a Relay 109 circuit).

Anyway, I sort of questioned (silently) whether the 109 powered the VSS as I searched and researched those circuits when I did my conversion project. So, power to the VSS from the 109 relay never rung my bell.

So, while looking at the schematics, it appears that the Back-up Light circuit would be a good source of "switched" 12 volts. That circuit is also powered by Fuse #7. It would be easy to find the Back-up circuit connector on the transmission. There are two wires. The Black/Green wire is hot with ignition ON.

Edit: Looking at my "copied and enlarged" schematics, I see a note that I made. The color of the hot wire is labeled Black/Green, but is in fact Red/Green.