intergrating sat nav

[john_h]

hi guys,

i'm just posting to see if anyone has acheived this yet and/or has any tips on how i can do this.

basically i have a Garmin Nuvi 250 (which is currently been repaired as i formatted it) and that uses a typical usb charger which plugs into the cigarette lighter plug - probs what most sat navs do nowa days.

well i am planning on dismantling the end of plug and hard wiring it into the cigarette lighter plug through various methods of terminal blocks, soldering etc. running the cable behind the dash and steering column area and out near the drivers door. on the dash i was thinking of getting a sat nav dash mount disk and sticking it to the blue dash bit next to the speedo cluster mound.

i was inspired to do this after a visit to halfords and seeing their rediculus prices for the kit to do this.

if anyone has done this before or has any info/tips i would be very grateful if you posted here..

thanks..

[chopper1192]

That's exactly what I've done in my 407. Only difference is I bought a fag lightet socket and wired it inline behined the dashboard, and plugged the power cable into that and ran it so it emerges betwwen the dash and A pliiar, where there's a self adhesive disc to stick the mount to.

[john_h]

sounds good, but does the plug come out at all, especially over bumpy surfaces as vibrations typically balls things up?

well i have figured i need a 7805 5v voltage regulator to keep the voltage and the amp down to stop blowing the usb device (in my case garmin sat nav) - still getting repaired.

so i have decided i am going to cut the wires behind the cigarette lighter plug, place a terminal connector block on there, so the socket will still work. but run a cable from positive (RED) to pin 1 and neg (black) to pin 2 and to the black wire on the cable. pin 3 will then be the red usb cable with 5v down it. here is a diagram of what i mean:

but the cigarette lighter plug will be replaced with the terminal blocks.

[chopper1192]

Solder and heat shrink all connections. Terminal blocks are for bodgers.

[crainneag]

Don't forget that you might need a heatsink on your regulator and keep potentially hot bits away from other wiring.

[kenledger]

It's also a good idea to double heat shrink the wires as well. I have known the bouncing about can cause the joint to fail

[blawford]

Was about to start a new post asking the exact same thing. I want to run a wired in cable behind the dashboard and have it come out between the A pillar and dashboard on the right on the steering wheel.

Any advice or direction would be appreciated, how hard was this to do?