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Cigarette Lighter Power, With Key Off

Some of you may have already figured out that the cigarette lighter socket in the 2000+ Celica is only powered when the key is on. for some things (radar detectors) this is good, for other things (cell phones) it's bad. i personally wanted to be able to charge my cell phone while I'm not in the car.

also, before i go too far, i must apologize for the horrible quality of the pictures. i had a cheap digital camera at the time, and haven't had the time to re-take the pictures. if anyone wants to take some better pictures when they do this, I'd be happy to give them credit in the how to.

precautions:

this fix connects the cigarette lighter socket to a different fuse circuit that is powered all the time. however, there are drawbacks to this that need to be considered, and performing this fix is done at your own risk.

1. the cigarette lighter normally has it's own circuit with a 15 amp fuse. performing this fix means it will be sharing it's amperage with the other devices on the new circuit. therefore, only low power consuming devices should be plugged in after it is completed.

2. after performing this fix, you should never under any circumstances, use the socket for the cigarette lighter. it might work, but you do so at your own risk.

preparations:

you'll need the following tools and supplies in order to complete this project. most of them can be found at your local radio shack or electronics and auto parts stores.

1. pair of wire cutters.
2. pair of pliers.



3. two red female fully insulated spade connectors. (make sure they're red)
4. one mini-fuse power tap spade connector.
5. about six to twelve inches of 18 gauge wire. (preferably red)
6. a voltmeter. (optional)
7. a flashlight. (optional)

8. about 15 minutes including the trip to the store.

how to:

I've attempted to make this how to as detailed as possible. however, any modifications done to your vehicle are done solely at your own risk. if you have questions, consult someone knowledgeable in automobile electronics.

1. if you don't know much about electricity, disconnect the battery before playing in the fuse box. if you don't disconnect the battery, I'll assume you know what you're doing.



2. locate the fuse panel on the right side of the center console. remove the cover by pulling at the indentation on the bottom right side of it.



3. locate fuse number 30. the third from the left on the top row of fuses.

for the more advanced, you can use a different fuse by probing with the voltmeter to find a fuse that is powered with the key off. however, it's recommended that you don't probe any fuses labeled ecu, abs, srs, and possibly others because it can damage the computers connected to these fuses. I'd recommend using fuse number 30 "stop" or number 31 "door" and don't bother poking around.



4. remove the fuse and reinstall it with a power tap spade connector under the top blade. using the bottom blade will result in the socket being on an unfused connection. that could be bad.

a tip sent to me by Chris g.: if you really need to pull more amperage (up to 10 amps maximum), you can use the bottom blade and install an inline fuse between the fuse box and the lighter socket. if you try this, I'll assume you know what you're doing.



5. now look inside the hole, directly behind the cigarette lighter socket. you should see a white connector with a red wire connected to the center of the socket.



6. unplug the connector from the socket.



7. cut a piece of wire that is just long enough to reach from the back of the cigarette lighter socket to the power tap that you installed.

8. strip about 3/8 of an inch from both ends of the wire and install the female spade connectors by crimping them. check that the connectors won't come off the wire by tugging on them. optionally you could do some soldering here.






9. connect one end of the wire to the back of the cigarette lighter socket and the other end to the power tap spade connector on the fuse.



10. replace the fuse box cover.

Source...
http://www.greganti.com/celica/lighter/index.html