I want to hard wire my satellite radio and was wondering what is the best way to do this. My current thoughts are to cut off the end of the cigarette lighter and use that cable to connect to the radio, but I am not sure what the best place to connect the other end. I want the radio to be powered the same as the current radio ie., goes off when the current radio goes off. Anyone have a suggestion?

 

Not sure I understand your question. One wire will need to go to 12v, the other to ground. The lighter wire will not go off with the radio if you are using it for the 12 volt source. If you are using the ground on the lighter, then you need to find a wire coming out of the back of the radio that is controlled by the off/on switch on the radio. I'm not sure there is one, possibly the power antenna wire.(Use test light or voltmeter to be sure, most pwr ant are switched) There are several that are switched through the ignition, but if you want the satellite radio to go off with the radio power switch, I'm thinking maybe the power ant wire is your likely choice.

 

The best option is to use fuse #22 in the passenger footwell fuse box. Its switched power only live when the car is on. Make up a jumper from an electrical connector and connect to a new red power wire.

 

I wired in an cigarette lighter type plug to the accessory power in the footwell (accessory power is described in the owners manual). Using the cigarette lighter adapter allows me to keep the power cord to the Sirius intact (or whatever I want to plug in).

 

The original question was how to make it go off when the radio goes off. Turning off the radio won't turn off the satellite radio if you wire it to an ignition switched power source. You can use one of many 12v sources if all you need is power off when ignition is off.

 

I guess I caused some confusion and I apologize for that. I was trying to find a power source that was on the same way the radio is on after the car is turned off. I don't need it to necessarily work in conjunction with the radio power.

Regarding the cigarette lighter adapter (re DeeGee's post) , I think the fuse #22 option may be what I am looking to do. However, I am not quite sure what it means to "Make up a jumper from an electrical connector and connect to a new red power wire."

 

I'd still wire it to the power antenna wire output on the back of the radio wiring harness. That way, when you turn off the radio, your satellite radio will go off too. I'm assuming you have to get back there anyway to hook an input into the antenna connection to play through your current radio. If not, then connect it to any available switched 12v source. I haven't checked the lighter (or the accessory outlet in the console) to see if the power goes off when the switch is turned off, but if it does, it's handy for the power and the ground. JMHO

 

Use an open ended bayonet style electrical connector. It should be just the right size to fit into the fuse socket.

 

If you go with the fuse box method, Autozone, Advance Auto, ect. sell a piggyback device that has a wire attached. You pull your fuse, plug in this device and then plug your fuse into it. The attached wire then is available for connection. The only thing to be careful about is make sure the end the wire comes off of is the output side of the fuse so it will still blow if you get an over current (unless you're fusing the wire you're adding then it doesn't much matter which side). It's small and inexpensive, I think around $3.

 

Cool! I think this is the way I am going to have to go.

Thanks!