[greynolds]

Like more than a few before me, I'm looking for a good way to get an always on power socket in the back of my LX for use by my Engel fridge. My understanding is that there are (at least) 2 ways to accomplish this - modifying the existing accessory circuit so it is always on by bypassing the relay OR by running new (fused) wiring directly from the battery to the rear of the vehicle and either adding an additional power socket or rewiring the existing one. Yesterday afternoon, I took a look at things.

I pulled off the driver side kick panel to try to find the accessory relay which, according to the wiring diagram, should be in a group of 4 (defog, ignition, accessory, and dome) in a row. All I see there is a bunch of fuses and misc. wiring, but no relays. I took a look at the wiring diagram that I downloaded from the techinfo site and it's not real clear to me (I'm not real good at reading wiring diagrams), but it looks like the relays are on the backside of the panel the fuses are on - is this right? If so, that presumably means that I need to disconnect the battery, and pull of the fuse panel assembly to get access to the relays. Not sure I like the idea of doing that on a brand new expensive vehicle, though it may not be at all difficult - I'd certainly like to know what I'm getting myself into before attempting this. Assuming I can get access to the relay, I understand the concept of bypassing the relay by using a jumper cable to complete the circuit on the 2 legs that the relay opens or closes. The downside of this option is that it makes ALL the accessory sockets in the vehicle always on - I'd really prefer a mix.

Next, I took a look in the rear and partially removed the trim panel that the existing rear accessory socket is located in. It looks like there's plenty of access to install a 2nd socket. The only trick is how to get a power wire from there to the battery. From what I could see, there's a grommit close by that would allow me to route a pair of wires under the body and along the frame along with a bunch of other existing wiring. Is this as easy as it looks? If so, I could run a pair of 8 gauge marine grade wires from the rear to the battery (with an appropriate fuse at the battery end) and hook up a new power socket without too much effort. The actual wiring is trivial - it's how to route the wires that's potentially tricky.

I saw a post somewhere on here that I can't seem to find again about running wires under the carpet, through some channel, and then through an existing grommit in the firewall into the engine bay. I took a look yesterday and didn't see any grommits in the firewall that looks like good places to run new wires through. I would also think that I'd have to tear half the interior apart in order to run wires internally - not something I'd really like to do. Again, is this much simpler than it sounds - am I missing something obvious?

Any suggestions / advice / detailed pictures of what to do would be appreciated.

[donco]

I hard-wired a 120V a/c inverter on the floor, under the back of the driver's seat. I did find a grommet to the left of the steering column in the firewall to run a heavy #8 ga wire & simply poked a hole for it with an icepick & slipped it behind the kick panel plastic. I tucked it under the plastic door sill & used a fishtape to snake it under the carpet. There's enough room to safely run the wire without risk of chafing. You could continue routing it along the rear door sill to reach the back, just make sure it's not out in the open in a "traffic" area.


I used a 30 Amp self-resetting breaker tied it to always-on +!2 in a relay box behind the main fuse box. I put a lug on a bolt at the rear of the seat rail for ground. I'll have to wait 'til this evening to post pic's, my wife is up in Colo with the LC.

[spressomon]

Originally Posted by greynolds

Like more than a few before me, I'm looking for a good way to get an always on power socket in the back of my LX for use by my Engel fridge. My understanding is that there are (at least) 2 ways to accomplish this - modifying the existing accessory circuit so it is always on by bypassing the relay OR by running new (fused) wiring directly from the battery to the rear of the vehicle and either adding an additional power socket or rewiring the existing one. Yesterday afternoon, I took a look at things.

I pulled off the driver side kick panel to try to find the accessory relay which, according to the wiring diagram, should be in a group of 4 (defog, ignition, accessory, and dome) in a row. All I see there is a bunch of fuses and misc. wiring, but no relays. I took a look at the wiring diagram that I downloaded from the techinfo site and it's not real clear to me (I'm not real good at reading wiring diagrams), but it looks like the relays are on the backside of the panel the fuses are on - is this right? If so, that presumably means that I need to disconnect the battery, and pull of the fuse panel assembly to get access to the relays. Not sure I like the idea of doing that on a brand new expensive vehicle, though it may not be at all difficult - I'd certainly like to know what I'm getting myself into before attempting this. Assuming I can get access to the relay, I understand the concept of bypassing the relay by using a jumper cable to complete the circuit on the 2 legs that the relay opens or closes. The downside of this option is that it makes ALL the accessory sockets in the vehicle always on - I'd really prefer a mix.

Next, I took a look in the rear and partially removed the trim panel that the existing rear accessory socket is located in. It looks like there's plenty of access to install a 2nd socket. The only trick is how to get a power wire from there to the battery. From what I could see, there's a grommit close by that would allow me to route a pair of wires under the body and along the frame along with a bunch of other existing wiring. Is this as easy as it looks? If so, I could run a pair of 8 gauge marine grade wires from the rear to the battery (with an appropriate fuse at the battery end) and hook up a new power socket without too much effort. The actual wiring is trivial - it's how to route the wires that's potentially tricky.

I saw a post somewhere on here that I can't seem to find again about running wires under the carpet, through some channel, and then through an existing grommit in the firewall into the engine bay. I took a look yesterday and didn't see any grommits in the firewall that looks like good places to run new wires through. I would also think that I'd have to tear half the interior apart in order to run wires internally - not something I'd really like to do. Again, is this much simpler than it sounds - am I missing something obvious?

Any suggestions / advice / detailed pictures of what to do would be appreciated.

Running the circuit to the rear with 8-10 guage wire is not that hard or time consuming: Just peel the carpet back from the door sill plates...and use fish tape; and you will need to pull the plastic rear inside quarter panel away...you do not need to remove it but only far enough to access the back side...

Personally I don't think I would feel good about running a full time circuit off the main (and only) battery...but that's me. Put a small fuse box in the back (PS side in the cubby hole below the side window) to run all your accessories from that (feed the fuse box with the 8-10 guage fused wire from the aux battery. I pushed my rear second circuit wiring through the firewall on the PS side...

[moooooooo]

i had ARB install a dual battery kit and asked them to run a "hot wire" to the back of the LC100 next to the factory cigarette 12v socket and this where i will run my 'fridge when i get the cash to buy it.

I highly recommend a dual battery kit if you are serious in running accessories. My dual battery kit powers my driving/spot lights as well as the hot wire.
My winch is wired to the primary battery.
cheers
peter

[greynolds]

Understood on the dual battery thing - that will happen eventually. With the LX, my understanding is that the 2nd battery will have to be accomplished by using 2 smaller batteries in the stock single battery location (what Christo from Slee has done with his LX). For now though, I just want the ability to have the fridge run without having to have the key in the ignition and turned to accessory or on while I'm parked somewhere for an hour or 2. I don't plan to leave the fridge running for extended periods without the engine running until a 2nd battery is present.

[spressomon]

Originally Posted by greynolds

Understood on the dual battery thing - that will happen eventually. With the LX, my understanding is that the 2nd battery will have to be accomplished by using 2 smaller batteries in the stock single battery location (what Christo from Slee has done with his LX). For now though, I just want the ability to have the fridge run without having to have the key in the ignition and turned to accessory or on while I'm parked somewhere for an hour or 2. I don't plan to leave the fridge running for extended periods without the engine running until a 2nd battery is present.

Gotcha...I would run the extra fuse box to the back then off of your main battery...then everything will be in place when you decide to add the second battery...and to add the second fuse box in the back is hardly any more trouble, time and expense than just another DC outlet alone.

[greynolds]

I just went outside and took another look at things. I still don't see a good way to get wires through the firewall. But I do see how to route the wires to the back once I get them through the firewall. I was able to easily take out the door sill plates, I know how to remove the driver and passenger (depending on which side I decide to go with) kick panels, and I know how to at least partially remove the rear panel that the existing accessory jack is mounted in, and it looks like routing wiring between the front door sill and the rear door sill shouldn't be too bad.

But where the heck do I put the wires through the firewall? I'm looking from the top - ie: open the hood and look for any unused holes. Do I need to look from under the vehicle? This is where a few photos would probably help .

Thanks for the advice so far.

[spressomon]

Originally Posted by greynolds

I just went outside and took another look at things. I still don't see a good way to get wires through the firewall. But I do see how to route the wires to the back once I get them through the firewall. I was able to easily take out the door sill plates, I know how to remove the driver and passenger (depending on which side I decide to go with) kick panels, and I know how to at least partially remove the rear panel that the existing accessory jack is mounted in, and it looks like routing wiring between the front door sill and the rear door sill shouldn't be too bad.

But where the heck do I put the wires through the firewall? I'm looking from the top - ie: open the hood and look for any unused holes. Do I need to look from under the vehicle? This is where a few photos would probably help .

Thanks for the advice so far.

greynolds,
Sorry, I would post pics but my home computer has got the 'blue screen of death' syndrome right now and although I am at work I forgot the PC cable for my camera. Anyway if you look directly below the wiper motor on the PS side of the engine bay, about a foot or so below the wiper motor, you will see a rubber "hat" about 3" in diameter on the firewall that houses a bulk of wires. I easily poked all my wires (for stereo and rear fuse panel) through here (at what would be the right angle where the rim of the so called "hat" comes into the "hat portion (boy would a photo be a whole lot more descriptive right now!!!) ...use a coat hanger or fish tape to pull/push them through. Then silicone around the wires to seal it when you have everything connected, etc. You will want to put an inline fuse in the engine bay on the supply (+) wire you are going to feed your rear fuse box with...

Hope this helps you.

[donco]

The firewall grommet/boot that I ran the wire thru is directly below the driver's side hood strut:



Inside the car it comes thru above the "dead pedal" (large red wire):



I found full-time +12V in the smaller box next to the main fuse box under the hood. I have no idea if it's fused upstream or if so, what amperage the circuit is good for. I cut a notch in the corner of the cover so it seals tightly around the wire.



I put a 30 Amp self-resetting breaker in series with the #8 wire (wrapped in black tape next to the fuse box). I need to go back & tidy up the installation. I did it on the quick whilest on a road trip when the inverter connection kept crapping out in the cigarette lighter socket. The hard-wired 400 watt inverter does great. I think we pulled something on the order of 220 watts continuous thru it while on the road & never so much as a hiccup.

I ran a Coleman electric cooler in the trunk of my bimmer on a 20 Amp breaker & I think max draw is only 5 amps @ 12V

For extended roadtrips with overnites in a motel, I bought a used bare PC power supply & mounted a cigarette lighter socket in the case. They measure 10.4V under load on the 12V circuit, but if you tie the 5V leg to ground thru a few large 1-ohm 50 watt resistors in parallel & place them in front of the fan, it will bump the output voltage back up to 12V under load. Makes a cheap 120V a/c- 12V dc power supply if your cooler didn't come with one.

[greynolds]

Originally Posted by donco

The firewall grommet/boot that I ran the wire thru is directly below the driver's side hood strut:
<snip>
Inside the car it comes thru above the "dead pedal" (large red wire):
<snip>

Ah - that grommit didn't look like one that could be used for my needs, but it looks like I was wrong . That will bring the 2 wires I'll need to run into a nice convenient location. I plan to run both a power and a ground wire to the back rather than relying on finding a good ground connection to tie into.

I found full-time +12V in the smaller box next to the main fuse box under the hood. I have no idea if it's fused upstream or if so, what amperage the circuit is good for. I cut a notch in the corner of the cover so it seals tightly around the wire.

Out of curiosity, why did you go this route instead of connecting directly to the battery, which would free you from any dependency on what is upstream of your connection point?

I put a 30 Amp self-resetting breaker in series with the #8 wire (wrapped in black tape next to the fuse box).

I like the idea of a self-resetting breaker instead of just putting a fuse in the line. If I happen to trigger the breaker, I don't have to find a fuse to replace it with.

I ran a Coleman electric cooler in the trunk of my bimmer on a 20 Amp breaker & I think max draw is only 5 amps @ 12V

I believe the Engel fridges draw less than 5 amps @ 12V.

Makes a cheap 120V a/c- 12V dc power supply if your cooler didn't come with one.

The Engel fridges have both 120V and 12V power jacks and come with appropriate power cords for each. No need for an external transformer.

[spressomon]

FWIW: I was told the 12v circuit brakers are not very efficient and thus consume additional power...but I don't know how much.

[donco]

Originally Posted by greynolds

Out of curiosity, why did you go this route instead of connecting directly to the battery, which would free you from any dependency on what is upstream of your connection point?

Guess it's just personal preference. I look at going with a direct connection to the battery clamp as a last resort & always try to find another vacant source.

Here's a better image of the boot that feeds thru the firewall:

[greynolds]

Well, I finally got a chance to run the wires this afternoon (nothing is hooked up yet). I used an awl to punch the holes in the grommit, then a #2 philips screwdriver to enlarge them. Took some effort to get the wires started (I ran 8 gauge Ancor Marine Grade wire), but with my dad as an assistant, we got them through the firewall with no hassle.

Next, I popped off the driver side kick panel and the front and rear door sill plates. Getting the wires from the from the front door sill plate area to the rear door sill plate area was slightly trickey, but not too bad.

Next, I partially removed the rear trim plate that covers the subwoofer, the jack/tool storage area, etc. We were able to get the wires all the way to the back with a minimum amount of effort.

Right now, one end of the wires is tied off near the battery and the other end is sitting in the jack/tool storage compartment.

Next step will be to install the 12V accessory socket in the back (have the socket and the means to drill the hole for it). Then I need to either install a fuse block or figure out where to get a quick disconnect plug for 8 gauge wire (can only find them down to 12 or 10 gauge). Finally, I need to install a fuse at the battery end and connect power and ground to the battery. This stuff is all pretty simple - just need to track down a few items.

[wngrog]

I have stuck all my wires through that rubber boot, no sweat.

[SINCITY100]

Originally Posted by wngrog

I have stuck all my wires through that rubber boot, no sweat.

Same here.. it is one of the FEW places I could find on the firewall side to easily run anything into the passenger compartment

Good info !

Well any info regarding live (and unused) plugs or circuits is of great help...No doubt there are a lot of dangling plugs and empty fuse/relay locations throughout my 100 that I wonder about (if possible) using for things I want to add to my Cruiser

[dinibili]

On my 05 TD LC Sahara, I found that if I left the key on Acc for 24hrs I would flatten the battery. The Sahara's don't allow you to put a third battery in the engine bay because the AHC pump & resevoir is sitting where it normally goes. It was suggested that I slit the two front batteries and replac e the LHS one with a bigger one. That did not grab my fancy as I'm in enough strife with Toyota and warranty's as it is. So have run an Anderson lead (13mm2 with earth return) to the rear of the vehicle for a Camper Trailer (Tvan). I took a tapping off that to run an Engel fridge (40L through a Hella plug in the back of the vehicle. I have also left another Anderson plug tucked up in the area above the jack holder, so that I can grab one of the batteries in the trailer to recharge if we are camped long term any where. The batteries on the trailer are of the AGM variety which allow very fast charge times and will take, I understand, around 50 amps happily. Two hours driving should have them close enough to fully charged.

To protect the start batteries I fitted a Redarc battery isolator to the Anderson leads. I also fitted Maxi (fuses 100 amp) between the isolator and the start batteries and also to the other two batteries.

As an aside, the wiring through the cigarette lighter and accessory circuit to the rear of the vehicle gave a significant voltage drop with an Engel fridge pulling 2.4 amps. This will have significant affects on the efficiency of keeping things cold and battery drain. By the time I had rerouted the wire the voltage drop was .06V.

[greynolds]

Originally Posted by dinibili

On my 05 TD LC Sahara, I found that if I left the key on Acc for 24hrs I would flatten the battery. The Sahara's don't allow you to put a third battery in the engine bay because the AHC pump & resevoir is sitting where it normally goes.

A third battery??? In the USA, we only get 1 battery stock, on the drivers side in the front of the engine bay. Do you guys get 2 smaller batteries in that location from the factory? At some point, my plan includes replacing the 1 large battery with 2 smaller (but higher end) batteries to protect the starting battery from discharge from things like running my Engel fridge in the back.

[dinibili]

To the best of my knowledge the TDs here have two batteries, one either side of the radiator connected in parallel. I am not sure how long this has been the case. The third/second battery generally fitted as after market would normally sit up close to the firewall on the left hand side. Some opt to split the two front batteries and replace the LHS battery with a slightly larger one. The fitted batteries are 255mm long x 170mm wide x 230mm deep to the top of the post. The battery tray appears large enough to take another 40mm in length

[donco]

I did some more poking around in the owner's manual, turns out the circuit I tapped into is rated at 80 Amps. The schematic labels it fuse 51: "Glow" which I would assume would be for the glow-plugs in the diesel version.

[DMX84]

Donco, is that circuit fused at 80amps somewhere?

[donco]

Originally Posted by DMX84

Donco, is that circuit fused at 80amps somewhere?

I doubt it. The fuse that would ordinarily go there for a diesel model (assumed) was not installed on mine and has been vacant since day-one. If it is fused at all upstream, it would be coming off of one of the main fuses which I haven't researched. I put a 30 A self-resetting breaker in the circuit I tapped off and only draw maybe half that much current at most, so I figure I'd have to have a dead short in my wiring for it to cause problems, it which case it would open the breaker.

[DMX84]

I just may relocate my wire from the battery to that location. Ill look at my situation again and decide. Thanks for finding that.
Dean

[CTapia]

Originally Posted by greynolds

Well, I finally got a chance to run the wires this afternoon (nothing is hooked up yet). I used an awl to punch the holes in the grommit, then a #2 philips screwdriver to enlarge them. Took some effort to get the wires started (I ran 8 gauge Ancor Marine Grade wire), but with my dad as an assistant, we got them through the firewall with no hassle.

Next, I popped off the driver side kick panel and the front and rear door sill plates. Getting the wires from the from the front door sill plate area to the rear door sill plate area was slightly trickey, but not too bad.

Next, I partially removed the rear trim plate that covers the subwoofer, the jack/tool storage area, etc. We were able to get the wires all the way to the back with a minimum amount of effort.

Right now, one end of the wires is tied off near the battery and the other end is sitting in the jack/tool storage compartment.

Next step will be to install the 12V accessory socket in the back (have the socket and the means to drill the hole for it). Then I need to either install a fuse block or figure out where to get a quick disconnect plug for 8 gauge wire (can only find them down to 12 or 10 gauge). Finally, I need to install a fuse at the battery end and connect power and ground to the battery. This stuff is all pretty simple - just need to track down a few items.

Greynolds,

Can you please take some pics along the way and a provide us with a material list once you're done? I have the ARB Fridge/Freezer and I've been wanting to tackle the project.

[greynolds]

Originally Posted by CTapia

Greynolds,

Can you please take some pics along the way and a provide us with a material list once you're done? I have the ARB Fridge/Freezer and I've been wanting to tackle the project.

I'll try to take some pics - won't be much on routing the wires as that's already done and I don't want to take it all apart again . I should be able to take some of installing the outlet in the back and how things get hooked up to the battery. Material list shouldn't be a problem.

[Landpimp]

I run(24/7) my ARB fridge off the rear dome light wiring. Just taped into the dome wiring, ran it under the headlinner and to the rear power socket.........works just fine for the fridge. Someday I will run a dedicated wire to the rear.......but this works........and takes just a few mins

[100 TD]

Originally Posted by donco

I did some more poking around in the owner's manual, turns out the circuit I tapped into is rated at 80 Amps. The schematic labels it fuse 51: "Glow" which I would assume would be for the glow-plugs in the diesel version.

Originally Posted by DMX84

I just may relocate my wire from the battery to that location. Ill look at my situation again and decide. Thanks for finding that.
Dean

If I read my Max Ellerys correctly, that position comes directly from the battery with no fuse. The ideal thing would be to buy a fuse to go in that spot, maybe a 40 or 50 amp one and take your power feed from the other side of the fuse so that the wire your are taking off is fused from that point on. You could also hang some more wires off the same point and be protected if necessary. Just a thought.

[DMX84]

As far as that goes, you could probably get the fuse sized you what you need.
DMX

[greynolds]

Figured I owe those who provided some advice an update on my little project. I got everything wired up a couple of weekends ago. I currently have the following setup:

- 8 gauge (red) wire running from the battery to a self resetting circuit breaker, which then runs to the back.
- 8 gauge (black) wire running from the battery to the back
- I ran these wires into the cubby hole where the jack and tool bag are normally located (the tool bag has been moved to the long storage bin on the other side to make room for the wiring)
- In the back, each of the 8 gauge wires goes to a junction block stud
- Each of the junction block studs has wires going to 2 12 volt outlets (with inline fuses on the positive leads) - one outlet is a bit below the factory outlet, the other is between the cubby hole and the subwoofer

I used a battery boot to cover the positive junction block and another to cover the connections to the circuit breaker under the hood.

What I've done works and looks decent, but I'd like to make a couple of changes:

1) Use a StreetWires AGU inline fuse holder (http://www.streetwires.com/products/...AGUholders.cfm) under the hood. This would eliminate any power loss from using a circuit breaker. I hadn't gone with an inline fuse previously because I hadn't been able to find something I liked (quality wise) that would accept 8 gauge wire.

2) Use a fused power distribution block instead of the junction blocks. This is where I'm stuck. I found something from StreetWires (http://www.streetwires.com/products/...ock_CBR44A.cfm) that is almost ideal. It looks great, has a cover over the power connections, would give me a few spare locations to add more things, and would fit where I want to mount it nicely. The problem is that the outputs support only 4 or 8 gauge wire and I can't find any push on terminals (for the 12 volt outlets) that will take anything bigger than 10 gauge wire.

Does anyone have suggestions on a specific power distribution block that is similar to the StreetWires one linked to above but supports smaller wire on the output side (anything 10-16 gauge would be acceptable). Google searches seem to be coming up with lots of options with the same wire gauge problem on the output side. Or does anyone know of push on terminals that accept 8 gauge wire?

I'll take and post some pictures when I get a chance. It looks like it's going to be wet all weekend, so it may not be for another week or so.

[LEXUSBEN]

Once again I somehow missed this thread

Anyway I have been researching this same sort of setup. I have quite a few accessories that I need a seperate fuse block to run to make it proper setup.

Here is what I have decided. I bought a 1 in 6 out and 1 in 6 out fuse block from wrangler nw to wire in, most likely above the drivers feet junction block(j/b). I want 6 switched fuses and 6 hot all the time fuses.

I don't like wiring all over the place so after an hour or so of flipping through the ewd I found that the 50A acc fuse only powers the acc relay and the three power outlets. Well the switched stuff is: Gps, xm, cb. Pretty small amp draws plus I will leave the power outlets hooked up to this fuse/relay combo. I am going to tie in in the underhood j/b.

As for the hot all the time fuses my l/c (this won't work for an lx or the newer l/c with ahc) doesn't have ahc but all of the wiring is there so I installed a 50a fuse for the ahc and again all i need to do is tap into the underhood j/b to power the hot all the time section of the fuse block.

I haven't done it yet because it will be a fairly large project rewiring all the accessories I have installed.

One side note I bought an ARB fridge (45qt about a month ago and just pulled the acc relay and bypassed it with a wire and two terminals as a temp solution until I installed all of this stuff and an additional pwr outlet in back for just the fridge. (I figure when I am done I will have 1 switched and 1 hot in back).

I also performed amperage measurements on the fridge and 2.7 amps is the max that I could get. 2.7 is on startup of the compressor, it actually drops to about 2.0 - 2.2 after it stabilizes. The pwr outlets from the factory are rated at 10A.

The wiring isn't that big, but in my opinion if you didn't want to go to the trouble of wiring another pwr outlet you don't really need to if you bypass the relay. Because we all know the japanese engineers overbuilt everything on our cars, so why would they cut corners here?? In my case it would be nice to have one more in back.

I am hoping to start on some of this tomorrow and will try to take some pics along the way for anyone that is interested.

ben

[hoser]

Nice timely post since I am just starting the same project. My Waeco fridge can't even run on the OEM cigarette lighter since it has a low voltage cut-off. Apparently there is too much voltage loss in the stock wiring. I am guessing those people with the Engle/ARB/Norcold fridges could benefit from running a new power line as well.

Greynolds, as an alternative, you can use 8 gauge cable out of that Streetwire distribution block and use the blue "Anderson" connectors rather than the standard cigarette plugs. The Anderson connectors provide a better, higher current connection with less voltage loss and are safer too. It would suck if your fridge accidentally unplugged itself on a 10 hour drive. These are much better if you want to run an inverter too. Heck, I would just convert all my appliances to run on these and then make an Anderson/Std Cigarette adapter in case you need to use your appliances in someone else's rig.

More info: http://www.windsun.com/Hardware/AndersonSB.htm


There are also Hella/Merit 12V accessory plugs that have a more positive connection than our standard cigarette lighters.