constant and ignition live for stereo

Hi,

Does anyone know which are the best points to get constant and ignition lives for an aftermarket stereo unit.

I have read that the best place for a constant live is the cigarette lighter but I daren't try removing it for fear of breaking the securing clips.

I know that the adjacent switches are good for ignition live but they have electrical plugs which make it difficult to attach an additional lead.

Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

If the car had a radio in it, then use the power as b+ constant, ground ground, and you can ring out the wiring pairs by using a 9v DC battery to the paired wires and the speaker will pop and crackle. If your car didn't have a radio then the Cigarette lighter power wire is another good one to use.

For Switched, I have always  spliced in that is Strip bare the wire for the Defroster black/yellow IIRC about 4 inches back  and soldered and heat shrinked a wire there for the ignition live.  On my 93's it was a whole lot easier to get to…than the ignition switch, and is on a high rated fuse.

Oh, and never crimp wires when you can solder and heat shrink.  If you can stagger the wire connections and make them as small as possible then your wires will bend and not be a big ball of soldered connections in one spot.  

Thanks Briano,

I was hoping that I could do this without having to strip any wires.

Is there a safe way to remove the ashtray to get at the lighter without damaging the fastening clips?

Thanks again

IF you are talking about a "Cabriolet" type of ciggie/ashtray you are looking at these.



You insert a flat blade screw driver on the edge and gently pry it out do one side then the other.

They are pretty herky and don't break easily if you don't try to strong arm them  you have to be careful in not hurting the vinyl on the dash/kneebar.

Hi Briano, thanks for taking the time to take and post the pics - much appreciated.

Mine's a tin top - would it be much the same to remove?And are you talking about removing the entire ashtray unit or just the lighter using a screwdriver?

Thanks again

If yours is in the kneebar, you remove the whole thing.
If yours is in the lower console as in earlier golfs, then you have to remove a screw and the top slide comes out, that is after you depress the catch spring and take the ash tray out.

you dont need to remove the cigarette lighter, just follow the wiring from the back of it and tap into the red and brown. this is where the radio gets its power from the factory though, so if you have a dig about behind the radio you'll probably find the remains of these wires.

to remove that type of ciggy lighter first you remove the metal part from the middle, then the outer plastic part pops out easy no levering required

for switched live there is no need to splice to any wires, you can run a wire to the back of the fusebox and plug it into G spade 1, 2, 3 or 5. or if you feel a bit more advanced the factory switched live on later cabrio comes from ignition switch pin S, though not all switch have the spade terminal on the back even if you add a spade to the plug

Thanks Rubjonny,

I'll see if I can find the red/brown wire, but if I do need to remove the ciggy lighter can I do this independently or do I need to remove the whole ashtray first. If so is there an easy way to do this without breaking the clips.

By the way mine is not a cabrio it's a tin top 83. Here are some pics  I found online I found online    found online of what mi

Thanks again

can see the clip either side of the ashtray housing there, can just remove the whole thing if you like. you'll probably find it easier to remove the switch panel surround instead though, once thats out you then have pretty good access to the wiring back there