I pulled the fuse and it did shut the power down to the front power point.

I'll try to send pics of the fuse box so you can see what I've got....

 

 

So the next step is go to Pep Boys or another auto parts store and get a couple of piggy back fuse adapters for your shape fuse, take F40 with you. They look like this, and you only need two: One of them will replace F40 and the other one piggybacks the fuse in the switched circuit that you are going to tap into. Then the final step is just splicing the two wires together from the fuse adapters.

Do you have a simple voltmeter to check for 12v on a fuse?

 

I had no idea these things existed - makes pretty easy work of it.

I'm not sure which fuse to plug into - maybe the radio?

 

Yeah, the piggyback adapters are great, I used one to install a dashcam.

You should pick a fuse physically close to F40 for convenience. F39 (radio) looks like a good choice, and power will go off when the key is removed but probably not when the key is just switched off, just like the radio. Is that what you want?

Do you have a simple voltmeter to check for 12v on a fuse?

 

Right - I want the bluetooth adapter to function just like the radio, so that's probably where I will go. I'm not sure I'll have enough clearance to put both the adapters side by side - I may have to pick something else.

I do have a multi-meter so I can determine which is the hot side and which is the ground.

 

If they won't fit side by side then F38 should also work. You will need to orient the adapter in F40 so that the wire goes to the BT side, not to the 12v. And you won't need a fuse in the F40 adapter since it shares with F39.

 

I solved my dilemma! The longest part of it was actually finding a fuse that switched with the ignition. It ended up being the driver/passenger door lock switches (F41).... which I don't understand.

At any rate, I was able to piggyback with that circuit and it works great - it stays on after the ignition is shut off, and shuts off when the doors are opened - just the way I wanted it.

Also - polarity is important, because reversing the piggyback didn't work.

So many thanks econoline for a job well done! Here's a pic of the finished panel:

W0Uon4m.jpg?1

 

Glad it's working for you!

I am concerned about the fuse in F40. That fuse will short together the old "always on" 12v and your new switched 12v. Not sure what the effect of that could be, but probably not a good idea.

Yes, polarity is important because the splice goes to only one of the fuse legs. I was going to have you check polarity with the voltmeter before connecting it.

I'm puzzled by why the radio circuit didn't work for you. Functionally that would seem to be a better choice.

 

The radio fuse was always on - apparently it isn't switched with the ignition...