The 2011 LR4 I have written about came with a wonky iPhone cord…..that plugs into a dedicated port in the center console. It allowed you to charge and play music from your phone. Bluetooth is used for the telephone feature, but the LR4 does not stream music using Bluetooth like most 2017 cars.
Then when the iPhone 6 came along with the new “lightning” connector, the LR4 proprietary cable was obsolete. If Jaguar/Land Rover makes a new coiled cord with a lightning connector, I haven’t found it yet. I just wanted to be able to once again charge, I never played music from my phone anyway. I tried this white adapter pictured here to go from the larger iPhone connector to the lightning connector, but it did not work for whatever reason. There was also a USB socket in the center console, but it charged so slowly it was of little help.
I could use a charger plugged in the dual cigarette lighter sockets, but the Type A in me didn’t like the appearance of that as a daily arrangement.
In doing a little reading, I realized that my onboard USB socket put out 0.5 amp, which is why it was so slow. Household iPhone chargers typically output 2.1 amps, which is the “normal” charging speed we are used to. But, I have had household chargers that output 3 amps, which results in a faster charge.
I also thought that USB’s for every row would be nice. This idea came to me when we flew out west this year and rented an SUV from Hertz that had USB’s in all three rows. Very handy.
I found lots of hard wired chargers like these on eBay. These were $8 each with free shipping, but some on there were less. Some have an in-line fuse holder which seems like a good idea, but you are tapping into a fused power source anyway so maybe it’s overkill. They have two USB sockets that you can conceal in a compartment, or leave accessible in about any way you desire. These are 3 amps, which is a good charge rate. In my 90 minute commute I make a day or two a week, it will take my phone from 40% to 100%.
I’m no mechanic, but the center pin of the lighter socket is usually (+) and the outer wall is (-). So, you cut into the wires on the back of any lighter, and splice or connect these leads with the correct polarity lead from the car, and the lead going back to the socket. That way, the socket is still usable as well. I twist the ends of the wires together and secure it with a couple of inches of heat-shrink tubing.
I connected one to the lighter socket on the front center console that you see at the top of the picture here, and left the USB sockets emerging from the passenger side of the center console. So, we have two USB sockets, and two lighter sockets for the front seats. Handy for road tripping with two phones, and you can still charge a digital camera too.
I connected another to the lighter at the back of the center console. I left the leads accessible through a 3/4 inch hole I drilled in the “roof” of the open cubby you see here. The lighter I connected to is concealed behind the door just under the vents in this picture. So, we have two USB plugs as well as a lighter socket for the second row (my teen boys, usually)
For the rearmost row, we have one factory lighter socket present as well. Since I had a little more flat surface area to work with here, I ordered a “built in” dual USB port. It has a 1.0 amp socket and a 2.1 amp socket, so not my ideal 3 amps, but it at least adds USB to the third row. And, I just wanted to try the built-in design where I had the room to do it. There’s open space behind the panel here, whereas the sides and rear of the center console are chock full of wires and ductwork.
Now, for the maintenance musings. I got around to the front and rears diffs, and transfer case this weekend. This is what came out….pure black. Bear in mind I have changed all three already at 30,000 miles, 60,000 miles, and now we are at 99,812 miles.
The factory schedule calls for the first change at 150,000 miles. I can’t imagine going that long based on how this looks after 40,000 miles of use, but that’s just me. The magnetic plugs were pretty clean, so I guess the fluid (75w90 in the diffs, ATF in the transfer case) is getting the job done. Once the old fluid had drained, I pumped a cup of new in and let it run out before I reinstalled the drain plug and filled it.
The next morning, I tackled the spark plugs with a cold engine. This went better overall than I expected. About three hours start to finish, which included removing the two air cleaner boxes and a rigid plastic wiring harness down each valve cover that runs the variable cam, fuel injection, and coil wiring together. So, there are 12 somewhat hidden, locking connectors on each side that have to be disconnected first. Then one torx screw holds down each Bosch coil, and you can reach the plug.
I always make sure I have a car free (i.e., not blocked in) for runs to the store when doing something like this…..and sure enough, none of my spark plug sockets would fit. They went down into the head, but were larger than the plugs. So, off to the AutoZone in the Cayenne with one of the new plugs for a test fit. The saleslady thought was off an ATV when I showed it to her. When I told her it was for a Land Rover, she said “oh, we don’t have anything that will work, sorry”. I was rummaging through the tool aisle myself and another saleslady came over and handed me a small, “Fits Subaru, Honda and others” spark plug socket. It was a perfect fit the new Denso Iridium plugs.
The new socket fit the old plugs too of course, but it was not magnetic, and the rubber sleeve inside lacked enough grip. The plugs, old or new, just kept falling out of the socket before you could seat them or pull them out of the head.
My high tech solution. Half of one gummie in the socket worked perfectly. It provided enough grip to hold the plug in the tool, but also “let go” and didn’t stick to the new plugs once installed.
Have you come up with any other charging additions or ideas for your devices, or a tool “fix”?
The reason you would want one with a fuse is because its fuse will be sized to prevent the unit wiring from going up in smoke while the vehicle’s fuse may be larger since it is sized for the gauge of wiring used in the vehicle’s circuit and not that of the adapter which is likely smaller.
To get power a much less invasive way to do it is with a fuse tap which are available for several different types of fuses. Quick and simple to install and removable without any damage to the vehicle’s wiring. One thing that should be noted is which side you put the tap on. It should be on the fuse output side, so that you don’t overload the input circuit and again, unless all of the wiring of your added device meets or exceeds the ampacity of the fuse you should have that additional fuse rated for the device’s wiring.
Bubble gum, or the poster putty is a good way to retrieve a dropped bolt or screw even if it is non magnetic. The trick is flame. Put the glob on chewed gum or poster putty on the end of a stick or coat hanger and then light it on fire. Quickly blow it out and then stick it to the item you are retrieving. Works very well.
With the USB chargers spliced into the lighters, can you use both the USB and cigarette lighter chargers at the same time? Or does that draw too much current?
A little electrical math…
Assume the source is fused at 10 amps.
10 amps * 12v = 120watts
(Actually, when running, it’s more like 13.5volts, which makes for 135 watts, but let’s stick with 12 volts & 120 watts)
120 watts / 5 volts = 24 amps
Well, step-down converters aren’t perfectly efficient, so let’s leave some headroom.
On a 10 amp/12 volt circuit, you can safely pull 20 amps of 5 volts.
Let’s safely call that 8 2.1 amp USB sockets on a 10 amp fuse.
If you’re a better electrician than me, feel free to correct my math 🙂
The math is good, but I’d like to know what else hooks into the lighter socket fuse. Unfortunately, short of finding a factory wiring diagram, that information is very difficult to ascertain.
However, a rule of thumb I’ve heard states that the circuit draw is about half the fuse rating, and based on experience that rule holds up. Therefore, I’d say the following numbers are safe:
10 Amp fuse- 4 USB outlets (@ 2.1 A)
15 Amp fuse- 6 USB outlets (@ 2.1 A)
10 Amp fuse- 8 USB outlets (@ 2.1 A)
I’d also agree with Scoutdude that each USB circuit should have a dedicated fuse. With this setup, only dedicated fuse blows, leaving the vehicle fuses intact. That reflects current vehicle circuit design, which is why cars now have three or four fuse boxes scattered throughout the vehicle.
And as always, “Your mileage may vary.”
“The math is good, but I’d like to know what else hooks into the lighter socket fuse. Unfortunately, short of finding a factory wiring diagram, that information is very difficult to ascertain.”
How about pulling the fuse and seeing if anything aside from the lighter stops working? 🙂
Yeah to really do the math you need the rated input current for the device, not its output.
But the problem is that other things may be on that circuit. A check of the owner’s manual will reveal what other items are served by that fuse, though occasionally you’ll find some KAM wires that are not called out on that fuse.
Good to see you changing fluids often. Much cheaper than the stuff they protect.
Blu-Tack would do well for holding the plugs in the socket.
I put a double-USB charger on my 500R Ninja. It has 2 unused fused circuits in the junction block, one switched and one always hot. I can use either by moving the power lead from one to the other under the seat. I zip tied the charger to the frame under the petcock (it has a waterproof cover), and just run the charging cable up to my tank bag. Great for touring or day trips.
Kawasaki did that so you can have a heated suit. They’re cool that way.
I’ll count myself lucky, one of the 12V power sockets in my Mazda CX-5 is inside the center console so I can keep a cigarette lighter charger and tow cables neatly out of sight, plus Mazda thoughtfully included a groove for the cord to pass out form under the console lid so you can power a phone in a vent mount .
I put a Raspberry Pi Model 2 B under the dash of the Legacy as my head unit for the sound system. Wired up correctly it’s just as useful as those stupid infotainment screens in modern cars, but out of sight, without a screen, and with actual buttons I got off of AdaFruit. Turn on the car and the Pi automatically turns on and boots up. Press the green button and it begins playing if it’s not already, press it again to pause and it turns red (it’s a fancy shmancy LED deal). The black faced button is volume down, white is volume up, and the two clear buttons are skip forward and back. All music comes from a 32GB USB flash drive plugged into one of the USB ports. The other USB port has a USB extension cable where the other end is glued to the faceplate that has the buttons. I mostly just did it to find a use for the 2 B after I got my Zero, and because it was cheaper than buying a new head unit that would look absolutely garish in the DIN slot. The only problem is I don’t have a mute button, so turning off the music has me hitting volume down again and again. If I could figure out a way of doing it I’d eventually like to put an eight character LCD screen that would scroll the track name across.
A very detail oriented mechanic once told me the most fool-proof way of putting new plugs in is with a rubber hose that will fit somewhat securely around the top of the plug. Flexible enough for tight spaces, grips w/o dropping, and tactile enough that it keeps you from cross threading. Tighten a few turns then finish with the socket.
TOP TIP
I was told that trick for deeply recessed spark plugs in alloy heads with awkward access, I was always frightened I would cross thread them. You get so much feel through the rubber tube that you are in no doubt it is seating properly