installing a vehicle tracker...

rob316

Trying to install a gps tracking unit to my vehicle. Ive got four wires,

1. 12v -
2. 12v +
3. Accesory -
4. Accesory +

I could rebulid you an engine but i know near to nothing about auto electrics. It looks like a relatively simple job but I just dont know how to do it. Where should will I find these power sources? Any help?

Thanks

coylemj

Unless it's very old your car probably has a negative earth system which means that the body of the car conducts the negative side of the DC current back to the battery. You need to be 100% certain that this is the case if you're dealing with basic wiring so make sure that the negative terminal of the car battery is connected to the chassis of the car.

Assuming that it is, you need to connect the '-' terminal to the metal of the car and the + terminal needs to be connected to a 12V power source within the car, all of these will be + i.e. positive. It's difficult to tell you how to do this because it will be different depending on the model of the car and where you propose to mount the tracker. Your best bet would be to ask a local company who fit car radios or mobile phone car kits because they will be doing this type of wiring as part of their business, tell them the make and model of your car and they'll be able to tell you where to find a power source.

Pataman

One small change to the above, you must connect the accessory + to a wire that becomes live when you switch on the engine(radio?), otherwist the gps will stay on when you turn off your engine and run down ther battery.