161 Ford Kuga Lighter Power Port Doesnt Power Off

jj880

Got a dashcam that connects to the lighter port.

Great camera. Does the job well. Only thing is it keeps recording as long as there is power in the lighter connection port.

I have left the Kuga over night with a usb adapter in the lighter port that displays the voltage of the port. It does not turn off.

I really dont understand why Ford have it setup like this. Every other car Ive owned the lighter port powers off when car powers off.

This has basically rendered my dashcam useless. It will drain the car battery and kill the memory card eventually if it is recording 24/7.

There is no way everyone who drives the car will remember to pull the dashcam power lead out of the lighter port every time we park up for the night (myself included).

Is there anything I can do to get the lighter port to power off with the ignition?

cml387

Maybe every car you've had does that, but many keep the power on the cigarette lighter, as my old Octavia does.

A much neater solution than trailing a wire down to the port is to get it wired in seamlessly back to the fusebox and find an empty fuse location that is permanently powered. You can get a spade terminal that plugs in the empty fuse location. The return can be any metal part of the car.

kirving

Best option as above is to use a hardwire kit (most dashcam manufactures have them), and find a fust that is only powered when the ignition is on.

It's a bit annoying that they don't turn off, but could be handy if you wanted too charge your phone while the car was off.

jj880

Thanks for the suggestions but I'll just sell the dash cam if that's what's involved.

I was thinking there would be an option in the car dash menus for it.

The Kuga menus seem to have options for just about everything else so thought I was missing it.

I still dont understand why any car would have the lighter port live at all times. Should at least be the option to have it turn off with ignition.

SodiumCooled

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598018#Comment_121598018

All VW group cars (VW, Skoda and Audi I’ve had experience with) keep the 12Vs powered at all times.

The Continental Op

Can't you do what I do with my Satnav that is connected to the lighter socket on my Ford Focus, pull it out when you turn the ignition off. I have the dash cam hard wired.

Atlantic Dawn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598078#Comment_121598078

Same for me. I've noticed all the Japanese cars I've had don't.

colm_mcm

The cigarette lighter on these is wired directly to the battery, with a fuse. There is no involvement with the BCM for this circuit.

It’s a very easy job to use a fuse tap to a switched circuit and power the dashcam off that.

kirving

It's honestly very easy to wire in, and will be hidden nicely if you can stuff the wiring up under the headliner and down the A-pillar to the passenger fusebox.

Below is the diagram for the fusebox which sits under the glovebox. The fuses which I've marked in red likely turn of with the ignition, but you would need to try with the car off.

You can get cheaper versions of the below on Amazon too.

https://nextbase.com/accessories/series-2-hardwire-kit/

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/Catalog/owner_information/CG3851en-202104-20210407114440.pdf

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598080#Comment_121598080

Id say a sat nav doesn't pull much power when its in sleep mode if left connected.

The dashcam records at all times when connected. Not only would this drain the car battery but pretty sure would kill the memory card in the dashcam if it happened enough times.

Id like to think that would work but like I said in OP there will inevitably be times the dashcam is left connected overnight. Don't fancy a dead battery unless there is a failsafe in the Kuga that cuts the lighter port power if the battery gets low.

Actually before I sell I might try it once and see how much battery voltage Im left with in the morning and when the dashcam footage cuts off...

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598302#Comment_121598302

How do you think it works when hard wired? When you turn off the ignition its the same as pulling out the light power plug. There is a small battery in the dash cam so it can come on with vibration (if you are hit while parked) and shut down correctly.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598302#Comment_121598302

Would you not just get an auto electrician to wire it up properly for you? Sure your gonna loose a few quid trying to sell it anyway

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598440#Comment_121598440

Once again no-one is going to shut down the dashcam or pull out the power cable every time when getting out of the car. I think I was quite clear on that. If I was going to shut down the dashcam or pull out the power cable every time I get out of the car I wouldnt have bothered with this thread.

For my particular dashcam if it has power it records at all times unless manually shut down. i.e. so due to my lighter port always being live it doesn't function how I want it to.

I thought the small battery is for when its not being powered at all (so basically off and not recording) but when someone hits the car it starts recording?

Same for motion detection. Which would be fine if my lighter port powered off when the car is off.

Im not following your logic to be honest.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598497#Comment_121598497

As you probably heard enough times in my Corsa NCT fail thread Im in rural Donegal. Ive never heard of an auto electrician near me. I'll ask my mechanic tomorrow about getting it wired up. Its going in for a service anyway.

I dont think I'd lose money on it. Got it from the Amazon bargain thread for £24 before Christmas. It's back up to £44 now. Its actually really good for that price and includes a rear cam also. Id say I'd get that back no problem if I do sell.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598105#Comment_121598105

I'll be chatting to my mechanic tomorrow morning. Is it definitely safe to connect to the passenger fusebox?

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598440#Comment_121598440

The idea is that it is hardwired to a switched live, so it only comes on with the ignition. The problem with the Kuka is that the 12V is connected directly to a permanent live.

The vibration (or motion recording) option depends entirely on the camera itself. My own camera has both a permanent AND switched live, so it can sense when it should be in parking mode, and drop into a low power (1 fps) state, rather than trying to sense motion via an accelerometer or by analyzing the video feed (and only recording when there is movement).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121598762#Comment_121598762

Almost certainly, yes. As long as it's fused correctly it will be fine.

It is true to say that even a badly wired in dashcam could destroy sensitive electronics in your car, and I would be hesitant to recommend someone to DIY it if they weren't absolutely sure what they were doing, but your mechanic will have no issue in doing it.

jj880

Talked to my mechanic. He said he could connect it to the fusebox but will need a kit as kirving pointed out.

Did some testing last night. The dash cam pulls 0.7a from the lighter port recording with the screen on. When the screen sleeps and still recording it pulls 0.3a.

Left it plugged in from 6pm last night until 8am. It recorded all night. Car battery went from 12.3v to 12.1v and car started no problem.

The main thing is I now know if we do forget to disconnect dash cam the odd night we'll still be able to start car in the morning.

Gona see how it goes for a while as is before connecting to fusebox.

Thanks for all the advice.

Miscreant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605149#Comment_121605149

All it will take is forgetting to disconnect it once when going on a long weekend or a longer holiday and the car will not start. I think investing in the kit now would be a better situation and give you peace of mind for the future.

RosieJoe

What dashcam did you get?

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605692#Comment_121605692

Sure. If that happens I'll re-evaluate. I have a small car battery charger thats handy for getting the car battery charged up inside a couple hours. Used it before a few times. Gona see how it goes.

Ive also read Kugas have a built in cut off for the lighter port if the battery gets low enough. Time will tell.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605828#Comment_121605828

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PFSXZ2W

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07P14QHB7

Dashcam was £24 on offer when I bought it.

EDIT:

• Im not bothering with the rear cam as reviews say image is not good.
• Also it records using AVI format. Max SD card size 32gb. This will get you 1080P video without audio for between 3 and 4 hours of footage before it loops and overwrites oldest footage.
• At the price I got it for Im happy with what it can do.