How to hardwire power from my car to XM car unit

Factual Questions
1

I have a '99 Oldsmobile Alero and an XM SkiFi with car adaptor kit. Recently I started having a problem with the 1 working cigarette lighter/power outlet in the car, where a slight bump will cause a break in the power, which means readjusting the SkiFi’s power plug to try to find a more bump-tolerant position, and trying to turn it back on. It’s getting pretty frustrating.

Many years ago the 2nd power plug quit working (like it had in my sister’s Alero, and I suspect many others). So I just now pulled out the whole plug unit (it’s the kind that folds out of the way, and I was able to just pull out the plug and it’s surrounding harness, leaving a couple wires attached to a contraption.

I think that I could hardwire the SkiFi to that plug’s wires. However, that would require cutting up the power plug (or buying another one) and figuring out which wire to connect to which.

If I cut the car-adaptor tip off of the SkiFi’s power wire and strip them down, is it safe to assume that I’ll find a black and red wire, and that it’s simply a matter of matching colors, or is there more to it than this?

My other option is to buy an XM ready stereo, but I’m afraid that if I do that I’ll have to get another subscription to use the SkiFi in my house and the new stereo. Right now I’m looking for a solution that will work for the next several months until I can afford a new car and/or XM system. (Both are pretty old, but I’m not ready to replace either one today.)

Please help, as I cannot live without my XM.

2

How comfortable are you working with the wiring in a car, and do you know how to use a crimper?

The easiest way would be to run a wire right to the fuse box and hook it up in there with one of those connectors that wraps over a leg of the fuse. Just make sure you use a fuse that’s always on OR only on when the car is is ‘on’ (depending on what you need) and that you use the fused side not the ‘unfused’ side. The other wire just needs to be grounded. Usually you can find a screw somewhere in the car and put it under that.

3

Thanks for the reply. I actually got the 2nd power outlet fixed (the one by the passenger’s left knee.) It was just loose. Put it back together and it works fine. So nevermind.

4

Good. Because one of the nice if slightly cumbersome things about most but not all car adaptor plugs is that they either have a fuse or circuit breaker built into them. Bad things happen sometimes to car wiring, and these days folks do keep some very pricey items plugged in.

Better never to hardwire into the car’s wiring harness. Glad you got the port fixed !!

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