"switched" wire and wiring harness

[CanadianPathyNut]

I am looking for a "switched" wire to attach a wiring harness to, i am supposed to find a wire that is "switched" and clamp on this harness that will not interupt the power flow. so i decided on using the 12v lighter wires to clmap in to but the problem is there are 2 wires a green one and a black one so I clamp on to both and got no power so i tried just the green and got nothing then jsut the black and got nothing, now the wired are both chewed up from the harness and the lighter now does not work, I will get this fixed but I need to find a wire that is swtiched and is around the area of the AC/Stereo, does anyone know where there is a switched wire I can clamp the harness on? I have aready ruined 2 wires. thank you

[88pathoffroad]

You need a test light or voltmeter. You can check wires and figure that out yourself with ease...

[Mr. Pickles]

You need a test light or voltmeter. You can check wires and figure that out yourself with ease...

Yep, you probably just clipped too far into a wire. The cig lighter is about the simplest switched source to tap into. Just to make sure, you said "not to interrupt the power flow." What do you mean by this? Do you need constant power ("12v constant" or "battery") or do you really need switched (a power source that is only on when the key is in the accessory or "on" position)? You can buy a test light for cheap, hell you can pick them up at the Dollar Store. Locate your +, then use a wire splice rather than cutting the insulation or crimping in. You can get them cheap at any auto parts store, or at least use a butt splice for a solid connection. You're looking for trouble when you start blindly hacking into your wiring and chopping up the insulation.

[CanadianPathyNut]

i just need to know how to connect this piece to a wire, in the diagram it shows the "clip/clamp" being clamped on to a single wire, this single wire is supposed to be a constant 12v power source when the ignition is on, i am just not seeing one single wire to clip/clamp this piece on to, i was thinking maybe I am supposed to only clip it on to one of the wires, because most wires I see behind the stereo are in pairs, someone please help me, I am sooo lost and my dash is in pieces until I figure this out. thank you

[Mr. Pickles]

Calm down man. Its no biggie, really. First off, check the fuse box to see if you blew the fuse for the cig lighter while trying to wire in. Locate where you previously tapped into the wiring and see if you damaged the wire to cause the loss of power. Next, if you're not at all comfortable with wiring, you may want to find a friend or somebody close by that is. Seriously though, this is about the most straight forward and easy auto electrical you'll find. I just checked my truck (a 94 SE), took all of maybe 2 min's to pull the dash and test (drop a line if you don't know how to pull the center of the dash). I have a green wire with a red stripe, and a black wire to the cig lighter. The green/red is the + (positive) wire. Even if yours is the same, test this anyways, cause you never know what some P.O. may have pulled off. You can even rig a test light with an auto light bulb and 2 wires if you're desperate. If it is different, you can still test the circuit. Run your test light's ground to a solid piece, such as the door hinge (prettty much any bare metal with no paint) and carefully probe the 2 ends of the wire at the cig lighter to find the +. So now you hopefully have your wiring figured out. You may have to cut a bad section out and/or splice in a new good section of wire. That should hopefully send you on your way. Happy hunting.