Wife had mentioned anytime the console USB port was used to charge a passengers phone that the car wanted establish bluetooth paring or whatever. So I thought I'd add a dedicated USB charge port. She keeps her phone in the drivers door pocket while driving so left side of the dash made sense. Ran across this novel Nissan switch blank solution. Moved the power trunk release over to the far left, installed this in the middle, placed the traction control far right, and relocated the never-used sonar silencer button down a few inches to the switch blank next to the hood release. Its still in reach if ever needed. There was plenty of slack in the factory harnesses to support this so no wiring was messed with.







Found this particular one on Ebay. Seemed like a more permanent solution to the cigarette lighter USB chargers that my kids keep 'relocating'. Not really visible while driving, you have to look a little to see it, so its certainly not distracting, even at night.



Ebay item #161547845462 & was like $12 shipped from China. I bench tested it for a couple days and it seemed to hold up. 2.1 amps. To install in the car I used a fuse tap thing since the fuse box and sufficient ground is literally right there behind it. Used a switched power source. Device includes an already installed in-line glass fuse.

Whole voltage is accurate & there is no tenths position. Reads 12V when the car is switched on to accessory. After having the doors open for about an hour installing this it read 14V on initial start-up. After 10-15 minutes it drops to 13V and pretty much stays there. Iphone pics so pardon the quality.

 

looks good. clean install.

 

That's pretty bad ***...however, moving switches around and such...not for me.

I have a Samsung Note 4 which uses something called Adaptive Fast Charge...which basically works out to the equivalent of 3 amp charging during its peak. It can go from 0-50% in a half hour, then it slows down to prevent too much heat from generating.

I've considered wiring something like this on the left side of the vehicle as well...I have my windshield mount on the left side just above the dash.

 

That's a great mod. Beats running the usb cable all around the dash. How challenging was it to remove the existing switch or place holder cover?

Too bad it won't work with all models.

My interior looks like this;



Traction control | trunk release | sonar on/off . I suppose the sonar on/off switch can be removed.

 

Dont phones charge off 5v? Won't 12v be a bit much? It can possibly damage or shorten the battery life. I hacked apart a cigarette charger and tapped into the rear view mirror. Of course it can also easily be modded into a blank switch also.

https://www.myg37.com/forums/audio-v...ml#post3887461

Edit: after looking for the item on eBay it turns out the display is input voltage... Which is kinda stupid and pointless. None the less it does only output 5 volt according to the description.

 

Nice write-up. Was needing a place to mount some switches for my DRL's and my Evil Eye LED's. Good to know I can swap these around without any extending of harnesses/wires. I thought I had poked at that blank panel before but thought there was something behind it so I didn't touch it. Going to take another look at it today.

 

Thanks all. I'll just add that if the voltmeter isn't your cup of tea, there is also a dual USB charger for the same money. Only thing I didn't like about the dual USB charger is the rubber flaps.


@ Jsolo : My layout was identical to yours. Sonar wasn't removed but rather relocated.

@ inspector94 : The input voltage is the purpose of a voltmeter. The idea is I might be alerted to an alternator or battery about to give up the ghost.

@ djdiskino : glad to help. The switches are individual and the connectors are unique to each switch. Their harnesses are also individual and are wrapped in what looks like heat shrink more than loom. These 3-4 individual harnesses are black taped together along with some foam vibration dampener. Once you get back in there you will see what I am trying to say.

 

@Gawd, relocated to where? Pics?

When you did your bench testing, was the volt/current output stable or fluctuate significantly? What did you use as your load?

 

If I had to guess, I'd say he put it here


To the OP:

Why did you move the switches around the way you did, especially the trunk release? Is it cable operated our electrical? Did the cord not reach the far right position by chance?

I would have left the trunk release alone, relocated the sonar, moved the traction control where your did, and put the usb port in the far left. Just curious why you chose that arrangement.

 

That makes more sense, though a voltmeter is used for measuring voltage in or out and i didn't think about it that way lol. It is handy, though maybe a little distracting at night IMO. Still a good add on.

 

Correct, the rear sonar silencer button was moved down next to the hood release cable. ALL G's have a blank switch insert there, I think Infiniti planned to have lane departure switches at some point. This is where the M or SUV have their lane departure switches.

The trunk release is 100% electrical, the harness can reach 6-8 inches either way. The arrangement: I think this is a case of 6 of one, half dozen of the other. Not sure there is a right or wrong place for any of these (seldom used) switches. For visibility while sitting upright in the drivers seat, having the USB thing in the center seemed most logical.

 

Thanks for the clarification. It's been a few weeks since I've been in my car. I rarely operate the buttons there so didn't recall what was or wasn't there. Did you have to remove the entire panel to pop them out, or they're removable from the outside?

 

You do need to pop the panel out i believe, its just a few screws holding it in. Then unscrew the hood latch and OBD port, unplug the plugs and u can have at it .

 

@Gawd,

Did you have to do step #14 to get main panel out? What you use as a removal tool?

 

Your hands