Sirius Stiletto II Install in 2010 Prius V with ATP – includes 12 Volt always on Mod

DISCLAIMER: The following modifications, if done incorrectly, could cause damage to your car’s electrical system and other components. You may also void any warranties by Toyota or other 3rd party warranty companies by making these modifications. The author assumes no responsibilities for any modifications you do to your vehicle based on these instructions. These instructions only show how one person was able to make changes to modify an electrical sub-system and is not intended to be a sanctioned formula for others to follow. If you decide to do this modification, you do so at your own risk. (Note : This disclaimer was copied from a modification documented by phoenixgreg) I am a Howard Stern fan and use my Sirius Stiletto II to record Howard’s Show so I can listen to the recordings whenever I am driving. There is a problem with this in that if the Stiletto is not powered up by an external source it will not stay powered up long enough to be ready or to record a whole show (6 hours). So after buying my 2010 Prius a couple of weeks ago (August 30, 2010) I needed to figure out how to install the Stiletto in a convenient spot and provide a constant source of 12 volt power to the Stiletto. Even though my Prius has a built in XM Satellite radio it does not seem to pick up Howard Stern and even if it did it does not have a record capability. A shame since the Stiletto is a fraction of the cost of a XM Option for the Prius. Unfortunately I had to pay for it as part of my package. For those of you only interested in making the Center Consoles Aux Jack provide power even when the Prius is locked, the first part of this article is mostly about doing that so hopefully you won’t mind ignoring the Stiletto stuff. I will also note that other 2010 Prius 12 Volt always on mods are documented on this site. So you should look for the others (here is one http://priuschat.com/forums/members/phoenixgreg-albums-center-console-light.html) to decide which approach will work best for you. In addition to needing a 12 volt mod I also needed to find a method of running the Stiletto’s car kit external antenna as neatly as possible. This is because it appears hooking up to the XM radios satellite antenna would not work. I also need to plug into the Aux Stereo jack so the center console was the best place to focus on for the center of the cables that needed to be run. Here is what is needed for the two projects and where I got the parts: 12 Volt Power: 20 feet of 18 gauge solid red thermostat wire Home Depot (they sell wire by the foot) 1 in line std blade fuse holder Radio Shack 1 Ideal In-Sure 2 port connector Lowes 1 Crimp Insulated ring connector Radio Shack 1 Female Insulated Blade Crimp Wire Connector Lowes 2 Male Insulated Blade Crimp Wire Connectors Lowes 1 Blade Fuse 5, 7.5 or 10 amp based on your need Radio Shack 6 Wire Wraps or Ties Radio Shack, Home Depot or Lowes 4 feet of 1†Velcro Strip (See photo 10) Lowes Small amount of solder Note: Ideal In-Sure connector and solder can be substituted by another means of connecting the fuse holder wire to the 18 gauge wire. Stiletto II: Stiletto II Car Install Kit Sirius UGlo (See photo 16) Staples or Wallgreens 4 1†x 1/2 “ plastic/nylon spacers Lowes Tools: Crimper 10 cm Socket, Wrench & Extensions Soldering Iron Wire Cutters Short Flat Blade Screw Driver (For prying panels). Wire Strippers Process: Note there are pictures of my installation with this article. The pictures are uploaded in order and each one starts with a number starting with 01. The article will refer to these pictures by those numbers. Fold down the passenger side rear seat. Open the rear hatch and remove the floor panels and hidden storage box above the spare tire. Remove the floor panel over the 12 volt battery. ******************** Begin Sirius Only ********************** Start by mounting the Sirius Antenna from the Stiletto car kit next to the XM antenna if installed or in the center of the roof if not. Mount it so that when you add the adhesive backed plastic tail piece it ends just before the space between the roof and the back hatch. (See 01). Run the antenna wire between the roof and hatch and over the rubber seal (See 02). Tuck the wire in between the inner edge of the rubber seal and the ceiling material, it should go in easily. Run the wire along the door until you get to the plastic jamb at the bottom left of the hatch opening. Tuck the wire under the plastic jamb’s edge (see 03). ******************** End Sirius Only ********************** Disconnect the Negative Battery Terminal as per manual. Crimp a round eye connector (use a size appropriate for the battery terminal lug (see 04)) on one end of the fuse holder. Remove the batteries positive terminal cover (there is a tab release on the top outside of the cover). Remove the nut holding the cable to the positive terminal assembly and install the round eye connector on the stud and replace the nut and tighten securely. (See 04) Put the Terminal Cover back on the positive terminal. Make sure that you do not have a fuse installed in the holder. Reconnect the Negative Battery Terminal Strip the other lead on the fuse holder. Using a soldering iron and some solder tin the wire strands on the lead on the fuse holder. Insert the tinned wire into one of the ports on the In-Sure connector. Strip one end of the 18 gauge red wire to ½ inch and insert it into the other port. (See 05) Fasten the Fuse Holder on the edge of the wall material (I used IGlu but you could also use a small piece of tape). (See 05) This is so you will not have to take the floor panels out if you need to replace the fuse. Run the wire(s) along the harness cover and between the side wall and floor on top of the main battery (see 05). Use wire wraps or ties to secure the wire(s) (See 05) Replace the hidden storage box, floor and matts. (See 06) Run the wire(s) between the floor and side wall to the rear passenger door well. Open the rear door and raise the seat back. Run the wire(s) under the seat belt and piece of carpet that is Velcro attached to the floor carpet. (See 07). Pry off the plastic door jamb starting at the front. Once the front piece comes loose push down on the back piece and remove the jamb. This should come out easily without much force. Run the wire(s) along the door jamb using wire wraps and the existing tubing and wire harness clips (See 07 & 08). Move the Front Seat as far forward as possible. Run the wires under the plastic on the center side wall support and have it come out just past the rear see anchor. (See 09) Run the wire to the center console on the small wall created by the depression under the front passengers seat (See 15). Cover the wires from where the leave the side wall molding to the center console using the Velcro strip (See 10, 11, 12) Remove the back of the center console. Starting at the bottom push in and forward on the passenger side of the center console where the back meets the side. Carefully pry the back until it starts to separate from the side. Once you get it started do the same on the other side. Work both sides until all the clips come free and you can remove the back. Be careful and work slowly so that you do not break any of the clips so you will be able to reattach the back completely when you are done. The trick is to feel for the clips giving by flexing the plastic before you begin to pull. It may not be necessary to remove the center console, especially if you are only doing the power mod. Read the rest of the power mod and then decide. Note in phoenixgreg’s Center Console light project, see link above, he removes the center console first and releases the back by prying each clip from the inside. I was unable to do this on my car because there was a cable connecting to the USB port that was not part of the wiring harness used to disconnect the other wires from the center console. If you do not have the Aux USB Port or want to remove the center console working with that wire (there was enough room to move the console out of the way enough that you could probably release the clips the way he did) by removing the tape holding the wire to the driver’s side center console wall. If you are running the Satellite antenna you will probably want to at least free up the center console enough so you can run the antenna wire from the passenger side to the driver side. This is because you just have enough wire to make it to the mount. As noted above if you have the USB port removing the console completely is a little tricky because of the USB cable. What I did was to disconnect the connectors on the USB port and the Aux connectors and removed the tape on the USB cable holding it to the sides of the console. Both clips have a release you need to find along the bottom of the connector on the side that faces the front of the car. To detach the Center Console remove the lining from the bottom of the center console. There are 4 bolts you need to remove using a ratchet and 10 mm socket. You also need to remove the plastic plate at the top of the pull out cup holder and the forward cup holder. Pry this off using the small flat blade screwdriver. You will find the fifth bolt to remove. Once all the bolts are removed slide the console back and you will see a cable harness and clip. Disconnect the clip (See 13) Run the wire from where it enters the side wall of the console to the back of the console. If you have removed the center console you can tape the wire to the console frame using duct tape. I also put a small piece of duct tape on the front and back edge of the frame where the wire runs so that it will not wear the insulation of the wire. (See 12) Cut the green wire going to the Aux Power Jack in a convenient spot that gives you enough w