That sucks. The lower of the two on the dash of my 05 is always hot. I can't believe that was one of the things nissan decided to change.

I'm not much if an electrical guy so I don't know if you need a fuse block or what but you could find a 12v source somewhere under the dash and connect that to one of the outlets.

This is probably the proper/safe way...you could run a power line from your battery to a fuse block then run wires to the outlet.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in.


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That sucks. The lower of the two on the dash of my 05 is always hot. I can't believe that was one of the things nissan decided to change.



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Mine too

 

Did you do a search?

This has been discussed before but I don't recall the deets as they may vary from model year to model year.

 

x2. Searching FIRST is always a good idea.

 

Having recently done something similar, if you were to buy (or if it came with the truck) a jumper for electric brakes that has, among other wires, dedicated power and ground. You could plug it in under the steering column, remove the extra wires and splice directly to whichever outlet you want constant power. It'd be a good idea to put a fuse inline as long as you were at it. You should be able to do this without disrupting anything but the radio/HVAC center part of the dash stack.

PM if I can help.

 

If it's anything like my Subaru, there is a relay somewhere that controls them... If that relay could be located you could pop it out and bypass it with a piece of wire so the outlet is always on.

I'll poke around a service manual and see what I come up with.

 

Are you sure there isn't one inside the console? That one is always live, on my '05.

 

This seems to vary based on model year. It also seems to vary within model year - just as some folks seem to have a light in their glovebox and some don't (I don't).

My 2012 only powers the dash and console outlets when the truck is running.

 

My 2011 sv has a live one under the radio all the time. My phone charger light always stays lit.

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Thanks to everyone who replied.

I did do a search on the Forum. And yes, I got a few hits on the subject, but no answers. Either far from specific or the responders went 'off-topic'

Also, to 2WD_NISMO, the outlet in the console is also dead with the truck off. Even tried the USB outlet adjacent to it. Dead.

Just need to find a constant powered wire and tap into it. Thought about the wire to the hazards. That's always active.

But to tell you the truth, this has got me pretty BS! Nothing like pulling apart a brand new truck to do alterations. Nothing like a wiring job on a new vehicle! Unfortunately, it's a lease and I have to be careful not to screw anything up.

Went to my community garden tonight. Left phone plugged in. Nearly dead. Stayed for an hour. If one friggin' outlet had been active by the time I went back to the truck, it would have been nearly fully charged.

It's a truck!! Most people who own a truck have it for utility or business purposes. An active outlet to support these activities is a no-brainer. Again, three (3) power outlets and not one active when the truck is off. I am absolutely beside myself.

Anyways, thanks to all for listening. If anyone has specific directions for making one active, I'm all ears.

 

... Thought about the wire to the hazards. That's always active
...

Not so. The hazards activate the BCM and the BCM does the blinking. As it also does the headlights and wipers, and many other things. The hazard switch doesn't have the power to run a power point.

Now that 5-wire plug on the drivers side for electric trailer brakes is a GREAT source of power in the cabin. So long as you are not planning on using it for electric trailer brakes.

 

Tap the constant wire to the stereo. Or if you want a heavy duty power supply, run a wire over to the driver kick panel and tap the constant off the ignition harness.

If memory is correct there may sometimes already be a constant harness for the outlet that's taped off unused. You may find it in the general area of the outlets if you poke around.

 

Constant wire is Green (40A) by the ignition switch,white 6 pin plug drive kick panel.the biggest wire u see there but make sure to check with the volt meter showing 12 volt without the key in the ignition switch and that should be the wire you wanna tab in

 

Have you actually opened the dash up yet? I don't remember where I read it (here or tnx) but I read that many trucks without a constant outlet have a plug behind the dash that is already set up for it and you just have to swap it onto the back of your outlet. Check it out before splicing wires, hopefully you get lucky.

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As you have discovered, earlier models have a hot socket and later ones don't. g00fy has the best answer - find the relay that controls the front power outlet, remove it, and jump the pins for the contacts. Should be pins 3 and 5, but do your own research as your vehicle may be different. Then your front power outlet will always be hot just like the earlier models. The power outlet in the console runs through the ignition switch, so making it hot is a little more problematic, i.e. finding a hot wire and tying into it. I've been thinking of doing this myself as I too would like to be able to charge my phone when the truck is off. I think Nissan did this to prevent computers, GPS's, etc from draining the battery.

 

As you have discovered, earlier models have a hot socket and later ones don't. g00fy has the best answer - find the relay that controls the front power outlet, remove it, and jump the pins for the contacts. Should be pins 3 and 5, but do your own research as your vehicle may be different. Then your front power outlet will always be hot just like the earlier models.

If you're interested, there's relay testers that you can plug in the relay slot, then turn on or off at will. That is, of course, providing the IPDM has constant power to the relay.

Fuel Pump Relay Bypass Kit

 

Pardon my ignorance, but what/where are these 'relays' you speak of? I'm not really into removing my dash or firewall, depending on where these are, to resolve. Although I might get to a point of frustration and remove the engine if need be!

Dropped the glove compartment out of the way last night, but didn't see anything but taped wiring/bundles.

And speaking of the glove compartment. Here's another brilliant thing Nissan did to the '13 SV_V6 - removed the glove compartment light!. That would have been something to tap into.

Anyways, I need to dig a little deeper, literally, and see what's up. If anybody can explain the above, it would be appreciated. I'm quite mechanical inclined but don't usually go messin' with new vehicles to this extent.

Thanks.

 

Just a thought. Since this is a lease vehicle, why not head over to your local auto parts store and buy a 12v power outlet and a add a line fuse adapter. That way all you gotta do is plug the add a line fuse adapter into an always hot fuse (fuse box to the right of the glove box), then plug the fuse into the add a line. Run the wire from the 12v outlet to the add a line. Presto! You got power and didn't butcher the vehicle to do it. Use some zip ties to hide the wires and just lay the outlet in the console under the hvac controls. When you turn in the vehicle, everything is easy to remove and put in your next vehicle. That way you can stop stressing about this. The work around is easy to do.

 

So I can finally contribute something, under the dash just to the right of the steering column is a unused 5 wire white plug taped to some wires, the heavy orange wire on it is always live.

This will likely vary by model, mines a 12 SV CC no factory hitch or wiring, not sure what this plug would be... trailer brakes maybe??

Cheers, Todd

 

Yes, it is a sub harness for electric brakes. There's a constant 12+, dash light, ground and two other wires for the brake lights, I think. I used it for the ground and dash lights for a tranny temp gauge as outlined here.
http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f11/update-transmission-temperature-gauge-tech-info-60175/

 

Thanks Yesterdaysradios and toddiscdn. I need to find a moment and look at both of those ideas. I'll get back and let all know the end result.

 

I did this yesterday. 5 bolts and you can remove the passenger side lower dash. It is pretty tidy behind there; I poked around but did not see another connector for the power port tied off anywhere. I did not look behind the driver side, since there is a fusebox To tap into right there by the passenger door.

I swung by O'Reilly's and picked up an add-a-circuit and some narrow disconnects that fit the terminals on the back of the power port. A ring terminal, grounding screw, and some 14-ga wire was also needed. FWIW I used the fuse labelled "amp." The label for the fusebox actually denoted which fuses were energized by the battery or by the acc position of the key so that was handy.

 

With my kids having their ds or iPods I took a step in this direction. I mounted a 12v to 110 dual plug converter under the drivers rear seat. I mounted a fuse panel under the dashboard and run contasnt power from the battery (optima yellow top) via 10 gauge wire (run my lights winch etc) now they can just bring house chargers along on road trips also works if you need power tools of road.

 

Does anyone know where the power outlet relay is for the Frontier?

 

The relay you want is under the drivers side dash. It should be blue.

You can remove the relay and jump the contacts to energize the lower front power socket.

 

never mind

 

Well, I'll be gobsmacked. Page 2-37 of my 2012 owners manual clearly states that the dash power port is powered directly off the battery. My 3 year warranty just recently expired, but I may still take the truck back to the dealer, and tell them they need to correct the wiring "problem". Check your owner's manuals.


5-2-16 Update. Dealer shows me the wiring diagram for my outlet and says the owners manual is wrong. No help from them.

 

Update. I finally found A blue relay to the left of the steering column, but it does not control the Accessory power socket.
How do I know? I took the relay out, after plugging a 12v Led light into the socket. At socket still no power when switch is off, but power there when the switch is on - no relay in place. Then I tried jumping each of the 2 pair of contact points in the relay receptacle with power off and could not get the LED light to light up. I see no other relays under the drivers side dash.

SO WHERE IS THIS MYSTERIOUS ACCESSORY RELAY-2 ?

 

I had the same problem. The only blue relay I could find was for the cargo lamp. What I did was pull out the fuse block and tapped off of the subwoofer pin on the back of the block. It's on a 15A fuse so should handle whatever I use the socket for other than a lighter. There is no plug for that particular pin set so no worry about taking away from anything.

 

Did you cut or disconnect the original factory feed to the sockets when you did this?

I can't help but believe, that armed with the right info, a jumper on the original circuit can make this ful time power mod. work.

 

aloha all. my 2019 Frontier has two power outlets and one usb\audio jack all hot only w key on, btw does anyone know how to get at the center console power outlet? gonna put a cigarette lighter in there for laughs.