How to hardwire a Garmin Nuvi 760?

PeasBugs · 08-17-2008, 09:42 PM

I just recently bought a Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS and wanted to hardwire the power instead of just using the standard 12v adaptor. I mounted the screen above the rearview mirror and wanted to run the wire around the top of the windshield and under the dash for power. I figured this would be pretty easy to do and I had everything set up to go. I snipped off the standard 12v plug and stripped back the housing around the wire only to find about 8 different wires? oops! Whats up with that? Usually there are only two wires, one hot and one ground. I took the 12v plug apart and found a small board that all 8 wires were hooked to. Does anyone have any experience with this? Has anyone hard wired a GPS like this?

**BroncoHauler** · 08-17-2008, 10:02 PM

On my Nuvi 660, the 12V adapter includes indicator lights. I think they are for power, and traffic update signals. I can't imagine the unit would need anything other than 12V and ground from the cord.

Sorry I don't have much to offer....

Herb

2much8ntenough · 08-17-2008, 10:28 PM

I wanted to do the same thing, and thankfully noticed that the previous owner had a 12V receptacle tied in under the panel to the left of the steering wheel. I donâ€™t have any experience with the multiple wires in the plug, but was thinking that it would probably be easier to just buy a replacement plug and tie the receptacle in. It all zip ties out of sightâ€¦

PeasBugs · 08-17-2008, 10:29 PM

Thanks Herb,
This had at least 8 tiny wires and a "computer" board in the 12v plug. I thought maybe part of the atenna but 8 wires? I even tried to find which one was hot and which was the ground no luck.

John Kalmbach · 08-18-2008, 01:15 AM

There are 12 volt wires behind the center panel on the overhead cab module (pre-wire for C.B.radio). Both are 10 guage, the white is (-) and red is (+). Over-current protection is by the 30 amp fuse for the driver side SMB accessories located on the fuse panel under the sofa.

You could install a 12 volt outlet on the over head cab module center panel, or behind it. There are several phillip head screws that hold the overhead cab module in place, some are under snap covers. Make sure you note the length of the each screw you remove as there are several different lengths.

Good Luck!

John K.

Greg In Austin · 08-18-2008, 06:38 PM

We had our Nuvi 350 hardwired with both 12v power and an external GPS antenna. The nuvi is mounted between the steering wheel and the radio below the AC duct. It is mounted using a Ram Mount Ram-a-can mount. The antenna is mounted next to the windshield in the center of the dash (next to the USB GPS PC antenna). The wires come out of the dash just behind the Nuvi and store neatly between the dash and dogouse when not in use.

We bought an extra 12v power cord for the power wiring and started by disassembling the 12v plug. I don't remember anything special about the wiring that we uncovered.

PeasBugs · 08-18-2008, 09:45 PM

Thank you all for the replies. I think I might have figured out how my GPS is wired. There appears to be two hot wires and one ground. Additionally the 5 other wires seem to be for other pay to play services, like MSN news and FM traffic updates. The 12v connector cost $130+ so it is not just the regular 12v plug.

JoeyNick · 09-07-2008, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeasBugs

Thank you all for the replies. I think I might have figured out how my GPS is wired. There appears to be two hot wires and one ground. Additionally the 5 other wires seem to be for other pay to play services, like MSN news and FM traffic updates. The 12v connector cost $130+ so it is not just the regular 12v plug.

The circuit board inside the 12V plug might be used to convert 12V power down to 3 or 6 volts.

Be careful if you apply 12V directly to any unit that requires much less.