P38 Range Rover Rear Ashtray Power Outlet

In the age of digital devices, a 15 year old vehicle is lacking in power outlets. However the P38 has something from another era, a rear passenger ashtray ;-) So I decided to use that very handy spot to add some power outlets

The Outlet I purchased a generic cigar lighter and USB extension gadget from eBay. If I were to purchase it again I think one with 3 cigar lighter outlets would fit even better. The rear ashtray is held in by two posidriv screws and is easy to remove, I discarded the original insert. I also nibbled out the chromed cover, thinking I would keep it in place, but this didn't work out even though it is in the pics below I discovered that by attaching some 3mm self adhesive rubber to the sides of the extension and some 10mm to the end, it was a perfect for the rear Ashtray holder. I cut the plug off the extension box and drilled 10mm hole in the bottom of the ashtray holder to feed the cable through

The bits. Installed in the holder. In situ in the back of the Rangie.

Wiring I tapped into the cigar lighter outlet power which requires removal of the side panels, the switch pack and gearshift surround. The procedure for doing this is Documented here on RangeRovers.net. If you don't already own them, a set of plastic trim removal tools is a good investment. I used a length of 4mmm twin core cable from my local parts supplier. It is just stiff enough to be able to be pushed through but still flexible enough as well ;-) There is just enough room on the passengers side to press down gently on the air conditioning duct and feed the wire through. Once you push it far enough, you will be able to hook it through the holes into which the front ashtray holder clips. See the two pics below to see where the wire runs. I just pushed one end of a 10mtr length in and cut it once I had fed it through. A hook of some kind and a pair of needle nosed pliers are handy to have about for this job.

This is where you can gently push the duct down and push the cable through . The other end of the cable pulled through the hole in the ashtray holder slot.

The next step is to feed the cable back from the center to the rear slot, again you can just push it through beside the duct and hook it out at the rear I used power take off connectors on the cable to the original cigar lighter to tap into the power. Green is positive (+) and Black is Negative (-) I connected the rear cables together with insulated 12v spade connectors and tested it out before reassembly

The other end of the cable pulled through the rear ashtray holder slot. The power takeoff connectors attached to the cigar lighter feed.

Put it all back together Reassembled all the panels and et voila! No more complaints about the lack of power for the people :-) Steve Farmer Oct 2013