Aftermarket radio add-on/accessory wire

[Landlocked]

Greetings, Explorer brethren!

I'm hoping one of you can shed some light on a problem I am having: I need to tap into the same accessory/power feed that my factory Sync radio (CD, NAV, etc.) uses while the engine is running, with the key in accessory mode, or with the key turned off until either the driver door is opened or it times-out with the key in the off position.

Background:

I just installed an external Android Auto/Apple Play device to bring my 2010 Ford Explorer a bit closer to modern times.

The device is powered via a cigarette lighter plug and I hate having to plug/unplug it, but I also hate the idea of leaving it plugged-in, and besides, it's unsightly.

I cut the plug's wire and discovered three wires: red, black, and yellow. Not being able to find the accessory wire desired I went ahead and reconnected the plug's red and black wires and it worked just fine. So what the heck is yellow for?

Question:

Is one of the wires on the back of the radio the one I need to plug into to achieve my goal? If so, which one? Various web searches turned up different answers, and I don't know if by "accessory" they meant it powers just the run/acc mode or with the off/timeout option.

I tried poking around with my voltage meter, but with the exception of one or two wires, the pins are just too big to make contact inside the plug on the rear of the radio.

Any help appreciated! Thanks!

Landlocked

 

[tank06explorer]

Following this thread, I have also installed an aftermarket head unit but plugged it into the wires into the radio, the metra adapter kit that we need to use with only hooks it up to a power that switches with the key. I am not sure what the time-out wire is to hook up to, I have very small pins that hook up to my multimeter I would invest in some of those and see if they work and try probing some more, I will follow up with this after I try myself to find what this wire is.

 

[Fbird]

Should be the green/white stripe wire at radio plug.

 

[Landlocked]

Thank you VERY much, my friends! I will try it in the next couple of days now that Ohio has exited the Ice Age.

- L