CT-V06 Installation Guide: Advanced Five-Wire Install

This is the full five-wire install for the CT-V06, written for auto electricians. On top of power and ground it connects a key-switched ignition wire, so the tracker knows exactly when the vehicle is on at any voltage from 12 V to 72 V, and it covers the two optional wires: an analogue input and an output that can drive a starter-cut relay. If you only want power and ground, the CT-V06 simple two-wire install is all you need.

We recommend having a professional auto electrician fit your tracker, and an e-bike or e-scooter should be wired by an auto electrician or an e-bike specialist. Damage caused by incorrect installation isn’t covered by the warranty.

Why fit the ignition wire

Without it, the tracker works out when the vehicle is running from its battery voltage, using a voltage range we set to suit each vehicle (the simple two-wire install explains how), or from movement where the voltage can’t tell. With the yellow ignition wire on a key-switched supply, it reads the key directly. That gives you:

• exact ignition on and off alerts, trips and idling times;
• the same result on a 12 V car, a 24 V truck, or a 48 V e-bike or golf cart;
• tow alerts that still work where the battery voltage can’t show when the vehicle is on: e-bikes, e-scooters and golf carts, which have no alternator, and cars with a lithium 12 V battery, a smart alternator or stop-start. Without an ignition wire, those vehicles rely on movement, which can’t tell towing from driving.

Before you start: tell us what it’s going in

Contact us when you order, or before you fit it, with the vehicle type, its battery voltage, and whether you’re fitting the ignition wire. We set the tracker up to match, either before it ships or over the mobile network once it’s online. There’s nothing for you to change on the tracker.

Vehicle	Battery	With the ignition wire fitted
Car, ute, truck, bus or motorbike	12 V or 24 V	Ignition from the yellow wire. Trucks and buses are set for 24 V.
Hybrid or electric car	12 V circuit only	Ignition from the yellow wire, on a circuit that’s on only when the car is on or “ready”. If there isn’t a suitable one, leave the yellow wire off and we use movement.
Caravan, camper or boat house battery	12 V or 24 V	A caravan has no key, so leave the yellow wire off and we use movement. On a boat, the yellow wire goes to the engine’s key-switched supply.
E-bike, e-scooter	36 V to 72 V	Ignition from the yellow wire on the controller’s key-switched (power-lock) wire.
Golf cart or forklift	24 V, 36 V or 48 V	Ignition from the yellow wire on the key switch.

What’s in the box

The CT-V06 tracker (with our SIM already fitted if you bought it with one of our plans) and its five-wire lead, about 70 cm long, which plugs into the tracker. Nothing else is included: no relay, fuse or fixings. You’ll also need a 3 A inline fuse and holder rated for at least 125 V DC (see section 2), connectors to suit the vehicle’s wiring, insulation tape or heat-shrink, cable ties and a multimeter, plus a relay if you’re fitting a starter cut (see below).

The tracker’s wires

Tracker wire	Connects to	Notes
Red: power (+)	Permanent power, through a 3 A fuse	10–90 V DC. A supply that stays on when the vehicle is off.
Black: ground (−)	Vehicle ground or battery negative	A body bolt on bare metal is best.
Yellow: ignition input	Key-switched power (+)	On when the key is on, off when it’s off. Works on anything from 7.5 V to 90 V, so it suits any vehicle this tracker fits.
Grey: analogue input (optional)	A voltage you want to watch	0–90 V, measured against the tracker’s ground. Insulate it if unused.
White: output (optional)	Relay coil	Switches to ground, up to 0.5 A. Only for a starter-cut relay. Insulate it if unused.

(1) Find the vehicle’s wires

Vehicle wire	How to find it
Ground (−)	The vehicle body: a bolt through bare metal, or the battery negative. On stop-start cars with a sensor clipped on the battery’s negative terminal, use the body, not the terminal.
Permanent power (+)	Key out. Black probe on ground, then find a supply with the red probe that reads the battery’s voltage. A permanent circuit at the fuse box, or the battery positive.
Ignition (+)	Turn the key to ON (dash warning lights on), not just the first accessory position. Find a supply that reads the battery’s voltage, stays up while the engine cranks and runs, and drops to zero with the key out. If it’s already live in the accessory position, it’s an accessory wire: keep looking. The output of the ignition relay is a good choice.

E-bikes and e-scooters

• Connect red and black at the controller’s battery input, after the battery’s own protection circuit. Never open the battery pack.
• For ignition, most controllers have a thin key-switched wire (often called the power-lock or key wire) that’s at pack voltage when the bike is switched on. Confirm it with the multimeter, key on and key off, as above.
• If the battery switches its own output off when the bike is off, there is no permanent power point, and the tracker will only report while the bike is on (and for a short while after, on its backup battery). Tell us if that’s the case.

Caravans and boats

Connect red and black on the battery side of any isolator or master switch, so the tracker keeps working when the switch is off.

(2) Wire the tracker

1. Fit the fuse. Fit a 3 A fuse rated for at least 125 V DC in the red wire, as close to where it connects to power as you can. This applies whatever the vehicle’s voltage. Ordinary automotive blade fuses are rated for only 32 V, so they don’t meet it.
2. Connect black to ground, ideally with a ring terminal under a body bolt. Scrape any paint off under it first.
3. Connect red to permanent power (through the fuse), with a splice or a tap connector sized for the wire.
4. Connect yellow to ignition. A light-duty fused ignition circuit is best; the input draws next to nothing.
5. Connect or insulate grey and white. See the two optional sections below. Insulate any wire you don’t use, each on its own.
6. Insulate everything. Tape or heat-shrink every join and any bare wire or metal you’ve exposed, then tie the lead back along existing wiring, away from anything hot or moving.

(3) Optional: the analogue input (grey)

The grey wire measures a voltage from 0 to 90 V and reports it to the Open Platform. The usual use is watching a second battery, such as an auxiliary or house battery, that shares the same negative as the vehicle. Connect it to that battery’s positive through a small fuse (1 A is plenty), rated for that battery’s voltage. Tell us what you’ve connected, so we can show the reading and set an alert level.

(4) Optional: starter-cut relay (white)

The white wire can drive a relay that stops the engine from cranking. A relay isn’t included; use a five-pin automotive changeover relay with a normally closed (87a) contact rated for at least 30 A, ideally one with a built-in diode. A four-pin relay has no normally closed contact and won’t work. Where the vehicle has a starter relay, cut the wire that triggers it rather than the solenoid wire itself. Talk to us before you fit one so we can confirm how it will be switched for your vehicle.

Relay terminal	Connects to
86 (coil +)	Key side of the cut starter trigger wire, joined to the same wire as 87a
85 (coil −)	The tracker’s white wire
30 (common)	Starter-solenoid side of the cut starter trigger wire
87a (normally closed)	Key side of the cut starter trigger wire
87 (normally open)	Not used. Leave it unconnected

Cut the starter trigger wire (the wire from the key or start button to the starter solenoid), then connect the key side to both 87a and 86, and the solenoid side to 30. At rest the relay is off, the circuit is closed and the vehicle starts normally. When the tracker has switched its white wire to ground and someone turns the key to start, the relay energises, the circuit opens and the engine won’t crank. The coil is only fed while the key is at start, so the relay draws nothing while the vehicle is parked, and a running engine keeps running, because only the starter is cut.

This suits vehicles where the key switch feeds the starter solenoid or starter relay directly. On a push-button-start vehicle the start button usually goes to a control module, so talk to us first.

• Match the relay’s coil to the vehicle: a 12 V relay on 12 V, a 24 V relay on 24 V. A 12 V coil on 24 V will overheat.
• If the relay has a built-in diode, check its markings: the coil’s + side (86) goes to the key side of the starter wire and the − side (85) to the white wire. Wired the other way round, the diode shorts the tracker’s output.
• Cut the starter only, never the fuel pump or ignition, which could stop a moving vehicle.
• E-bikes and e-scooters: never switch the main battery line with an automotive relay; its contacts aren’t rated for the voltage. Talk to us first.

You’ll test it once the battery is reconnected, in section 5.

(5) Reconnect, mount and check

1. Plug the lead into the tracker, pushing the plug fully home.
2. Reconnect the battery and check the tracker’s two lights come on within a few seconds. Measure the red wire again with the tracker connected: it should still read the battery’s voltage.
3. Test the starter cut (if you fitted one). Vehicle in park or neutral with the handbrake on. Unplug the white wire from terminal 85 and connect 85 to ground with a jumper lead, then turn the key to start: the engine must not crank (you may hear the relay click). Remove the jumper, refit the white wire, and check the engine starts normally.
4. Check ignition. Start the engine, then switch it off, and check with the multimeter that the yellow wire follows it. Once the tracker is online, the ignition on and off events appear on the Open Platform.
5. Mount the tracker label side up, with no metal above it, tied firmly so it can’t move. In a car, ute, truck or bus: inside the cabin, high up under the top of the dash, as close to the windscreen as you can with the label facing the glass, clear of the pedals and steering column, and never on, behind or near an airbag (anything marked SRS or AIRBAG) or tied to yellow airbag wiring. On a motorbike, e-bike or e-scooter: inside a small weatherproof box or a sealed plastic compartment, out of rain, spray and direct sun, for example under a plastic seat or body panel. Not inside a metal frame, deck or battery case: metal blocks its GPS and 4G. It isn’t built for engine heat: keep it away from the engine, exhaust, motor and anything that gets hot.
6. Check the power stays on. Switch off, lock up and wait 30 minutes, then check the red wire still has the battery’s voltage. Some vehicles switch circuits off a while after they’re locked.

Check it’s working

Status lights

The tracker has two status lights, Navigate (GPS) and Status.

Light	What you see	What it means
Navigate	Blinking once a second	Working normally, with a GPS fix
	On all the time	Looking for GPS. Give it a few minutes with a clear view of the sky
	Blinking fast, non-stop	Updating its software. Leave it powered
	Off	GPS is off: the tracker is asleep, or not working
Status	Blinking once a second	Working normally
	Blinking every two seconds	Asleep. This is normal while the vehicle is parked
	Short bursts of fast blinks	Sending data. This is normal
	Off	Starting up, or not working

If we’ve set your tracker to sleep deeply while it’s parked, both lights go off while it sleeps. That’s normal: check them with the vehicle switched on.

On the Open Platform

Take the vehicle outside with a clear view of the sky. Log in to the Open Platform at platform.crucialtracking.com.au and check the tracker shows as online with a position; out in the open, the first GPS fix usually takes under a minute. Switch the ignition on and off and check the events appear, then take a short drive or ride and watch the position move: every 10 seconds on our Real-Time plan, or every 2 minutes on Power Saver.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to try
No lights at all	Check the lead is pushed fully into the tracker, the battery is reconnected and the fuse is fitted and not blown, then check the red wire has the battery’s voltage against the black wire. If it does and there are still no lights, contact us.
The fuse blows	The red wire is shorting to ground. Check red and black aren’t swapped, and that no bare part of the red wire or the fuse holder touches metal. Fix it before fitting a new fuse.
No ignition events, or ignition always on	Check the yellow wire drops to zero with the key off and reads the battery’s voltage with it on. If it does, contact us to check the tracker is set to use the ignition wire.
Not showing on the platform	Give it a few minutes outside with a clear view of the sky, then take a short drive. Check you’re in 4G coverage. If you fitted your own SIM, check it’s active with data, and contact us about the APN setting.
Goes offline a while after the vehicle is switched off	The red wire is on a circuit that switches off. Move it to a supply that stays on all the time.
The engine won’t crank after fitting a relay	Check the relay is a five-pin changeover type, the key side of the starter wire is on 87a (normally closed), not 87, and the white wire isn’t touching ground. If it all checks out, the tracker’s output may be switched on: contact us.
Position jumps around or drops out	The tracker is probably under metal, or upside down. Move it so the label faces up with nothing metal above it. Metallised or heat-reflective window tint can also block GPS.

Need more?

For the quick power-and-ground install, see the CT-V06 simple two-wire install. Full specifications and purchase options are on the CT-V06 product page. Once the tracker is online, the GPS Tracking Platform User Guide explains events, geofences and trips.

Stuck on a step? Call us on 0413 418 743 during business hours, email team@crucialtracking.com.au or request a callback and we’ll walk you through it.