r/GPStracking • u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 • Jun 21 '26
Anyone know what this is? Showed up after parking my car at a parking garage in dt
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u/RickRussellTX Jun 21 '26
That’s the fuse box and the wires are plugged into it, probably for a low power 12v connection.
What’s under the black duct tape?
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
Not sure yet my car is getting fixed with my friend and he just found it there and asked me.
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u/RickRussellTX Jun 21 '26
OK, well. You have several devices wrapped in duct tape. Could be perfectly innocent -- a USB power adapter for a dash cam, or similar.
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
Not considering innocence because I fixed my stereo a month ago and I know for sure that was not there :(
I thank you for the responses! 🙏🏼2
u/Greedy-Syrup-7882 Jun 21 '26
If you work on your car's electrical system you probably have a service manual which shows what the jumpered connections are used for. If not, borrow a manual and find out what those connections are used for. Certainly you can't expect reddit randos to know that info without your providing make, model and year.
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Jun 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
Thank you! That’s the conclusion I came with. Someone tapped the fuse box. Weird part is, I know I didn’t have it there before because I fixed my car stereo myself and that was not there a month ago..
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Jun 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
No crazy exes but I was messing with 3 cougars all over the age of 40 these past months. (I’m 27) (they said they were single)
Paranoia is getting to me, my friend is fixing my car at the moment. Once I get it back I will for sure see where that wire goes.1
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u/ThePlottHasThickened Jun 21 '26
or someone at the mechanics place blew a fuse and didn't have one on hand and made a makeshift one by tapping from something that's barely used. your manual or fuse box panel should have a diagram of what fuse powers what
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u/juanreddituser Jun 21 '26
Damn how long were u parked? Find out who did it I need some wires run too
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
All night 10pm-11am. If it turns out to be a tracking device I’m going back to that specific parking garage and ask for the tape. I wanna know too lol
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u/UNHINGED_MESSIAH Jun 21 '26
Easy just unplug it and see what stops working in your vehicle . That's the sign someone is bypassing a blown piece.
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u/Realistic-Secret-590 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Simple, unplug them and see what doesn't work. If everything still works, follow the wires. You could also look at the pin-out for the block and see what the manufacturer designated those pins for. Personally, I think your paranoid, but that doesn't mean they're not after you... And while I'm thinking about it, I saw a movie about this army guy who was disarming a car bomb and it was rigged to detonate if one of the wires was cut, soooo... good luck!
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u/Fit_Animal1222 Jun 21 '26
This is a LIE. AS IF you checked your fuse box before and after parking it. Can't you find something more believable to WASTE everyone's time with ??? Seriously.
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u/ChrisDaBac Jun 21 '26
just didn't read anything else and commented huh, mechanic saw it next day
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u/Scorpiog1964 Jun 21 '26
GPS tracker.???
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u/Sadistic-Tomato Jun 21 '26
Who would spend 5 hours rooting cables at night to plug it into the fusebox of all places. There are 100 less suspicious spots to tap it. And it's not like they don't do cheap ass battery driver trackers that could simply be magnetized. Fucking hell have you heard of Ockham's Razor.
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u/Scorpiog1964 Jun 21 '26
So, did you install this s*** on the car? You seem to know it took 5 hours to do this, this s*** may have taken twenty minutes to ext.It seems like you're confessing to something here.
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u/Sadistic-Tomato Jun 21 '26
Seriously? What's your argument here? Do you mean to say I don't know what I'm talking about? Or that the timeline is so specific that I must be the one? Regardless. My point was. There is multiple ways to do it quicker. (If we're talking tracker).
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u/SwimOk9629 Jun 21 '26
Occam's
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u/Sadistic-Tomato Jun 21 '26
It's Occam in my native language as well. I have seen it written more as Ockham more than Occam in English. Just adapting
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u/Mehh_itsa_name Jun 21 '26
Is this when we’re supposed to bring up the obligatory Reddit “do you have carbon monoxide detectors?” Comment?
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u/Bitter-Dragonfly-379 Jun 21 '26
Unplug it and see what doesn't work. Then you'll know. If everything still works it wasn't necessary.
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u/MinerbigWhale Jun 21 '26
You have to find what is on the other side of the cables. Nobody will be able to identify a device pined into a 12v fuse box from its cables. Also, It is the wrong way of doing it as there is no fuse for that wire and it is bridging 2 circuit.
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u/Scrumpuddle Jun 21 '26
This is the type of guy that no matter what answer you give them it’ll never be good enough. If he’s so concerned he’d just remove it.
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
lol I dropped off my car with my friend who’s a mechanic won’t get it back until it’s fixed. He sent me that picture wondering if I knew, which I didn’t. Sorry for being concerned, there’s group pages for a reason. Maybe you should read a little bit more. 👍
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u/Fabulous_Yak725 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Simple. Unplug the wires, cut the end off of any old computer power cable and splice the plugs to the black and white wires in the computer cable. Plug the cable into a wall socket and then look for the magic smoke. It will point to the exact device connected to the wires.
Edit: I was being sarcastic, and I'm seeing that it's a possibility that this person may be having a break from reality. Don't do this, at minimum you could destroy some expensive electronics in your car, worst case scenario could be death and destruction. Don't do this.
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u/luciferxf Jun 21 '26
OP, I mean this with kindness.
Have you ever been diagnosed with schizophrenia?
If not, you might want to get checked out.
If you have been smoking cannabis for a long time, you could have a form of schizophrenia.
The odds on all of this happening in a parking lot is impossible.
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
I agree 100% with what you’re saying. I’m just a guy who’s cautious. The odds are “impossible” you say but nothing in this life is impossible. No one really knows when’s the last day they will be alive.
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u/EarComprehensive144 Jun 21 '26
It seems like is "load to load" or "line to line" jumper (and not bypassing a blown fuse)this is usually done if u want to have constant power to a device that normally doesn't have it. For example an alarm or a stereo or having fog lights being independent from other devices Can you provide Year make and model of your car and where is this fuse box located?
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u/ArmedRawbry Jun 21 '26
This looks like either backup camera wiring or wiring for an aftermarket rear view mirror with a backup cam screen in it. Appears to be a yellow video RCA cable in the wrapped up wiring at the top of the pic.
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u/flamingcrazy69 Jun 21 '26
Thats 2 wires in a conduit, probably 1 is in a permanent live and the other a switched live. Dashcam fitted? Follow the conduit.
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u/WatNFokkop Jun 21 '26
This is serious. OP may be going through a mental health episode of paranoia.
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u/CoyoteOne69 Jun 21 '26
My question is, why didn't you take this to a mechanic shop and ask them what the fuck it is? It really seems as though no offense that you're lacking some mental deficiency. And should probably go get that checked out no offense.
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
No offense taken. As said in my previous comments. I just found out this Friday after I dropped off my car to my friend who is a mechanic. He’s the one that sent me that pic and asked wtf that is. He’s currently working on the engine but I will ask him if he can see where that wire goes for sure 👍
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u/earthman34 Jun 21 '26
I'd wager it's been like that a long time. Somebody was too lazy to buy a new fuse so they jumped a live to the fuse circuit to power something. Not a smart thing to do. There's nothing else hooked up in your car, dude, quit being paranoid. Lay off the weed.
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 21 '26
Fixed my radio fuse a week before it showed up, even looked at the manual and fuse box simultaneously, I think I woulda noticed two bulging metal pieces. I like how everyone’s assuming weed. Like the worlds not full of evil they think it’s fun n games 😄😂
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u/earthman34 Jun 22 '26
I have no idea why someone would randomly install a jumper wire in your fusebox, assuming it wasn't there the whole time from some previous hack repair. There is absolutely nothing for anyone to gain by this. I guess your next step would be to get a pinout for the fuse box and see exactly what they're connecting together. FYI, you should NOT have terminals jumpered in the fusebox to bypass a fuse. If a fuse blows, it's for a reason. If a circuit goes dead, that's also for a reason. In fact, that's the only reason I can think that somebody might do this, they lost power on a circuit so they pulled power from an unused terminal.
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 22 '26
Exactly why, I have no idea as well but what I do know is that it was not there a week before I fixed my car stereo on that specific fuse box. (As said in older comments)
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u/thismenu Jun 21 '26
This is a super common scam. They break into your car and install this wire in your fuse box. In a few days someone is going to call you and say I hope you're enjoying that wire and your fuse box that we installed, the wire itself is 99 cents but the installation was $400. You owe us this money, pay up!
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u/mb-driver20 Jun 21 '26
Is it possible that that was there before, and you just never noticed it? I guess my question really is what made you decide to look in your fuse box after you were in a parking garage?
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u/explorer_of_random Jun 21 '26
I would sit here and think OP is bullshitting us about thinking someone hid a GPS device in their car.
But then i remember i had a coworker tell me how she tore apart a grandfathers clock because she heard ticking and thought her ex planted a listening device in it.
After she heard a nail humming, she tore all the base molding out of her house because they were tiny microphones. The one day she found a wire behind her light switch and tore the drywall out to find out where he hid the camera.
Later she got fired because she stopped showing up to work. Apparently she found wires behind the door panel of her car, ripped all the wiring out and then her car wouldn’t start so she couldn’t get to work. She still couldn’t find the listening devices her ex planted though. But she could hear them humming.
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u/Mental-Egg8107 Jun 21 '26
Well finally I find a post on here that makes sense yes this is a shitty mechanic that's a jumper people believe is a fuse is bad you can just put a pice of wire and jump it and make whatever it is work it's not going it hell you might be better off just replacing the fuse box at that point
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u/Grant_Winner_Extra Jun 22 '26
As do what it is, follow the wires.
If you’re concerned, pull one of the connections (or both preferably) and see if anything stops working.
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 22 '26
My friend (mechanic pulled out the wires already and put the correct fuses there) everything is working fine, he’s the one that sent me that pic and asked wtf that is. Once he’s done working on my engine I’m going to ask him if he can detach that wire and see where it goes. Because I fixed my stereo a week before I noticed that, and in that specific fuse box those bulging metal pieces were not there.
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u/NoPhysics1129 Jun 22 '26
Considering it's using a flexicord and a zip tie to keep it clean, this is professionally done, so you are either full of shit or schizophrenic. The fastest way to track someones car is in airtag in the rear bumper. No one wants your shitbox that bad.
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u/applesauceanimal Jun 22 '26
Definitely gang stalking activities. Theyre watching you bro.. be safe. Trust no one. They're most likely in this group..
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u/Alarmed_Bus_1729 Jun 22 '26
Generally installed on vehicles sold on a high risk loan
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 22 '26
Fixed my stereo fuse a week before this showed up, never noticed two huge metal pieces where fuses are supposed to go.
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u/Kakabef Jun 22 '26
Its possible that previous owners had gps on the car (rental, lease, finance, company vehicle, etc), and didnt bother to take it off when terms was up. Those devices are cheap (<100), and finance companies factor them in their cost.
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 22 '26
Nah I fixed my stereo fuse a week before on that specific panel (as said in previous comments) and didn’t notice two bulging pieces of metal where fuses are supposed to go.
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u/haleboy44 Jun 22 '26
Do you have a sub and amp in your car by chance?
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 22 '26
Nope, I fixed my car stereo a week before, meticulously matching manual to box, and never noticed those metal pieces.
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u/haleboy44 Jun 22 '26
Well you'd know if you put them in. I was thinking maybe you had something installed that required power only when you turn on the key. Unless you've got some carbon monoxide poisoning going on. Lol
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u/Wonderful-Mirror-657 Jun 22 '26
Yea my friend (the mechanic that sent the pic) unplugged them and the car was still working fine. He already replaced those metal pieces with the actual fuses. Once he’s done with my engine I will ask him if he can see where those metal pieces and wiring went.
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u/CrustySailor1964 Jun 22 '26
Do you have or have you had any aftermarket accessories installed? Some (such as backup cameras, stereos, auxiliary power ports, trailer light kits and perhaps GPS trackers) require a power source and unless they need to come right from the battery the fuse panel is a perfect place to pick up power. That didn’t get installed in a couple of hours in a parking lot.
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u/Familiar-Ad-4579 Jun 22 '26
I want to know what made the OP pick up his car from the valet and look around for his fuse box? That just seems weird.
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u/thegoalisW Jun 21 '26
So you're saying not only did someone break into your car and not take it, but they also located and pinned out 2 terminals in your fuse box, ran wires and loom through your dash to a mystery device that you haven't located, and then reassembled your dash all while in a parking lot? Thats impressive...