Hard Wire radar Detector

A forum for the Nissan Armada, Infiniti QX56, and beginning in 2014, the Infiniti QX80
who1975
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Hi Everyone,

I am back with a 2017 Infiniti QX80. I have been searching with no success to find out about hardwiring a radar detector. In the past, I have used a blend mount and used a mirror tap to get switched power. I am noticing that the 2017 QX has a lot of wires going into the mirror and a little hesitant to use a mirror tap this time. Does anyone have either a success story on mirror tapping or finding a switched power source may be in the fuse box by the driver's side? Sorry in advance if someone else has already posted on this. Thanks.

Bill


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PapaSmurf2k3
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Hey Bill.
I imagine most Infiniti mirrors are going to be the same or extremely similar, so if you find a writeup for another vehicle, you can probably use that as a solid base.
Otherwise you really have 2 options... you can look in the factory service manual to see if there's a wiring diagram, or you can bust out the multi-meter and start pinning things out.
https://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual ... 15/bcs.pdf
https://www.nicoclub.com/infiniti-service-manuals

Toad
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Yes, you can definitely do this! Blendmount is what I used and I messed up by touching two wires together and blew a fuse. :nono: Easy fuse to replace! Works perfectly and is soooo much more convenient!

who1975
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Update from me. I ended up using a fuse on the driver’s side to tap switched power. I believe I used the center console power socket to do a fuse tap. Using. Blend mount for mounting of my escort radar detector plus M1 dash camera. Nice having that combo back after switching to the QX from a Yukon XL Denali.

who1975
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Update #2, I am thinking about going back and trying to do a rearview mirror tap instead of using the fuse panel on the Driver's side. I have this rattle sound every so often now that I think is related to me adding the wiring and it is driving me bonkers. Any help in determining which wires to tap in the rearview mirror harness would be appreciated. Thanks.

Bill

who1975
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Toad wrote:
Fri Nov 13, 2020 5:25 pm
Yes, you can definitely do this! Blendmount is what I used and I messed up by touching two wires together and blew a fuse. :nono: Easy fuse to replace! Works perfectly and is soooo much more convenient!
Toad, Can you give me any insight on which wires you tapped in the mirror? Thanks.

Bill

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VStar650CL
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According to the WD you want the BLK/RED wire on pin 6 of the mirror connector. This is an ignition supply from fuse 4 via the ignition-1 relay. Careful to use the right one, there's also a BLK/RED on pin 4 which is a control wire for the side mirrors. I'd suggest pulling the connector and using a test light, with the connector removed only the supply wire will be hot, the control wire will be open.

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VStar650CL
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Here, managed to grab a connector pinout:

15 QX80 Inside Mirror Conn.jpg
15 QX80 Inside Mirror Conn.jpg (33.18 KiB) Viewed 3727 times

who1975
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Thanks for the reply Vstar. I am a total novice when it comes to this but I can follow directions (hopefully)..... So I should be using the pin 6 to tap with my red wire. Which pin should I use for the black wire from my wire tap? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bill

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VStar650CL
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The ground can be pin 3 on the connector or any convenient chassis metal. On any healthy car that isn't a 1960 MG, the whole body is ground and you can tap it anyplace.

who1975
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Man I should have looked at the diagram you posted. It clearly states round on there. Thanks again for the quick reply. I will report my findings once I try it when I get home. Thanks again.

Bill

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VStar650CL
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You're most welcome, happy to help!

who1975
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SUCCESS!!!!!!! Thanks to Vsatr for helping me out. Got home, took about 30 seconds to tap the two wires he said to tap and BOOOOM, power to my radar detector and M1 dash cam! A much cleaner install than the fuse tap and running wires all the way up to the mirror from the fuse box. Thanks again for helping me out Vstar!

Bill

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VStar650CL
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Cool beans. Wires are only hard without a diagram. ;)

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PapaSmurf2k3
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I've been thinking a lot lately about how OEMs are looking for new features to offer on their vehicles. You know... waving your foot under your rear bumper to lift the hatch, blah blah blah.
I don't know why none (that I'm aware of anyway) have added that traditional radar detector/dash cam jack (R-J11?). Tons of people use them, and it would make life so much easier for wiring in accessories. It would cost pennies.

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VStar650CL
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PapaSmurf2k3 wrote:
Sat Feb 20, 2021 1:52 pm
I don't know why none (that I'm aware of anyway) have added that traditional radar detector/dash cam jack (R-J11?). Tons of people use them, and it would make life so much easier for wiring in accessories. It would cost pennies.
I've been kicking that idea upstairs for a long time, but with the proliferation of dash cams these days, maybe someone will start listening. You're right, Papa, there's power already available in almost any roof harness, and there are already accessory pre-wire connectors in both front corners of the car. Adding a third pre-wire taped back under the front edge of the headliner wouldn't even cost a nickel.

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Agreed. Every time I've done a radar detector or dash cam install, I really wish they had that feature. So, going on 15 years now haha.

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VStar650CL
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PapaSmurf2k3 wrote:
Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:21 pm
Agreed. Every time I've done a radar detector or dash cam install, I really wish they had that feature. So, going on 15 years now haha.
Fifteen years ago dash cams were a mere twinkle in an engineer's eye. Now they probably outnumber radar detectors ten to one. The demand should be there now, where it was missing earlier. If you're reading, Nissan, listen up and do it!

who1975
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I agree. It should be standard stuff by now. I know that Nissan/Infiniti is way behind on tech compared to other car companies as well. But they do have a very loyal following. Love my QX, but now I am on to trying to find a very annoying metal rattle coming from the driver's side dash. Can't pinpoint it yet and it is beyond annoying. Makes me almost want to go back to my yukon xl denali sometimes......

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VStar650CL
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who1975 wrote:
Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:53 pm
I know that Nissan/Infiniti is way behind on tech compared to other car companies as well. But they do have a very loyal following.
Nissan is behind on some stuff, ahead on others. Yeah-yeah, I know Bosch can't seem to get Nissan's Car-Play right, but consider this: We had our first '19 Altima roll in the other day with 150K on the odo. You should realize the significance of that. Peugeot, Saab, Chevy, there have been plenty of attempts at variable compression, all ultimately failures due to reliability issues. To be honest, when the '19's first arrived, I was thoroughly prepared for a parade of them with early engine failure. It hasn't happened, and the fact is, the Nissan VC system is it. The holy grail. Simple and strong enough to last as long as any other engine, but wow, are good things going to come from it when people discover the power of ramping compression instead of messing with the waste gate. Like a CVT for turbochargers, match the curve and zip-zip. Until somebody comes out with a fuel-cell EV that you can gas with methane and be on your way, this engine is just plain superior.

Every OE has its abject failures, and also its sterling victories. Nissan has flat-out won the race to a practical VC, and we've only seen the tiniest hints of its potential.

who1975
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True. If it isn't broken, no need to fix it. I have owned 4 Infiniti vehicles in my short life and all of them have been very reliable and had great build quality. One reason why I went back to the QX and away from GMC and their fancy tech.....

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Welp, I bubbled this up to Nissan corporate today. This thread re-invigorated me.
They said the next big thing is to just use the vehicle's already existing cameras as dash cams. They did say having a power source up there could be quite the selling point to uber and lyft drivers and such that utilize an auxiliary light/sign though.

I STILL think the demand will be there for aftermarket dash cams though. I would think the ones in the car could be/would be obsolete fairly rapidly. Aftermarket always moves faster than OE. I kindof think of it like smart TVs. A lot of the UI is trash and they crash a lot or just plain don't work as well as stand-alone smart sticks or whatever they are called.

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VStar650CL
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PapaSmurf2k3 wrote:
Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:43 pm
I STILL think the demand will be there for aftermarket dash cams though. I would think the ones in the car could be/would be obsolete fairly rapidly. Aftermarket always moves faster than OE. I kind of think of it like smart TVs. A lot of the UI is trash and they crash a lot or just plain don't work as well as stand-alone smart sticks or whatever they are called.
Right you are. Even assuming Bosch gets the design right and it turns out usable (which I frankly no longer assume), it will still be like an OE navi -- useful and usable for what it is, but lacking both the ugradeability of the aftermarket and the versatility and immediacy of Google. Even if that is Nissan's plan, they need to do both.

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Bingo. Can't believe I didn't think of the nav comparison. Its directly relatable.


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