Power for Radar Detector Installation

[hooper]

Anyone found an easy place to get 12 volts up near the mirror to install a radar detector? Does anyone know how to remove the trim around the lights as a place to get power?

[tomcatm]

Get the invisicord and tap in to the mirror harness. Its simple, quick and easy.

http://www.invisicord.com

[hemizygote]

Did you install one on your G37?

[hooper]

Yes - there are 3 wires in the harness going to the mirror. One wire is ground, one battery and one switched. I carefully spliced into the switched power and mounted the radar detector just below the mirror using the suction cup mount. Turned out nice,

[hemizygote]

Yes - there are 3 wires in the harness going to the mirror. One wire is ground, one battery and one switched. I carefully spliced into the switched power and mounted the radar detector just below the mirror using the suction cup mount. Turned out nice,

Where did you mount your radar detector? Or do you have it on the dash?

[Steinman101]

hooper, would it be possible for you to post some pics of your wiring? I want to hardwire my V1, but i don't want to go just cutting wirings. A "DiY," even a rough one, would be much appreciated. Thanks

[hemizygote]

hooper, would it be possible for you to post some pics of your wiring? I want to hardwire my V1, but i don't want to go just cutting wirings. A "DiY," even a rough one, would be much appreciated. Thanks

I ordered the product linked in the 2nd post of this thread. I got it last night and it looks to be a real nice product. The wiring job looks great and I'd rather pay $15 for it instead of cutting wires on a new car. Just my opinion....

But a radar install DIY would be nice!

[Steinman101]

I ordered the product linked in the 2nd post of this thread. I got it last night and it looks to be a real nice product. The wiring job looks great and I'd rather pay $15 for it instead of cutting wires on a new car. Just my opinion....

But a radar install DIY would be nice!

I agree- I must have misread because that's what I was asking about. So how did the installation of the $15 Product go? Nothing too difficult?
Modified by Steinman101 at 6:50 PM 11/30/2007

[hemizygote]

Haven't done it yet....but its pretty straight forward. Put the black pin in the black terminal on the back on the rear mirror and the yellow in the brown terminal on the back of the mirror.

Just have to play with the placement of the radar.

[hooper]

I bought some squeeze type wire taps (small ones) and cut the cigartett lighter plug off the cord that came with the radar detector. That is essentially what you get for the $15 kit.

I am using the suction cup mount and have the radar detector just below the mirror. This way, it can see out the front and rear windows.

I will post some photos, hopefully tomorrow. (Left my camera at a friends house)

[G35JCole]

I bought something similar from Stealth Cords - http://www.stealthcords.com

It was very easy to install. Like someone mentioned above...there was no way I was hacking up my $40k baby. I would rather pay the $15.

I have an '07 G35, so I'm sure it is the same mirror as the G37. Actually the site has a video of the install on a G35.

Good luck.

Cheers.

[dmx434343]

I have the V1 and was wondering if it would be ok to hook it up to the visor rather then using the suction cup. Here in MI it gets pretty cold and the suction wont work if my window is frozen. Will i have any negative effects by putting the detector on my visor?

[G35JCole]

I have the V1 and was wondering if it would be ok to hook it up to the visor rather then using the suction cup. Here in MI it gets pretty cold and the suction wont work if my window is frozen. Will i have any negative effects by putting the detector on my visor?

DMX, I actually asked a similar question in another forum, so I guess I will chime in. As long as the detector has line of sight out your window (front/ back) you should be fine. I live in So Cal and I have the same problem opposite cause. When it is really hot out my suction cups fail.

You could always go with a cord like I got from Stealth Cords and buy a mirror mount, but I believe you will be fine with it mounted on the visor.

I've been kicking around getting a V1, do you like it?

[jlekach]

A friend of mine was trying to install my new passport 9500. He couldn't find a good way to hardwire it to the fuse panel down by the driver's footrest. Where is the ground screw and where is a good place to put the positive lead?

[jlekach]

also, it is the smartcord from escort...

[razzle]

Go to Autozone if you have one and pick a fuse tap. You can either pull a switched hot like from cig lighter or on the right side in the middle there are two unused fuses slots, one does not work but the other does. Plug the fuse tap into the plug put one 3 amp fuse to get power to the tap and put in another 3 amp for the radar. The ground wire attached to a screw that hold the hood release cable next the fuse panel. Use a direct wire from Escort ran behind dash and but right above radio on dash with velcro. 30-45 minutes and you are done.

[ArEs23x]

Well i can not tell you much but I soon will do this to my car as well, I am just waiting to receive the kit to hardwire my escort to my car, I am tired of running that cable to the cigarette lighter.. Ill let you guys now real soon hopefully how its done

[KahnQuistador]

Get the invisicord and tap in to the mirror harness. Its simple, quick and easy.

http://www.invisicord.com

I installed one the other day and it works great AFTER you get it installed. I had to open the mirror connector and still struggled to get the ground wire inserted. If I wasn't familiar with electrical connectors, I might have given up

I also did a dumb thing. I used a pen knife to open the connector and, forgetting that power was on, shorted the power pin to ground. That killed the clock and the HomeLink isn't working right. It's probably a fuse issue but I haven't had time to look at it yet. Everything else works ok. If it's not the fuse, it's a warranty repair.

I got the slightly longer cord and looped it around the mirror mount in case the V1 suction mount fails.

All in all, I'm happy with the cord. It makes for a clean V1 install.

[dwynne]

I have a V1 and the remote display. In prior cars I put the hard wire adapter up in the headliner (tapped into the moonroof power) and then ran a single cord down to the dash/instrument cluster where I had the remote display.

I am thinking in the G I will just use a Littlefuse "add-a-circuit" ($7-8 at AutoZone) to tap into a fuse in the fuse box and put the tap under the dash.

The only issue I see is running the wire to the detector - with the side and head curtain air bags it is getting harder or unsafe to run wires under the headliner and under the a-pillar. Anyone done this yet?

BTW, like in prior cars I find the V1 fits perfectly over the mirror on the suction cup mount. Nearly perfectly hidden there. You can get a set of new cups from Valentine for $1 w/free shipping and they once again give you two large and two small cups. Use the large one on a warm, clean window and they should hold fine. If one does not, the detector will drop onto the top of the mirror but not go anywhere - unless both cups come loose.

I have a V1 in my convertible as well, but put a POS Escort 8500 in another car. I purchased new cups and they still failed every week or two, and the metal mount jiggled all over the place. I finally took some heavy duty 3m double sticky "trim mount" tape and stuck the metal (w/o the cups) direct to the glass. Once it set I put the detector on the mount. Has not come loose yet and most of the juggle is gone. It is still not as nice as the V1s, but it was a lot cheaper.

Dennis

[StealthCords]

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