DIY: Hard-Wired Radar Detector (EX Only)
02-25-2002
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DIY Hard-Wired Radar Detector (EX Only)
Well, this is my first big DIY... So here goes nothin.
1. Start by running down to radio shack, and picking up some of these. They are called Tap-In Squeeze Connectors.
2. DISCONNECT YOUR POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL. Now, cut the 'Cigarrette Lighter' Plug off of your Power Wire that goes to your radar detector.
3. Next, pull the plastic plate that covers where the Rear View Mirror is mounted, which is right in front of your dome lights on the EX, very close to the windshield. Also, use a screwdriver to pry off/remove the plastic cover that covers the light bulbs on your dome lights, and remove the two screws located just above the lights, as illustrated below.
4. After pulling down the dome light cover, snake your connecter that plugs into the radar detector up and over the headliner, into the space where the Rear View Mirror is mounted. Then snake it through the hole in the headliner where the rear view morror bracket pokes out and holds the mirror in place.
5. Now, cut the black plastic sheath that covers the wires through the headliner, as shown below by the arrow. NOTE: Be very careful cutting this!!! I am not responsible for you cutting a wire in there! With this DIY, you will have to do NO CUTTING OF ANY WIRES, except your radar detectors plug.
6. Now, for the wiring. You will always have a red wire, that is your positive to your detector, and whether white or black or green, the other is the ground/negative wire.
7. The connectors have an open side and a closed side. Slide the open side of the Tap-In connector over the red wire running to the LEFT HAND SIDE LIGHT, this is a CONSTANT POWER wire. Now, slide the red wire from your detector's power cable into the CLOSED end of the Tap-In connector. Now, do the same for the negative wire. It doesn't matter which one you it, they'll all produce the ground needed for power. Once again, slide open end of connector over the car's wire, and slide the black/green/white wire from your radar detector cable into the closed end of the connects. Now, CLOSE THE COVER THAT PUSHES DOWN THE METAL CLIP. This is what makes the connection. It 'TAPS' the wires by pusing that metal clip down THROUGH the wires. You may need to use a pair of Needle Nose Pliers to make sure that tapping metal clip is pushed down nice and tight. Close the little plastic door that covers it, and this is what you should see...
OK!!! You are all done! Connect your power to your battery, plug in your Radar Detector, mount it on your windshield behind your Rear View Mirror and TEST IT OUT!!! If it doesn't work, go back and check the steps, make sure you didn't get your wires crossed, that can be bad!
At the end result, THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE...
Well, that's my HUGE DIY.
Later,
RallyEX
1. Start by running down to radio shack, and picking up some of these. They are called Tap-In Squeeze Connectors.
2. DISCONNECT YOUR POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL. Now, cut the 'Cigarrette Lighter' Plug off of your Power Wire that goes to your radar detector.
3. Next, pull the plastic plate that covers where the Rear View Mirror is mounted, which is right in front of your dome lights on the EX, very close to the windshield. Also, use a screwdriver to pry off/remove the plastic cover that covers the light bulbs on your dome lights, and remove the two screws located just above the lights, as illustrated below.
4. After pulling down the dome light cover, snake your connecter that plugs into the radar detector up and over the headliner, into the space where the Rear View Mirror is mounted. Then snake it through the hole in the headliner where the rear view morror bracket pokes out and holds the mirror in place.
5. Now, cut the black plastic sheath that covers the wires through the headliner, as shown below by the arrow. NOTE: Be very careful cutting this!!! I am not responsible for you cutting a wire in there! With this DIY, you will have to do NO CUTTING OF ANY WIRES, except your radar detectors plug.
6. Now, for the wiring. You will always have a red wire, that is your positive to your detector, and whether white or black or green, the other is the ground/negative wire.
7. The connectors have an open side and a closed side. Slide the open side of the Tap-In connector over the red wire running to the LEFT HAND SIDE LIGHT, this is a CONSTANT POWER wire. Now, slide the red wire from your detector's power cable into the CLOSED end of the Tap-In connector. Now, do the same for the negative wire. It doesn't matter which one you it, they'll all produce the ground needed for power. Once again, slide open end of connector over the car's wire, and slide the black/green/white wire from your radar detector cable into the closed end of the connects. Now, CLOSE THE COVER THAT PUSHES DOWN THE METAL CLIP. This is what makes the connection. It 'TAPS' the wires by pusing that metal clip down THROUGH the wires. You may need to use a pair of Needle Nose Pliers to make sure that tapping metal clip is pushed down nice and tight. Close the little plastic door that covers it, and this is what you should see...
OK!!! You are all done! Connect your power to your battery, plug in your Radar Detector, mount it on your windshield behind your Rear View Mirror and TEST IT OUT!!! If it doesn't work, go back and check the steps, make sure you didn't get your wires crossed, that can be bad!
At the end result, THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE...
Well, that's my HUGE DIY.
Later,
RallyEX
02-25-2002
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Rep Power: 336 nice diy
but how come it only works in ex?[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] its the same isnt/
but how come it only works in ex?[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] its the same isnt/
02-26-2002
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Thanks RalleyEX, but is there anyway to wire it inside the dash instead of from the map lights?? mine sits on the dash and wondering how to wire it under the dash rather than on the top. thanks for any info.
02-26-2002
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Rep Power: 0 << nice diy, but how come it only works in ex?[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] its the same isnt/ >>
The sunroof in the EX prevents a Dome light from being in the center of the roof on the EX, so that pushes the interior lights forward up to the front, thus making it very easy to get to power in the headliner.
On the LX and DX, isn't the dome light in the center of the roof? Or are there maplights you can wire to there as well? If you have an LX or DX or any other model with Map Lights up front, it will work on that as well.
RobbClark: Since it is on the dash, what I would do is drill a hole (YIKES!!!) in the dash, and run the wire down through. Pull all your center console apart and etc. like you are putting in a new stereo. Use the same connectors, but run the wire down to the cigarette lighter power wires that are tucked in behind the actual panel, and tap in for power there. That way, your radar detector will only come on when the car is on, thus.. no battery run down.
Intruder: Yeah, you could do it to the visor to and the wire would be less hidden. Same setup, just make sure your wire is long enough to reach I guess.
02-27-2002
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Rep Power: 0 nice job rallyex.........that was my first mod when i got mine in 02/01 but i put it right under the inspection sticker....it works great there and when ur pulled over, the cops don't see it.......so its somethink to think about if u get pulled as much as i do and they say...if u weren't speeding then why do u have that?
02-28-2002
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<< DISCONNECT YOUR POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL >>
Never, I repete, never disconnect your POSITIVE Battery Terminal first...disconnect the ground (the black one) from the battery (thus cutting power everywhere).
If you have ever worked with the battery in the proper way, you would know that you disconnect the ground first, then the positive. You only have to disconnect both terminals if you're going to change your battery, if you're just ding some electrical wiring, then you can just disconnect the ground.
I'll make a DIY too..mine is hardwired, and it goes through the dash...
03-04-2002
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Rep Power: 0 you can still wire it from the map lights
just run the cord along the window and tuck it behind the passenger A pillar, run it along the dash and you straight
just run the cord along the window and tuck it behind the passenger A pillar, run it along the dash and you straight
03-05-2002
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Rep Power: 0 You can do this in a lx too...When you take it apart you will only have one wire,which is your constant 12volts.You will have to use a ground too,with you can put around the factory screw when you put it back in.The only bad thing is that your radar dector will be always on since its not a keyed 12volt source.But I just turn mine off manually when I get out.Thanks for the ideas!Now my socket is open for other stuff plus it looks awesome.I just turned my radar dector upside down and velcrowed it to the top part of my rearview mirror.Ill take pics soon of it.[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/IMG]
05-24-2002
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Rep Power: 0 Just want to throw my two cents in on this DIY... I have my radar velcor tabbed directly on my dash up near the widhshield, and i have a bel that uses one of those small plugs that actually plugs into the 12v adaptor then that into outlet, but anyways, about the hardwiring, you do not need to cut the leads on your radar power line and its probably better for you not to. Most all of them have a fuse built into that power plug. What i did was ran out to wal-mart and grabbed one of those "Y" splitters for an outlet, cut one of the branches off and T-tapped that into the accessory leads, plug the radar into this plug and hide it away, nice and clean, and you still have a fuse to keep your radar from frying accidentally if you cross wires at some point one day... After running out to my car, im like 99.5% sure that there is enough space in the headliner up in that area for you to wire it this way overhead and after reading that there was enough amperage running thru those tiny wires up top, i may relocated my radar up there now. Another trick idea that comes to mind is physically attaching the radar mounting hardware to that little plastic piece so its more stable. Couple bucks at the dealer for a new one if you dont want to destroy the only one you have...
06-03-2002
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Rep Power: 0 I ended up screwing my Bel 980 to the little gray piece of plastic above the mirror. Sure the mirror arm blocks some radar view, but not noticiably, and it is very secure.
08-25-2002
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Quote
[hr]2. DISCONNECT YOUR POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL. Now, cut the 'Cigarrette Lighter' Plug off of your Power Wire that goes to your radar detector.[hr]
[hr]2. DISCONNECT YOUR POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL. Now, cut the 'Cigarrette Lighter' Plug off of your Power Wire that goes to your radar detector.[hr]
09-18-2002
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Rep Power: 0 i'm new to this.. but can i just take out the interior light fuse in the engine area?... and then wire the thing to my map light?... and don't worry about unplugging the negative wire... from the battery... and also... i've noticed that the interior light or the map light.. the place that i 'm going to hook up the power for my radar... has a 7.5 a fuse... is that strong enough... to power the interior light and the radar... or should i change it to like 15 or 10 or something?
10-09-2002
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[hr]Originally posted by: robbclark1
Thanks RalleyEX, but is there anyway to wire it inside the dash instead of from the map lights?? mine sits on the dash and wondering how to wire it under the dash rather than on the top. thanks for any info.[hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: robbclark1
Thanks RalleyEX, but is there anyway to wire it inside the dash instead of from the map lights?? mine sits on the dash and wondering how to wire it under the dash rather than on the top. thanks for any info.[hr]
I originally had mine hard wired to the power socket. If your radar detector cord isn't long enough, go to Radio Shack and buy a longer cord (they have universal end adaptors to plug it into your detector). Cut the socket adaptor off, feed the wire straight back from the dash to the space between the front of the dash and the windshield, there will be enough room to tuck the wire in. Going towards the passenger side with the wire up underneath the windshied, you'll be able to route it down the side of the passenger side door area by tucking the wire behind all the dash and trim componets. Once you get to the bottom, remove the plastic above the passenger side footwell (pull down on the front, then out). Run the wire through that area, and up behind where the power socket is. Pop off that piece, wire the detector cord to the back of the power socket (there are two prongs) and you're in business. Hope that helps, e-mail me if ya have a question. (I have a feeling this might be easier to understand with pics)
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11-07-2002
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Rep Power: 0 Hey just for my 2 cents, I did the DIY and he didnt tell you that you have to remember trun it off every time you turn your car off. if you dont you may kill your battery in time/or have to get a little jump from a friend. I took off of that and went out to my local car shop and bought a wiring kit for only $6 and wired it just like fog lights. and then i put a little switch on the dash to the left of my steering whell. I have it right were you have the radar aswell.
if someone needs more clearifcation just ask and i will try to help.
if someone needs more clearifcation just ask and i will try to help.
11-09-2002
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[hr]Originally posted by: curt
Hey just for my 2 cents, I did the DIY and he didnt tell you that you have to remember trun it off every time you turn your car off. if you dont you may kill your battery in time/or have to get a little jump from a friend. I took off of that and went out to my local car shop and bought a wiring kit for only $6 and wired it just like fog lights. and then i put a little switch on the dash to the left of my steering whell. I have it right were you have the radar aswell.
if someone needs more clearifcation just ask and i will try to help.[hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: curt
Hey just for my 2 cents, I did the DIY and he didnt tell you that you have to remember trun it off every time you turn your car off. if you dont you may kill your battery in time/or have to get a little jump from a friend. I took off of that and went out to my local car shop and bought a wiring kit for only $6 and wired it just like fog lights. and then i put a little switch on the dash to the left of my steering whell. I have it right were you have the radar aswell.
if someone needs more clearifcation just ask and i will try to help.[hr]
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11-11-2002
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Rep Power: 0 Thanks for the DIY. I used 80% of it but I did a few things different. Maybe it will help someone. I have a 2k2 EX, and I just unplugged the adaptor above the light unit, so it killed all the power to the area I was working in. That seemed to work fine for me.
I couldn't get my clamps to work right on the Radar wires,so I ended up cutting slots in those wires and then just sliding them into the slots in the clamps. Other than that this is a great DIY, and good pics too. Thanks man.
I couldn't get my clamps to work right on the Radar wires,so I ended up cutting slots in those wires and then just sliding them into the slots in the clamps. Other than that this is a great DIY, and good pics too. Thanks man.
11-27-2002
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Rep Power: 0 Hey abrocombie that might be true but i have anew detector and it doesn't do that but I got tired of the switch so i disconnected that as well and just wired it into my cig. lighter, now it turns off when i turn my car off and on when my car is on. I love it now cuz i dont have to worry about it at all. if any one wants to know how i did just go to remove the center console and also check out how to install a new head unit(radio) just connect the wires to the same color and there you go.
02-11-2003
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Rep Power: 0 I just ran mine from fuse #8 (Radio, acc) under the dash. There is a bolt to the right near the console you can use for a ground. I then ran the cord around to the left of the dash and conceled the extra in the a pillar. The detector is on the bottom left hand corner of my dash and it looks great! No nasty cords, and it turns on whenever I turn my car on.
