Best bet is to hook up to your cigarette lighter from behind. This leaves it useable for other things. I have a wire that hooks up to my cigarette lighter power and runs down to a distibution block that has 4 more cigarette lighter outlets. I hid this under my cupholders (just pull out the piece around the parking brake, then you can pull up the surrounding plate around the shifter and cupholders). There is plenty of room under the cupholders and it is easy to get to without tools. So this way, when I have extra accessories that I want hardwired, I just hook them up to the hidden power source.
Hard Wiring a Radar Detector
- Thread starter OurP5
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DrummerJim50
Member
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- 2006 Acura RSX Type S
That sounds pretty sweet - I was thinking about doing that myself. Was it hard to get to the wires behind the cigarette lighter? Did you just have to remove the center console to get to them?jonlong said:
This might make a good how-to, if there isn't already one like it.
PlatinumMSP
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- Blazing Yellow 03.5 MSP
jonlong said:
hey how did you access the cigarrette lighter wires? and what screw did you ground it to?
DrummerJim50
Member
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- 2006 Acura RSX Type S
I did the same thing, but ran a power wire straight from the battery since 4 outlets seemed like a lot of current for those little wires behind the oem cig outlet (although I wired up a relay as well). If you take out the center console you can access the wires behind the cigarette lighter, although they are a b**** to get to depending on what you use to tap into them (I originally tried to solder a connection which was a bad idea....definitely use those easy splice connectors which just clamp on the wire). When you have the console out there is some exposed metal and screws on the floor to the left of the cig lighter - right next to your pedals....I used one of those for a ground.PlatinumMSP said:
PlatinumMSP
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- Blazing Yellow 03.5 MSP
DrummerJim50 said:
thanks man, any tips for taking out that center console? i really dont want to break my s*** trying to these wires?
DrummerJim50
Member
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- 2006 Acura RSX Type S
It is explained pretty well in the shop manual and probably other parts of this forum....maybe see the short shifter install thread for pics. Basically, take out your e-brake trim and cup holder trim (pops right out - just pull), unscrew shift knob, and there are 6 screws - two near the floor on the front (they have little caps on them you have to pop off), two by the e-brake, and two in the rear (put your seats forward). Then just lift it out, back end first. It can be tricky getting it to slide back in place when reinstalling it, but nothing a little patience won't fix. That's basically it....there's not much risk of breaking anything I don't think, maybe some scratches though if you're not careful.
PlatinumMSP
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- Blazing Yellow 03.5 MSP
DrummerJim50 said:
sweeet, i'm gonna give it a shot tomarrow morning, i'll let you know how it went, thanks for your help
PlatinumMSP
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- Blazing Yellow 03.5 MSP
sweeet i got it done and wired, the biggest b**** was just splicing the wire without cutting it completely, thanks for you help my radar set up is waay clean now
Cellerator
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- 2012 Mazda 3i Skyactiv Hatchback
Anyone got some pics?
PlatinumMSP
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- Blazing Yellow 03.5 MSP
**** i just realized that now my cigarrett lighter light isnt turning on, any idea why this would happen? the cigarrette lighter still works and my radar detector is still getting power just fine
You probably severed a wire.
I'm not reading through the whole thread, but I did this in my Lancer before I moved to VA where detectors are illegal. Here's what I did.
Tap into the powered accessory wire going into the radio (remote wire for an amp is good way to go for this source)
Put a fuse in line with that wire
Get a barrier block/terminal strip from Home Depot or RadioShack
Wire the barrier block/terminal strip so the connections are power - ground - power - ground .....
Now you have a way to wire up all your accessories (remote wire for more amps, radar detector, digital gauges, AFC power, WBO2 boxes, TT, etc).
I did this in my old car and it helped clean up the rats nest of wires behind my dash.
I'm not reading through the whole thread, but I did this in my Lancer before I moved to VA where detectors are illegal. Here's what I did.
Tap into the powered accessory wire going into the radio (remote wire for an amp is good way to go for this source)
Put a fuse in line with that wire
Get a barrier block/terminal strip from Home Depot or RadioShack
Wire the barrier block/terminal strip so the connections are power - ground - power - ground .....
Now you have a way to wire up all your accessories (remote wire for more amps, radar detector, digital gauges, AFC power, WBO2 boxes, TT, etc).
I did this in my old car and it helped clean up the rats nest of wires behind my dash.
PlatinumMSP
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- Blazing Yellow 03.5 MSP
PlatinumMSP said:
i'm a ******* idiot, there never was a light for the cigarette light on our cars... well at least i know i did a good job afterall
Something to keep in mind; you need to match the voltage requirement of your detector with the +12V source. This isn't a problem if you can hide your cig adaptor somewhere behind the dash when you hardwire it.
When I was in high school I just cut the wire off and stripped the terminals to hard wire it. It lasted for a year but then wen't nuts. It worked fine in other car.
I think it required 10V or 14V, something really close to 12, so it didn't blow any internal circuitry, but I'm confident that that's the reason it quit working.
When I was in high school I just cut the wire off and stripped the terminals to hard wire it. It lasted for a year but then wen't nuts. It worked fine in other car.
I think it required 10V or 14V, something really close to 12, so it didn't blow any internal circuitry, but I'm confident that that's the reason it quit working.
DrummerJim50
Member
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- 2006 Acura RSX Type S
Not sure what you're getting at here. You alternator will put out 13-14 volts with no load and you should always get a reading of about 12 volts from all the power connections/wires in the car. No power connection in the car should ever be below 11 unless you've got some serious load on the electical system (not good for it). It's not possible for one connection to have 10 volts and another 14. A typical radar detector or any other car accessory should work between 11 and 13 volts normally (+/- 10% of 12 volts).iluvmacs said:
