Anyone got instruction and picture on how to wire a radar detector from the rear view mirror ?

 

There was a thread a while back. I know someone did this. Try search yet?

 

I tried the search. Someone mention about connecting to the mirror but no pics !

 

I looked into this, I'm pretty sure it can be done. Just slide back the cover and there should be some wires, a 12v, ground and one that turns off when you're in reverse I believe. Just need to tap the right ones, I'd suggest a manual however

 

The following applies to the '04 TSX, I do not know if wire colors changed in '05 or '06. Take down the sunglass storage unit. Take out the top trim (2 screws/bolts behind the sunglass holder, and 2 more under the map lights). Follow the supply wire to the mirror, strip off the plastic wrap around that supply you will find 3 wires inside. 1 is black with a white stripe (this is your ground). The next is a black wire with a yellow stripe (this is your power source powered only when the ignition is on). The other wire is black with grey stripes (leave that one alone you won't need to touch it). By tapping in to the black/white wire & black/yellow wire you will be set. The only thing you may notice is that the radar detector will not get power when the car is in reverse (I think the auto dimmer turns off when the car is in reverse so that you get a brighter rear view), but if you need your radar detector while in reverse you really need to slow down. I ran radar wire through the plastic run that goes to the mirror from the bin, it just snaps in. I wired my V1 this way and it was easy.

 

If the radar detector loses power while going reverse, doesn't it bother you it performs the power on self test every time you go forward? Can you imagine how annoying that is while parallel park?

 

on/off switch? v1 has it, I'm sure other do too.

 

Yes, that requires you to remember to turn it back on later. I would simply tap it to the fuse box connection that has power when the key is on.

 

It's not hard to run the power wire down the a pillar.

 

that would seem to be a much better solution.

 

True... Just the side pillar air bags you must watch out for and not run wires to cause issues with them. For me the off in reverse is minor and its so simple to tap the wires off mirror.

 

There is already wire running down the side. You can just run it parallel with that wiring. Just zip tie or tape it up. It's pretty easy. Also, to remove the a pillar, just use a butter knife to get underneath the SRS clip and pop it up. Then just slide it out and up.

You should definitely think about whether the mirror off in reverse will annoy you. When you parallel park your friends will think they are riding in a school bus

 

I have my passport 8500 x50 wired to the rear view power...it doesn't cut out when i go into reverse, idk what you guys are talking about. Maybe cause i have an '04?

 

Blk/yel wire at the mirror is +12V which is hot in On or Start, and solid black is body ground. This should get you everything you need to work a radar detector. Black/wht is a signal from transmission reverse switch, which there's no need to touch.

This is for '04. poss. different for later models.

 

Thanks guys ! Thanks for the info, I've done it last night ! I just tap the wire into the mirror's socket, took less than 5 mins ! Yes, it won't turn off when you put it in reverse. By the way, can anyone tell me how to attach images ?

 

Do you ever have to worry about what current comes out of the rear window power? I have an el cheapo radar detector and while I know it is 12 volts (Can't imagine anything else for a cigarette lighter being non-12v) I am not sure of the amperage.

 

amps shouldnt matter...im sure its fused at 10-20amps...which is plenty for more than one device.

 

Anyone has pictures of this on the tsx? I tried to see it on other cars, but then again their wires are different.

Once you tap the wire in what does that consist of? strip the wire and theres a clip ? that will clamp on to the exposed wire?

 

I just did this on my 04 TSX and can confirm the yellow/black on one end of the plug is hot, the black wire in the middle is ground. I used an Inviscord to hook it up, and it only took a few minutes.

http://www.invisicord.com/

It works fine with both my V1 and 8500 x50 Blue.

 

Nice, this would be very handy for uninstalling

 

Do you just plug the two ends into the wire harness behind the mirror (is that where it is)? What length invisicord did you get? Seems like a great product esp. for being able to disconnect the wires easily if you want to.

 

The cord is like 6 inches, really simple to do. It works great cuz I can unplug the radar from the phone looking wire.

no more hanging wire =)

I ordered my last friday.

 

This would work great except if you had the V1 and the consealed display. Then you have to run a wire from the V1 to the consealed display anyways. Other then that it would be great!

 

I was thinking of the same thing.

 

+ 1

 

I think I ordered the 8" cord. I drilled a very small half circle about halfway up the trim piece that covers the wires going up to the overhead console and ran the inviscord through that so it wouldn't be just hanging off the back the mirror.

The guy will do custom orders for the V1 concealed display.

Various customizations have been requested by customers to add the Quick Connect wire taps onto various items they wanted to attach to the mirror or other wiring harnesses. I do this on a case by case basis, and if the requests are pretty common, I will offer the modification as a service on the product order page.

Some examples of custom modifications include:

* Modify the Valentine remote display splitter so that it can quickly be connected to the mirror just like the InvisiCords for the detectors themselves. I move the inline fuse down, trim down the power/ground wires, and put the Quick Connect taps onto the wires.


http://www.invisicord.com/custom.html

 

well custom work is cool but I dont see how this would help bc the remote display for the V1 has to be connected to the radar detector. I dont know how your going to get around that. Maybe i just dont understand what you can do

 

http://x35.xanga.com/d6608340d60a934.../t24061908.jpg
this is a picture of the radar tapped into the rear veiw mirror with the phone jack. Brett sent me this site.

http://www.invisicord.com/

 

Has anyone done this with an '05? Anything I should know before attempting it?

If anyone has a better photograph or diagram, that might help.

 

Yea I have an 05 its just follow the directions plug in and tape with electrical tape and then you are done.

 

i tapped the black/yellow wire for power and used one of the screws that hold the sunglass holder as the ground. my radar stays on in all gears and doesn't turn off if i turn off the auto dimmer.

 

My 8500 is wired into the rearview for over 2 years now (04) and it does not cut off when in reverse. I cannot remember what wire I taped into, but if I remember correctly when I was wiring mine in one wire had power with key on, one had power sometimes. I used a test light when I was wiring mine up.

 

OK, I am still a little confused.

I understand you can tap in the wire anywhere, but is it possible to tap into it (1) through the (female) fitting on the mirror itself, or (2) within the body of the mirror?

The first option seems the easiest if it is possible to do.

 

So, if you wire power from the rearview mirror, and turn the auto-dimming mirror OFF, the radar detector stays on? I was hoping it'd turn off. Thanks.

 

I know this is an TSX forum but search for "mdx rear mirror power" kept showing this thread. SO, if any one is reading this and has a 2001-2006 MDX then you too can tap into the rear view mirror for 12v and ground. You can remove the cover that contains the two overhead lights with a small flat head screwdriver. Once removed you can remove two wiring harnesses connected to the cover. Then four 8 mm screws will remove the bezel. Following the wire from the rear view mirror back you will find a wiring harness with three wires. The black is ground. The next wire is dark purple (don't use this one) and the light purple (pink) wire is 12 v. Use wire splices (one meant for 18 gauge wire or less) to tap into the wire. The light purple is on when start and does not turn off even if you are in reverse (actually that is the what the dark purple does).

In my case I was not connecting a radar detector but rather a dash cam that required a 12v cigarette lighter socket because the adapter converted 12v to 5v needed by the dash cam. SO I bought a cigarette lighter socket (two wires, positive and ground) and tapped it into the rear view mirror and then plugged the power adapter into it. There was plenty of room to tuck the wire, socket and adapter comfortably before installing the bezel and then the cover.