Wiring Diagram/Hardwire Radar/Maplight Console
04-30-2017, 12:33 AM
#1
Wiring Diagram/Hardwire Radar/Maplight Console
I have been in the process of attempting to hardwire my radar detector. Just a heads up, I am no novice to electrical work on home or auto.
TL;DR before the backstory: Was looking for power in the maplight/overhead console using a brand new multimeter I got for free from Harbor Freight. Caused me to blow two fuses! One power socket and one for the map lights (thankfully nothing serious). I just want to hardwire my radar detect like I've done in multiple other cars. Any tips on what may have happened and more-so where I can get wiring diagrams. Thank you!!
My personal choice of hardwiring is the maplight/overhead console. I needed to locate a power source, so I removed the console and found three harnesses. One was connected to something with ABS written all over it so I decided to leave that one completely alone. I tested for power on the largest one and was not getting much reading. I decided to make sure my (cheap Free Harbor Freight) multimeter was working, even though the zero showed up when turned on. I tested it on the storage console socket and it blew the fuse! I've never had this issue before with the many times I searched for power in a car, but it was the first time with this multimeter. I called it quits after that. It also blew the fuse on the maplights. I have no clue what the problem was.
Notes: Tested with car on and off (to determine what received power, in what mode) All in all, I was very unsuccessful. Any tips and guide to a wiring diagram source is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
TL;DR before the backstory: Was looking for power in the maplight/overhead console using a brand new multimeter I got for free from Harbor Freight. Caused me to blow two fuses! One power socket and one for the map lights (thankfully nothing serious). I just want to hardwire my radar detect like I've done in multiple other cars. Any tips on what may have happened and more-so where I can get wiring diagrams. Thank you!!
My personal choice of hardwiring is the maplight/overhead console. I needed to locate a power source, so I removed the console and found three harnesses. One was connected to something with ABS written all over it so I decided to leave that one completely alone. I tested for power on the largest one and was not getting much reading. I decided to make sure my (cheap Free Harbor Freight) multimeter was working, even though the zero showed up when turned on. I tested it on the storage console socket and it blew the fuse! I've never had this issue before with the many times I searched for power in a car, but it was the first time with this multimeter. I called it quits after that. It also blew the fuse on the maplights. I have no clue what the problem was.
Notes: Tested with car on and off (to determine what received power, in what mode) All in all, I was very unsuccessful. Any tips and guide to a wiring diagram source is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
04-30-2017, 04:30 AM
#2
Someone who is not a novice should not be using the FREE Harbor Freight multi meter. Having thought how nice these little meters are and how nice it would be to have one here or there for general work, I’ve found them to be very inaccurate and quite often functioning incorrectly. Now, I don’t mean this to be a blanket statement of all Harbor Freight tools, but some of their stuff is pure crap. The FREE electrical test meter is one of those. I’ve wasted too much time on these cheap meters to find any real usage for them. My first suggestion is to get yourself a good automotive multimeter.
The following users liked this post:
DrInvincible (04-30-2017)
04-30-2017, 04:39 PM
#3
Someone who is not a novice should not be using the FREE Harbor Freight multi meter. Having thought how nice these little meters are and how nice it would be to have one here or there for general work, I’ve found them to be very inaccurate and quite often functioning incorrectly. Now, I don’t mean this to be a blanket statement of all Harbor Freight tools, but some of their stuff is pure crap. The FREE electrical test meter is one of those. I’ve wasted too much time on these cheap meters to find any real usage for them. My first suggestion is to get yourself a good automotive multimeter.
04-30-2017, 06:33 PM
#4
If you have time to take pictures when you hardwire your radar detector, that would be beneficial to everyone here. I use an Escort and have thought about hardwiring it for quite some time. Good luck!
05-02-2017, 07:31 PM
#5
Planning on making a thorough guide, hopefully get to it this weekend.
