[N.G.S.]

(mods - if this Noob put this in the wrong place please feel free to move it)I recently got my blendmount for my Escort Redline and was looking ot mount it up without having any wires cluttering up my dashboard so I decided to tap the power off the courtesy lights by the rear view mirror.

The lights pop right off by pulling down on them along the edge that faces the back of the car. Once that pulls out you will see that there is 3 wires feeding the lights - black, red, yellow. The black one is the ground, the red is + power and the yellow one is the dimmer circuit (I believe). I tapped off the red wire twice, once for my radar detector and one for a usb power cable that powers my phone on a window mount. You can get ground from any of the screws going into the sheetmetal behind the dome lights.

Once you tap the positive and ground the negative to the sheet metal all you have to do is to slide the end of the power cord between the headliner and the window and snap the light back in its place. You could store the extra wire between the headliner and the sheet metal of the car as there is a ton of space up there. I have done this on a couple of my cars now and I have never had any problems doing so. IF you are concerned about power draw you can place a fuse inline on positive but I don't. I rely on the fused circuit in the car as the Radar Detector and USB power draw very little current.

 

[Freebs]

Is the red wire switched? Or on 100% of the time? Or do you just turn the radar off/on every time you get out/in?

 

[B Home 916]

This seems like a much easier solution than tapping the fuse box.

I'll be picking up an Escort and a blend mount here in the near future.

Great post, thanks!

 

[geezespeed]

This seems like a much easier solution than tapping the fuse box.

I'll be picking up an Escort and a blend mount here in the near future.

Great post, thanks!

I've got a V1 for sale

 

[N.G.S.]

Is the red wire switched? Or on 100% of the time? Or do you just turn the radar off/on every time you get out/in?

Red wire is +. The yellow wire gets very little voltage but goes hot only when one of the doors open. If you wire it like I said when you shut the doors and arm the alarm via door handle or via key fob the Radar will shut off. When you get back in to it again it turns on automatically.

 

[EXcel4600c]

Or you could have ran the wires down the A pillar and used an Add-a-fuse from autozone. I used the fuse for the cig lighter which is on with ignition, i havent touched my V1 since i installed it a yr ago, except to turn up and down the volume.

If yall want pictures let me know.

 

[B Home 916]

I'd love to see some pics Excel

 

[Evo_Zero]

I recently got my blendmount for my Escort Redline and was looking to mount it up without having any wires cluttering up my dashboard so I decided to tap the power off the courtesy lights by the rear view mirror.

The lights pop right off by pulling down on them along the edge that faces the back of the car. Once that pulls out you will see that there is 3 wires feeding the lights - black, red, yellow. The black one is the ground, the red is a constant power and the yellow one works off the pin switches on the doors. I tapped off the red wire twice, once for my radar detector and one for a usb power cable that powers my phone on a window mount. You can get ground from any of the screws going into the sheet metal behind the dome lights.

Once you tap the positive and ground the negative to the sheet metal all you have to do is to slide the end of the power cord between the headliner and the window and snap the light back in its place. You could store the extra wire between the headliner and the sheet metal of the car as there is a ton of space up there. I have done this on a couple of my cars now and I have never had any problems doing so. IF you are concerned about power draw you can place a fuse inline on positive but I don't. I rely on the fused circuit in the car as the Radar Detector and USB power draw very little current.

(mods - if this Noob put this in the wrong place please feel free to move it)

Can you show pics of completed install please




Sent from my iPhone using Autoguide.

 

[N.G.S.]

Or you could have ran the wires down the A pillar and used an Add-a-fuse from autozone. I used the fuse for the cig lighter which is on with ignition, i havent touched my V1 since i installed it a yr ago, except to turn up and down the volume.

If yall want pictures let me know.

Yeah - but I went back to the car today trying to figure out why the power remained - I have done this before on other cars and the power shuts off when the ignition is killed. I didn't take in to count for the dome timer, it is really long on these cars!

The car will kill the circuit after a couple of minutes or instantly if you arm the alarm by either pressing the button on the door handle or the keyfob.

Now you can save yourself the trip to Autozone, the cost of the add-a-fuse and the additional work of wiring down the A-pillar. I edited the O.P. and included a video and more pics.

 

[EXcel4600c]

Yeah - but I went back to the car today trying to figure out why the power remained - I have done this before on other cars and the power shuts off when the ignition is killed. I didn't take in to count for the dome timer, it is really long on these cars!

The car will kill the circuit after a couple of minutes or instantly if you arm the alarm by either pressing the button on the door handle or the keyfob.

Now you can save yourself the trip to Autozone, the cost of the add-a-fuse and the additional work of wiring down the A-pillar. I edited the O.P. and included a video and more pics.

Well the add-a-fuse is about a $1 and the work required to tuck the wire down the a pillar was about 5 min. The hardest part was finding a fuse that was instant on or off when you turned the key. I dont like the snap clips cause you cut the protection of the wire so you run the risk of possibly shorting the wire if you undo that at a later time.

 

[N.G.S.]

Well the add-a-fuse is about a $1 and the work required to tuck the wire down the a pillar was about 5 min. The hardest part was finding a fuse that was instant on or off when you turned the key. I dont like the snap clips cause you cut the protection of the wire so you run the risk of possibly shorting the wire if you undo that at a later time.

I understand your point. I typically don't go into harnesses unless I think it is really worth it but it really is very simple this way. I do wrap the harness in case the tap comes out and I am aware enough to put a tape wrap on it if and when the radar comes out of the car. Which would probably be when I sell the evo so it really wouldn't bother me that much. (note to anyone that attempts this - If you are not capable enough to tap a wire properly don't do it) Either way I figure avoiding the trip to autoZone is worth it.

Regardless this is another way of doing the same thing, I figured it would be nice to put out the info in case someone thought this was easier than the route you took.


btw

All the add a fuses I've used have been around $5.00 - $1.00 is cheap, where do you get them so cheap? I can use some.

 

[EXcel4600c]

i got them from autozone here in SD. maybe not a dollar but i know they weren't $5.

I understand your point. I typically don't go into harnesses unless I think it is really worth it but it really is very simple this way. I do wrap the harness in case the tap comes out and I am aware enough to put a tape wrap on it if and when the radar comes out of the car. Which would probably be when I sell the evo so it really wouldn't bother me that much. (note to anyone that attempts this - If you are not capable enough to tap a wire properly don't do it) Either way I figure avoiding the trip to autoZone is worth it.

Regardless this is another way of doing the same thing, I figured it would be nice to put out the info in case someone thought this was easier than the route you took.


btw

All the add a fuses I've used have been around $5.00 - $1.00 is cheap, where do you get them so cheap? I can use some.

 

[EXcel4600c]

:computermad: edited for double post.

 

[bLiTzKrG]

Just did my radar detector, but after reading about the constant power source in the lights I too decided to tap the fuse box (fuse 13) using an add-a-fuse. Also, I decided to use a regular detector mount directly attached to the glass using 3M trim tape as I didn't want the detector hanging down as much as a blend mount. This way the black dots in the glass near the rearview hide the detector more from the outside. Finally, stole the idea from someone else here to message the remote mute (Escort) into a blank in the dash.

 

[Ming8]

Just did my radar detector, but after reading about the constant power source in the lights I too decided to tap the fuse box (fuse 13) using an add-a-fuse. Also, I decided to use a regular detector mount directly attached to the glass using 3M trim tape as I didn't want the detector hanging down as much as a blend mount. This way the black dots in the glass near the rearview hide the detector more from the outside. Finally, stole the idea from someone else here to message the remote mute (Escort) into a blank in the dash.

What clip is this? suction cups? Some times my fall off during weather changes? if your falls off its a long way down.

 

[N.G.S.]

I really like the fact that it is up high. Question - does your radar detect Laser? Wouldn't the black dots block out some of the reception of the laser?

Did you use double sided tape on the inside of the suction cups? You gotta watch out in the summer time as the tape lets loose in the heat.

 

[N.G.S.]

Is that the correct add a fuse tap? It's model BP/HHH - googled it and it comes up at $6.99

 

[bLiTzKrG]

What clip is this? suction cups? Some times my fall off during weather changes? if your falls off its a long way down.

I just bought a 2nd Escort regular clip and ditched the suction cups and instead used automotive 3M trim tape on the entire backside. You can't really tell, but the rearview also helps stabilize it as it just barely rest on it as well. This also has the benefit of steadying the rearview. Should hold up way better than normal suction cups and hardwire cable should stop it from crashing all the way to the floor if it does happen to fail.

I really like the fact that it is up high. Question - does your radar detect Laser? Wouldn't the black dots block out some of the reception of the laser?

Did you use double sided tape on the inside of the suction cups? You gotta watch out in the summer time as the tape lets loose in the heat.

Haven't been lasered yet, but others that have a similar setup say it does not block it - can't guarantee that though. Need to drive by the airport and see if it goes off as before. Had a similar setup in my R32 for 2+ years and the trim tape was awesome. Lasted though many a hot NC summer day and did not fall ever.

I got my fuse tap on Amazon when I was ordering the hardwire kit and such, was $6 there. Also, if you get an add a fuse, remember to get the extra fuse for it also as you then need 2 to power up both items (fuse 13 and the hardwire detector).

 

[EXcel4600c]

not sure about the passport mount but from the out side my V1 with blendmount almost looks like a factory sensor hanging from the mirror and i live on a Military installation and there not allowed and ive never got questioned about it.

 

[EXcel4600c]

Is that the correct add a fuse tap? It's model BP/HHH - googled it and it comes up at $6.99

Yeah i just looked on autozone.com and the minis are $6.99 maybe my memory is slipping. But it has been a yr since i bought one. Even the bigger add a fuses are $5.99.