hello all,
I just purchased an escort radar detector and I was wondering if anyone know how to hook it up directly to the car rather than using the cigerate lighter plug. a friend of mine has an 03 tahoe with the same radar and not only is his directly wired but his comes on when you turn the vehicle on and off. I would like to do that with mine. Any help would be appreciated. I plan on buy this connection for it also

https://secure.escortradar.com/shopaddtocart.asp

 

take the plug apart see if there is a resistor in it etc.. also what fuse dose it take? if nothign but wires in there you can wire it to the fuse pannel red to positive black to common.

 

if you want it to come on when u turn ur car on ull have to wire the power to ur ignittion wire and then ground the other wire sumwhere...its not really all that hard

 

im sure its not that hard to yall but ive never done this kind of stuff before. where are these wires located in the car and wheres the fuse box?

 

honestly if you cant find the fuse pannel in the car then i would highly sugest that you find some one to help you or take it in to have it done for you. would hate to see the car messed up becuse you crossed somethign wrong. not knowing you had done it or the fuzz buster for that fact

 

im with mickey on this one...get someone to help u and the wires are located behind your ignition coil on ur dash, they can be alot of fun to get to, as for which wire is which just look it up on the net for your car, u should be able to find the colors

 

Or you can tap into wiring if you have the info center or sunroof - but I would suggest you go to a car stereo installer to do so. I too have an escort radar detector and I had my fiance hard wire it into my 05 Mustang. He got a wiring diagram off the internet and went from there. I sold the stang for a Mini Cooper and he also hard wired my Escort in it. It was alot eaisier to do the Mini because there was a fuse panel in the dirvers side kick panel so it was plug and play. He found a non switched fuse and pluged it in. Works awesome!

 

I just recently installed an Escort Passport 8500 X50 in my '02 Monte Carlo LS Sport via the molex connector for the rear view mirror. My original intention was to tap into the DIC but it was nearly impossible to get to those wires without removing the entire ceiling. I basically just poked around with a multimeter until I found a wire that was constant 12v. Funny story, the first wire I chose was apparently constant 12v but I found out later it turns off when the car's reverse lights are on. I have no idea what that wire could be for, but I moved it over to a different wire and now I have no problems. Anybody have any clue what that wire is for?

Here are some pictures of my install:

Side view of the wiring and the connector
http://s146877905.onlinehome.us/images/radar/wiring.jpg
Close-up of the molex connector
http://s146877905.onlinehome.us/images/radar/close.jpg
Side view from passenger side
http://s146877905.onlinehome.us/images/radar/side.jpg
Close-up of detector from driver side
http://s146877905.onlinehome.us/images/radar/front.jpg
Entire dashboard view from driver side
http://s146877905.onlinehome.us/imag.../dashboard.jpg
View from outside (RD is barely visible in direct sunlight due to tinting)
http://s146877905.onlinehome.us/imag...ar/outside.jpg

 

THANK YOU for posting those pics. I have had my 8500 X50 for years and always wanted to hardwire it but didn't want to mess with pulling all the trim pieces out. Your solution was so easy to do and it looks awesome now.

 

i believe that is the power to the autodimming part of the mirror so the mirror isnt tring to darken up as u back