moparado

Trying to hardwire a radar detector on my 2016 XLT instead of using the cigar lighter to power it. On all my past and present vehicles, tapping power from the radio fuse does the trick where the detector power turns off when the ignition is switched off.

According to the cabin fuse block diagram from the owners manual, fuse no. 33 is the radio fuse.
Problem is there's always power on it even when the ignition is switched off (with the radio turned off).

Could the fuse block diagram be wrong?
Any ideas?

dan3213

I just hard wired my dash cam next to my rear view mirror. Tucked the wire in the headliner and went in behind the weatherstripping on the pass side down to the fuse box behind passenger kick panel.

For power I used a Micro2 Fuse Tap on Fuse #36; For ground I grabbed one right next to the fuse box, (nut on a stud). Works great, goes on/off with ignition.

dan3213

I used this...

https://www.amazon.com/Lumision-SHIP.../dp/B00OZGA8O8

NOTE: I did have to take a pocket knife and shave off a little bit of plastic near the terminals on this fuse tap. It needed to be thinned down just a hair to fit properly.

Again, used Fuse #36 on my '16 XL

mudmedic

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/radar...mirror-286079/

remltr

I used a mirror tap that I got from Car Toys $40.00 for my Escort. You don't say what brand detector you have, but here is a selection from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...rds=mirror+tap

157XLT

I found one locally at NAPA. They didn't have it in stock but got it there the next day for free.

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/NW_785171/

I also used fuse #36 in the passenger compartment. Do you have a Valentine1 by any chance? I found I can mount mine above the mirror using the visor mount on the headliner. It's much more secure than the suction mount. Took a little bit of padding to get the detector horizontal but that also keeps it from vibrating on the trim.

moparado

Thanks for all the replies.
I'm currently using fuse #33 which should be the radio which either isn't the radio, the owners manual diagram is wrong or something spooky is going on.
Could be the radio/navigation needs power all the time for chip memory, clock or something. Who knows?

To get #33 to work i had to install an improvised old Radio Shack battery voltage sensor which shuts off device power when the battery voltage drops below a certain threshold probably around 13 volts or so.
Its hard wired in and works OK but i don't like the idea of having all that extra circuitry when tapping power off the right fuse will work.

Power off the RV mirror is a good idea wish i thought of that. I ended up snaking a 2-conductor speaker wire from the cabin fuse block, under the dash firewall then through the center console. It was tight but got the cable through with a fish wire.

Thanks dan3213 and 157xlt, i'll try fuse #36 and see what happens.
According to the fuse diagram #36 powers the following modules:
360 camera,
heated steering wheel,
RV mirror
and rear heated seats.

Thanks again all for the replies.

BlackBoost

Don't know where you live, but over here (at least in the city) all the speed cameras no longer use any kind of radar or laser. They measure your speed digitally, which makes radar detectors useless except out on the highways where a cop might be hiding down the road. But since the cameras, there's a big lack in actual cops doing their job...

moparado

I live out in the country where there are no red light or speed cameras in my or surrounding counties. There are however many many cops with Ka band radar lurking around. So far, haven't even seen cops in my area using Laser speed detection. Might as well just fork over the fine if tagged by Laser..... detector or not.

I have a hi-end Whistler with built in current camera locations which uses GPS to signal them. I don't even bother to update the GPS location data-base anymore.
Which is a PITA, are new vehicles with K band radar for collision and blind spot purposes. A lot of K band falsing.

I don't intentionally speed but sometimes i daydream....well OK i admit sometimes i've been known to perform an Italian tune up on country roads.
My radar detectors are more for situational awareness. They all paid for them selves many times over.

bhamilton

Fuse 33 sounds like it is the constant 12v to the radio to keep the presets and stuff saved.
Fuse 36 is switched 12v, which is what I used I believe. I think its for the delayed accessory.