Valentine 1 Rx 330 2005 Hardwire
08-20-05, 08:57 AM
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Valentine 1 Rx 330 2005 Hardwire
I thought I'd post a description of how I quickly hardwired my Valetine 1 radar detector in my 2005 Rx 330. Though the process is similar to the one described for older Rx's, there are some important differences. BTW, it took me less than half hour to complete the installation.
The power for the V1 will come from the IG wire for the moonroof. I have the single panel moonroof. For other moonroofs, you are on your own. Make sure car is OFF before you begin
1) Remove plastic sunglass holder/light pod and disconnect: unlike earlier Rx's, the 2005 uses 4 screws (not 3). You will need a phillips head screw driver
a) 2 screws are located behind the plastic access panels (2) in the sungless holder. Slide back the panels (use a finger or flat-head screw driver), then remover the screws
b) 2 screws are located behind the clear plastic light cover/lens. Remove the light cover by using a small flat head screaw driver, then the screws. Use the slots located towards the rear of the car and slowly pry off cover. It may make a creaking noise, but you should be able to get it off without breaking it (after all, it is designed to come off)
c) slide the plastic pod away from winsheild (toward rear of car) and it will drop down and hang from cable
d) carefuly disconect the cable from the pod. Notice that there is a grounding wire and plate attached to one of the screw holes (I think the front right one when installed). I connected the V1's ground to this grounding plate. You could connect it to other places, but I found this easy.
2) Connect the plastic quick-connect wire-tap adapter (supplied by V1, mine was blue) to the moon roof IG wire.
(a) carefully disconnect the 10-wire cable from the moonroof motor
(b) The IG wire is BROWN. Gently separate the brown wire from the rest near the connector and attach wire tap adapter. Given the diameter of the brown wire, you should be able to squeeze the connector with only your fingers
3) Prepare the pastic pod to accept V1 ground connector.
(a) First remove or push back plastic cover (mine was blue) on the ground lug.
(b) now slide ground lug trhrough hole in the plastic pod next to the screw hole with the ground plate. Fee wire from back of plastic plate. The idea here is that when the plastic pod is replaced, on of the screws used to hold in in place will also secure ground lug.
(c) Modify plastic pod a bit so that ground lug lies flat against ground plate and will not interfere with slide-in screw cover when plastic pod is reinstalled. To do accomplish this, I found that I had to remove a small bit of plastic from the plastic pod. One or two snips with a needle noised pliers is all it took (plastic is quite soft).
(d)Once you are sure that ground lug will lay flat against grounding plate and will not interefere with slide-in plastic screw cover, go ahead and reconnect cable to plastic pod. Plastic pod now hangs from the cable (and V1 power adapter hands from pod)
[so why did I ground the V1 this way? Well, none of the other screws on the plastic pod were grounded, even the ones on the PCD and dealing with the big ones one the body seemed to be a pain. I also thought that placing the lug between the roof and the plastic pod might stop it from reinstalling properly. I'm sure there are other options you might want to try...]
4) Connect V1 12V power and test (warning below)
(a) Attach the power line to the wire tap connector
(b) plug in the V1 using supplied RJ-11 cable. Turn on the V1. It should not work.
(c) Turn on the car. Now touch the ground cable to the ground plate on the plastic pod. The V1 should work (warning: one should make sure that the device is securely grounded first).
(d) Now turn off the car. The v1 should go off. Now unplug it.
5) Locate (hide) the V1 power adapter and cord.
(a) I stuck the little pastic box to the roof just inside the left side of the opening. Make sure that wherever you stick it, that it won't interfere with anything (plastic pod, moonroof, etc)
(b) feed RJ-11 cable and locate connector where you want V1 to be. This can be a bit tricky. There is a little cutout on the ceiling material near rearview mirror that I found useful to feed the RJ-11 connector through. I decided to located my V1 off to the left of the rear view miror, out off the way of the tinting, etc.
(c) next I coiled all the extra cord and used a tie wrap to secure (which isn' really needed). Then I plugged in cable and stuffed cord inside roof (make sure it doesn't interefere with anything!)
6) Reinstall plastic pod
(a) Carefully locate plastic pod in roof. Make sure ground lug is properly located (sticks out of screw hole) and that grounding wire doesn't interfere with anything. Plastic pod has clip in front (toward windshield) that holds it in place. Hence, insert front part first.
(b) lossely put in all 4 screws. Then tighten each one individually, taking care to insure that the one with the ground plate properly secures the ground lug. Then make sure that the plastic cover for the screw with groud plate fits properly
7) Install , Connect and test V1.
8) Reinstall plastic light cover/lens
BTW, it took me longer to type this than do the installation.
-Jonathan
The power for the V1 will come from the IG wire for the moonroof. I have the single panel moonroof. For other moonroofs, you are on your own. Make sure car is OFF before you begin
1) Remove plastic sunglass holder/light pod and disconnect: unlike earlier Rx's, the 2005 uses 4 screws (not 3). You will need a phillips head screw driver
a) 2 screws are located behind the plastic access panels (2) in the sungless holder. Slide back the panels (use a finger or flat-head screw driver), then remover the screws
b) 2 screws are located behind the clear plastic light cover/lens. Remove the light cover by using a small flat head screaw driver, then the screws. Use the slots located towards the rear of the car and slowly pry off cover. It may make a creaking noise, but you should be able to get it off without breaking it (after all, it is designed to come off)
c) slide the plastic pod away from winsheild (toward rear of car) and it will drop down and hang from cable
d) carefuly disconect the cable from the pod. Notice that there is a grounding wire and plate attached to one of the screw holes (I think the front right one when installed). I connected the V1's ground to this grounding plate. You could connect it to other places, but I found this easy.
2) Connect the plastic quick-connect wire-tap adapter (supplied by V1, mine was blue) to the moon roof IG wire.
(a) carefully disconnect the 10-wire cable from the moonroof motor
(b) The IG wire is BROWN. Gently separate the brown wire from the rest near the connector and attach wire tap adapter. Given the diameter of the brown wire, you should be able to squeeze the connector with only your fingers
3) Prepare the pastic pod to accept V1 ground connector.
(a) First remove or push back plastic cover (mine was blue) on the ground lug.
(b) now slide ground lug trhrough hole in the plastic pod next to the screw hole with the ground plate. Fee wire from back of plastic plate. The idea here is that when the plastic pod is replaced, on of the screws used to hold in in place will also secure ground lug.
(c) Modify plastic pod a bit so that ground lug lies flat against ground plate and will not interfere with slide-in screw cover when plastic pod is reinstalled. To do accomplish this, I found that I had to remove a small bit of plastic from the plastic pod. One or two snips with a needle noised pliers is all it took (plastic is quite soft).
(d)Once you are sure that ground lug will lay flat against grounding plate and will not interefere with slide-in plastic screw cover, go ahead and reconnect cable to plastic pod. Plastic pod now hangs from the cable (and V1 power adapter hands from pod)
[so why did I ground the V1 this way? Well, none of the other screws on the plastic pod were grounded, even the ones on the PCD and dealing with the big ones one the body seemed to be a pain. I also thought that placing the lug between the roof and the plastic pod might stop it from reinstalling properly. I'm sure there are other options you might want to try...]
4) Connect V1 12V power and test (warning below)
(a) Attach the power line to the wire tap connector
(b) plug in the V1 using supplied RJ-11 cable. Turn on the V1. It should not work.
(c) Turn on the car. Now touch the ground cable to the ground plate on the plastic pod. The V1 should work (warning: one should make sure that the device is securely grounded first).
(d) Now turn off the car. The v1 should go off. Now unplug it.
5) Locate (hide) the V1 power adapter and cord.
(a) I stuck the little pastic box to the roof just inside the left side of the opening. Make sure that wherever you stick it, that it won't interfere with anything (plastic pod, moonroof, etc)
(b) feed RJ-11 cable and locate connector where you want V1 to be. This can be a bit tricky. There is a little cutout on the ceiling material near rearview mirror that I found useful to feed the RJ-11 connector through. I decided to located my V1 off to the left of the rear view miror, out off the way of the tinting, etc.
(c) next I coiled all the extra cord and used a tie wrap to secure (which isn' really needed). Then I plugged in cable and stuffed cord inside roof (make sure it doesn't interefere with anything!)
6) Reinstall plastic pod
(a) Carefully locate plastic pod in roof. Make sure ground lug is properly located (sticks out of screw hole) and that grounding wire doesn't interfere with anything. Plastic pod has clip in front (toward windshield) that holds it in place. Hence, insert front part first.
(b) lossely put in all 4 screws. Then tighten each one individually, taking care to insure that the one with the ground plate properly secures the ground lug. Then make sure that the plastic cover for the screw with groud plate fits properly
7) Install , Connect and test V1.
8) Reinstall plastic light cover/lens
BTW, it took me longer to type this than do the installation.
-Jonathan
Last edited by drivenicel; 08-20-05 at 09:36 AM. Reason: Premature posting
12-26-09, 07:02 AM
#4
Would have been A1, if pics were taken and posted....please take pics next time. Some of us would benefit from pics and instructions.
Great job!
Great job!
12-26-09, 07:42 AM
#5
Moderator
I installed mine pretty much the same way, after testing the various wires for a switched power source. Brown, in some conventions, indicates a ground, so that slowed me down a bit. Since I have a light colored interior, I used a beige phone cord instead of the default black.
Finally, while you are up there, even if you do not have the "Concealed Display" (the remote readout unit), it might not be a bad idea to add the wire now (I spent a lot of time adding it later): I ran mine (black this time) tucked into the headliner across the top of the windshield, down the left pillar to just under the dash (where the parking brake is), so I can put the CD, with velcro, on top of the dash at the far left, above the vent where it's almost flat. If you are not using the CD, this wire is of no effect. When you plug in the CD, the full display of lights and arrows moves to the CD and the display on the V1 itself is turned off. In a car with an interior as large as the RX, this puts the readout almost right in front of the driver instead of up and off to the right.
Highly recommended.
I think the instructions above are superb, and an excellent contribution.
Merry Christmas.
Finally, while you are up there, even if you do not have the "Concealed Display" (the remote readout unit), it might not be a bad idea to add the wire now (I spent a lot of time adding it later): I ran mine (black this time) tucked into the headliner across the top of the windshield, down the left pillar to just under the dash (where the parking brake is), so I can put the CD, with velcro, on top of the dash at the far left, above the vent where it's almost flat. If you are not using the CD, this wire is of no effect. When you plug in the CD, the full display of lights and arrows moves to the CD and the display on the V1 itself is turned off. In a car with an interior as large as the RX, this puts the readout almost right in front of the driver instead of up and off to the right.
Highly recommended.
I think the instructions above are superb, and an excellent contribution.
Merry Christmas.
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