Hardwire Valentine V1 radar in 2010 RX350
#16
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also, opening by saying someone slept through high school science is real friendly.
just a little piece of info for you, paper clips are still too big to fit into the harness in question for a volt meter to test. i suppose a needle would work better.
Last edited by vtec26; 01-15-11 at 04:42 PM.
#17
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Sorry for trying to help out. Based on your questions, the best advice I can offer still seems to be to get at least a simple circuit tester so that you can find hot wires, switched wires, and ground locations.
With a piece of equipment like the V1, (which is very expensive and is surely the best detector available) you don't want to send inadequate, incorrect or no voltage through it. A simple voltage tester for 12v auto use is very inexpensive, and will save you time and money (which is really the same thing); a full fledged tester from Home Depot, while costing more, will also handle 120v around the house and continuity testing (to verify that your connections are good before you reassemble everything) and will last practically forever. In my opinion, it's a good purchase if you are going to move, add or alter switches or outlets around the house, and most will allow you to dial down to 12v DC for automotive purposes. (Stay away from 240v - let the pros do that.)
Paper clips are free if you know where to look.
With a piece of equipment like the V1, (which is very expensive and is surely the best detector available) you don't want to send inadequate, incorrect or no voltage through it. A simple voltage tester for 12v auto use is very inexpensive, and will save you time and money (which is really the same thing); a full fledged tester from Home Depot, while costing more, will also handle 120v around the house and continuity testing (to verify that your connections are good before you reassemble everything) and will last practically forever. In my opinion, it's a good purchase if you are going to move, add or alter switches or outlets around the house, and most will allow you to dial down to 12v DC for automotive purposes. (Stay away from 240v - let the pros do that.)
Paper clips are free if you know where to look.
#19
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Ok, so I need some additional help here. My plug going to the rear view does not have 12 wires with two rows of 6 wires. It has 10 wires with one row of 7 and one row of 3. Photos are attached.
Might anyone know which is the switched 12 volt and which is the ground? Thanks.
The car is a 2010 RX FWD with the intelligent high beams that i'm assuming this wire harness also feeds the sensor for.
Might anyone know which is the switched 12 volt and which is the ground? Thanks.
The car is a 2010 RX FWD with the intelligent high beams that i'm assuming this wire harness also feeds the sensor for.
#20
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Don't know if you still need the info, but I used the black wire (Grd) and the white wire (+12V switched) shown next to each other in the bottom left positions of the 1st picture) of post #12. I have the same connector set-up in my 2010 RX350.
#21
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denkigroov: Thank you for this!!! I was going to tap power through the sunroof like what I did to my IS300 but I gave up because so much to take off on the RX. Then saw this thread... Why didn't I think of this!
Thanks again...I just did it an hour ago and voila!
Thanks again...I just did it an hour ago and voila!
#22
I just completed the stealthcord job on my 2010 RX without nav. and found the black wire to be the switched +12 volts and the brown wire to be the ground. Hope this helps someone else along the way.
#23
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FYI - you don't have to buy a "Stealthcord" for this. If you have any extra telephone wire laying around the house, you can make your own. I did this and it worked great.
#24
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Black used to be the conventional color for ground a long time ago, but the current convention is brown for ground. That's why it's always good to check. Also, almost any screw or bolt going into metal will be a pretty good ground and may save you time and trouble finding a ground wire to tap into.
Also, for the V1, most phone cable works fine, as long as it has four conductors (and you can use a color other than black, such as beige, which is nice for cords up around the headliner). Some cables have only two conductors, so be sure to check (you can see the conductors inside the plastic clips). Leave some extra cord tucked in, and buy some extra end clips and the crimping tool. Eventually (two years or so) the little plastic spring clip will fail with many uses and you will want to clip it off and put a new one on.
Also, for the V1, most phone cable works fine, as long as it has four conductors (and you can use a color other than black, such as beige, which is nice for cords up around the headliner). Some cables have only two conductors, so be sure to check (you can see the conductors inside the plastic clips). Leave some extra cord tucked in, and buy some extra end clips and the crimping tool. Eventually (two years or so) the little plastic spring clip will fail with many uses and you will want to clip it off and put a new one on.
#25
I have a Valentine 1 detector that gets moved back and forth from the RX to the IS. I used the Stealth Mirror Power Cord to connect to the mirror on my 2012 RX 350 AWD with nav. The cord from the mirror only has four wires. I connected the black stealth wire to the white from the mirror and the red stealth wire to the black from the mirror and everything works fine. About a 5 minute install!
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SilverShadow (05-16-24)
#29
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I'll try and post a pic when I get a chance, but if you look at your rear view mirror and then follow it to the mount on the windshield then you will see a plastic cover from that windshield mount point to the headliner. If you pry the plastic cover off of the connection between the windshield mount point and the headliner, you will see wires. these wires will lead to a plug that conntecs the electronics in the rear view mirror to wires hidden in the headliner. That plug is what we're all referring to in this thread. so far it seems like there are many different wiring layouts for the RX. I know when I was doing this setup, my wiring was different than someone else with the exact same model and options. You should test out each wire to make sure the switched 12 volt and ground wires are correct and not rely 1005 on the colors listed in this thread.