Has anyone spliced into the wires common to the mirror? Does the trim piece covering the wires snap off and on easily? Do the wires behind the trim piece have enough slack in order to splice into them? I tried to remove the trim piece above and behind the mirror to access the wires and it wouldn't budge with gentle prying I was afraid if I forced it the piece would break.

 

Why go through all that hassle? I ran the wire from my Escort to the right (passenger) footwell and directly into the fuse-box that is on the right hand side of the well. If you have an Ohm-Meter you can figure out which one of the empty slots is activated with the ignition, or, as an alternative, you can tap into the cigarette lighter fuse and put a bigger fuse in that slot. (By the way there is another fuse box on the left side of the driver's footwell as well). Just wrap/solder the positive end of the wire to one of the prongs of the fuse and press that end in, and then find a ground for the ground wire (I found one under the dash) and you're done.

I've done it this way for the past three cars I have owned and it is a cleaner install job and you don't have to do any splicing of wires.

Let me know if you have questions (email: lakerholic@aol.com)

 

I used the power feed to the homelink as my power source for my V1 - the power adapter fits in there nicely. You can pry the homelink panel open (careful not to scratch) and tap the + for your radar and ground it up there also, only downside is that its constant power, you need to remember to shut off the radar when you park (kind of becomes a ritual after a while). Don't know about the mirror power didn't think of it- I'll have to see if I can switch it to that line. The little plastic cap between the windshield and the mirror snaps out relatively easy.

 

The last 4 cars I have had I spliced an approx. 8" pig tail into the mirror wires. I will try a little harder to pop off the trim piece above and behind the mirror to see if there is enough slack in the wires to splice into, if not I will go to the fuse box. every car I have done so far the mirror wire is not hot with the ignition turned off.

 

The on/off issue was why i decided not to hardwire to the homelink panel. Instead, i ran power from the center console accessory socket with a wire tap. This way, i never have to turn the unit on/off, it shuts off completely when i shut off the car. Also, it is completely hidden, all it involves is running reg. phone cord(rj-11) down the a-pillar and under the passenger well to the center console.