Radar Install for 124

[BAd124]

Hello All,
Just in case anyone was wondering how to hard wire thier radar detector into thier 124 (although other models would apply I imagine) heres how mine turned out.

My detector uses a phone jack for power. Anyone else with an Escort Passport or any others that have this connection - if you dont mind not having the mute button inline then use a regular phone line, dont spend the $40 or so they want. As you can see my line has the usual 4 wires, but the detector only uses 2 for power(the two inner ones in the plug), in my case red and green. (A simple way to test this is to get a length of phone cord and splice all 4 wires, using a 9 volt battery see what combination turns it on.) The simplest source for power is the dome light switch. No tools are required to remove this, just push it to the right and pull down the left side.

Here is the tricky part: deciding where you want the wire coming from. I opted for the most asthetically pleasing route which is to come out from the front of the headpiece in front of the rear view mirror. Decide this before you conect the wire.(Dh-o!). If you go this route you will need to open a gap between the windshield and headpiece to push the wire through. I used a small flat-head inserted and turn 90 deg. Do be careful with this part, I dont need any hate mail about broken, or ripped bits. A fishing line tied to the wire might make this easier.

Once the light housing is down find the wiring for the switch. There are two tabs which open to reveal the backside of the female plugs for the switch itself. Note: do not move these too much with the tabs open or they are likely to come out of the housing and this could make things difficult- certain ones arent supposed to touch!
The middle one on the right side is the one you want to connect to (note: this is supplied power even when the ignition is off). If you are daring with a soldering iron you can melt the solder that is already,although splicing would do the same job I'm sure. Secure the ground wire (red on mine) to the screw in the roof where you'll see other grounds leading to. Test everything before you go putting everything together of course.

This type of installation not only emliminates the huge stock coiled wire but also gives the detector better "visibility" If anyone wants help with anything on this subject, let me know hope this helps....

[BAd124]

Heres what it looks like in the front of the head board....sorry about the fuzziness