Radar Detector

[LostOne]

I am looking into hard wiring a radar detector in my H3. The detector is located right above the rear view mirror and thinking the wire will come down on the driver side. Looking for a wire that I can tap (or better yet maybe they have a spare wire under the dash) into that will go off when the H3 turns off.

[LostOne]

I am looking into hard wiring a radar detector in my H3. The detector is located right above the rear view mirror and thinking the wire will come down on the driver side. Looking for a wire that I can tap (or better yet maybe they have a spare wire under the dash) into that will go off when the H3 turns off.

[FormerJeeper]

What's the point?
The H3 can't go fast enough to get a ticket

[Planohummer]

If you've got a sunroof, you can tie into it for RAP power. If you want constant power, use one of the visor vanity mirror lights(if you have them) if not tie into one of the overhead lights--they're constant power with the open doors providing ground.

[f5fstop]

I mounted mine in the same place. I pushed the wire up under the headliner, and down the driver side A-pillar. Plenty of room under the molding to install a few butt connectors.
Remove the molding by removing the screw cover, then pull the molding off.
If you have a sunroof, there will be a yellow wire, this is through the RAP relay, splice into that one for power. Find a black wire for ground. (Don't forget to stagger the butt connectors to prevent any clearance issue when installing the molding.)
Vanity mirror power supply also runs up this pillar, they are powered from the BCM through the inadvertent power supply circuit (if left on, the BCM will shut off power after twenty minutes unless vehicle is running or a switch input is sensed). This would be an orange wire.
If you have no sunroof, or vanity mirrors, you do have an electric rearview mirror.
The dark blue/white wire powers the rearview mirror and is hot in start and run, via the RUN/CRNK relay. In this case, the ground would be black/white.
When tapping into the black ground wire, make sure to tap into the thickest of the black wires, in fact, it is a good idea to turn off the vehicle, and check continuity of the black wire to ground.
Onstar also has some wires going through the pillar and one is a black wire use for Keypad supply voltage. In addition, there are brown/white, gray, dark blue wires that are used for Onstar keypad signals.

[HummerNewbie]

I wanted to hard wire mine as well but what unsure about running the wires down the A-pillar due to the air bags. Should I be concerned at all about removing the molding with the air bags?

[MotorsportsAuthority aka Dragon]

take the positive wire off your radar detector, find your accessory fuse and wrap that write on one tooth of your fuse. this will turn your radar detector on/off with the vehicle. you should haven't to remove the a'pillar if you have a tool to gently tuck the wire up under the edges to clean it up.

[CorvetteOJ]

Hey guys, here is another option that I believe will appeal to some. Go to www.invisicord.com and check it out. I found out about it on the C5 Registry, a Corvette net that I am on constantly. I ordered one to install a V1 in the H3. Hardwiring the V1 in the Vette was so easy, Ray Charles could have done it! Although not a major challenge, the H3 definitely presents a few more obstacles to overcome. Just wanted to share this for those who might want to take an easier way out and still get the same results.

[f5fstop]

Very interesting cord; I guess it was time for someone to come out with this quick connect. Should work on an H3, but can't say for sure, and evidently they can't either. I guess for someone who does not want to remove the A-pillar molding, it would be the way to go, and the price of a 6" cord (without shipping), is not bad. However, if you have butt end connectors, the price is zero.

On a Vette, I might have opted for that cord, since running the wire under the header molding, pulling that A-pillar molding on the Vette, running the wire under the molding, down around the I/P, under the kick panel molding, then under the BCM/Junction block cover (while on my hands and knees ), then butt connecting them took a heck of a lot longer than when I did the H3. (And I believe those three wires disappeared in 2004.)

On the H3, pulling the A-pillar is less than a minute, if you have the screwdriver in your hand, and if you have side air curtains, there is no problem since the inflater module is at the rear of the door, and only the tie strap is in the A-pillar.

DRAGON:In regard to finding the accessory fuse; evidently, you have not looked for the accessory fuse? It is under the hood, on the left side of the engine compartment. There is no I/P junction (fuse) block on the H3; all fuses are in the engine compartment. That requires running the wire out through the body harness grommet, (after you run them down the outside of the I/P), and the grommet is stuffed quite a way up under the I/P. I do believe taking a minute or two to remove the A-pillar molding, and butt connecting two wires, is a lot faster. Or, use that cord shown by Corvette OJ.

[MotorsportsAuthority aka Dragon]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by f5fstop:
DRAGON:In regard to finding the accessory fuse; evidently, you have not looked for the accessory fuse? It is under the hood, on the left side of the engine compartment. There is no I/P junction (fuse) block on the H3; all fuses are in the engine compartment. That requires running the wire out through the body harness grommet, (after you run them down the outside of the I/P), and the grommet is stuffed quite a way up under the I/P. I do believe taking a minute or two to remove the A-pillar molding, and butt connecting two wires, is a lot faster. Or, use that cord shown by Corvette OJ. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

hmmm... i've never looked at it thoroughly, but i've never run into a vehicle that didn't have any fuses on the interior. looks like GM decided to make another oddity.

[f5fstop]

I would not call it an oddity, I call it ease of fuse replacement. With only one junction block, you solve three big problems.
One, which junction block is the fuse in? With only one block, there is no question.
Two, ease of access. Very easy to open the hood, pop open the cover, and there are the fuses in plain sight.
And three, the weakest part of any wiring harness is the connectors. By having the main wiring harnesses going to one junction block, there are less connectors. The H3 junction block has three internal layers to make connections.
GM is starting to do this on many of their other vehicles.
The only drawback is for tapping into fuses for internal items such as radar detectors, XM radio adapter units, etc. This makes it necessary to run through the bulk head grommet, drill a new hole, or tap into a wire.

[LostOne]

Well I got the Radar Detector install...all wires out of the way now.

I pulled a set of wires from the engine area to under the dash via the Hood release cable race way. Then installed the ground wire onto the grounding bar next to the fuse box on the side wall. Install the hot wire on to #4 fuse (Roof Lamp) so when you turn on the H3 the Detector comes on and off when it is off. The wire for the detector to under the dash was easy to hide...just slip it uner the headliner and then down the side door plastic.

[MotorsportsAuthority aka Dragon]

:thumbsup! looks like a good install.