I tried the search and couldnt find anything concrete. I wanted to direct wire my valentine close to the rearview mirror. What wire can i cut into to have the power needed when the car is on and no power when it is off. Also somewhere close to a negative ground? can anyone help me out with a previous thread location or any suggestions? keep in mind i am pretty dumb when it comes to car electrical stuff so please be specific. thanks.

Didn't find anything? There are sooooo many threads on this install. The easiest way is to use the harness for the autodimming mirror which is up in the headliner regardless of whether you have the mirror installed or not.

This is probably not what you're looking for.... but I hard-wired my V1 over the weekend with the radar detector up by the rear-view. I ran the phone cord/power wire around the edge of the windshield and down on the drivers side and tapped into the Rear Wiper fuse (in the fuse box behind the coin tray). There is room between the windshield and trim to push the wire up out of view - you can't see it at all.

This is probably not what you're looking for.... but I hard-wired my V1 over the weekend with the radar detector up by the rear-view. I ran the phone cord/power wire around the edge of the windshield and down on the drivers side and tapped into the Rear Wiper fuse (in the fuse box behind the coin tray). There is room between the windshield and trim to push the wire up out of view - you can't see it at all.


Thats actually exactly what i was looking for. Right now i actually found a thread hardwiring it to the map lights but that seems like a lot of work and a trip to radioshack. where did you put the ground cable? Thank you both for your help.

If you're going to put it up by the mirror just use the mirror harness as I suggested. This is how many people have done it. The problem with using the map lights is that they have power all the time, you want key-switched 12V so the unit won't be on unless the key is on.
For ground you can use either the ground wire in the mirror harness or attach the ground lug from the V1 power adapter under one of the bolts up above the map lights (I believe there are some up there, haven't looked lately).
The mirror harness has three connections, one is ground, one is key-switched 12V, the other is 12V switched with the reverse lights. You obviously don't want to use the last one unless you only want the detector to work when the car is in reverse. :)
You can test the wires with a meter to identify the proper ones, be sure to check the 12V wires with the key on and both in and out of reverse to be sure you get the right one. I'd give you the colors but I think they may have changed from the info I have so I wouldn't want to steer you wrong. The meter won't lie.
If you decide to use the mirror harness and you want to cut the plug off to connect your wires (which isn't really necessary with the tap provided anyway), do NOT cut across all the wires at the same time with the key on. This will blow a fuse.

Theres a bunch of threads about this, really search harder. But, get a voltmeter out if you cant find anything and test all the wires in the auto-dimming mirror harness to determine which one has 12v on with the ignition. I think there are 3 wires, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. As for a ground, just find a good solid bolt/screw in the headliner that is attached to metal and it should be good to go.

Remember the ignition needs to be 'on' for the voltmeter to find 12v at the harness...and when off there will read 0v.

Although I don't own an 05 STI, I have done it on an 05 STI(as well as my Legacy)..and for some reason a "green" wire sticks out in my mind, but check it out with a voltmeter first. Search for "V1" hardwire with the quotes around v1 for better search results.

fibuz

Thats actually exactly what i was looking for. Right now i actually found a thread hardwiring it to the map lights but that seems like a lot of work and a trip to radioshack. where did you put the ground cable? Thank you both for your help.

I removed the lower plastic trim under the dash (three screws and it pops right out) and there is a large bolt to the right of the fuse box that you can use as a ground. For the main power wire, I didn't feel like tinkering around with the fuse box, so I did a little hack job. I took out the fuse, stuck the power wire in one side of the fuse (the un-powered side, so the power goes through the fuse first), and jammed the fuse back in. I dripped a little liquid electric tape on it to make sure there weren't any exposed power leads.

I did the search again because the wires in my 05 sti are all stuck together flat, almost like a telephone wire would look like. I found a thread that shows the wires but they are seperate. I like the idea of having it all by the fuse box but I dont really want to be jamming stuff into empty fuses. are there any wires in this area that have the power needed to work? i dont have the voltmeter and cannot pick one up right now. I am leaving on a long trip and would like to have this installed if anyone can tell me which wire to splice into. there are plenty of screws in this area for the negative ground but i just need the power wire. thank you for all your help so far. I greatly appreciate it. sorry fibuz but your search came up with no results so I tried valentine hardwire and i searched through about 30 pages of threads. thanks again tho.

This is probably not what you're looking for.... but I hard-wired my V1 over the weekend with the radar detector up by the rear-view. I ran the phone cord/power wire around the edge of the windshield and down on the drivers side and tapped into the Rear Wiper fuse (in the fuse box behind the coin tray). There is room between the windshield and trim to push the wire up out of view - you can't see it at all.
I did EXACTLY the same this past weekend too. I used Tim's write-up as a guide:
http://www.velozt.com/html/12v_index_in.html

Bought the "add-a-circuit" mini-fuse kit at a local Pep-Boys, and used the rear-wiper fuse as you mentioned (Tim used a different fuse which is "always on"). No problems closing my fuse-box door either. Works great!

Thats actually exactly what i was looking for. Right now i actually found a thread hardwiring it to the map lights but that seems like a lot of work and a trip to radioshack. where did you put the ground cable? Thank you both for your help.

Did it on my '05 STi. Very simple! Guide to follow, probably tonight. Used the adapter from Valentine, and only need to tap into 2 wires from the courtesy lamp compartment (you actually use power from the wires that feed the optional auto-dim mirror. Really, it's very simple. PM me if you need coaching.

Thanks a lot for all your help. the link helped out a lot. I was wondering if palpullero you could just take a pic of which wire you cut into for power? Or at least describe it very very well. thank you both tho for the help. I will get this done for sure tonight so that i can take it on the trip tomorrow morning. by having the cable run down to the lighter thing, it scratched up the face plate by the ac vents. that just ticked me off. so thanks again for all your help guys. awesome stuff.

I did EXACTLY the same this past weekend too. I used Tim's write-up as a guide:
http://www.velozt.com/html/12v_index_in.html

Bought the "add-a-circuit" mini-fuse kit at a local Pep-Boys, and used the rear-wiper fuse as you mentioned (Tim used a different fuse which is "always on"). No problems closing my fuse-box door either. Works great!

This is one solution, but not as clean as the one I did. If you want to avoid taking the molding s off and still use the fuse that Valentine provides, I'll send you the pictures so you can do so. I'll post it either here or as a new thread.

Thanks a lot for all your help. the link helped out a lot. I was wondering if palpullero you could just take a pic of which wire you cut into for power? Or at least describe it very very well. thank you both tho for the help. I will get this done for sure tonight so that i can take it on the trip tomorrow morning. by having the cable run down to the lighter thing, it scratched up the face plate by the ac vents. that just ticked me off. so thanks again for all your help guys. awesome stuff.

OK GeneralWRX, here we go:

First, take off the courtesy lights by removing the clear plastic and two screws:
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/voila!.jpg

You will find the following (except the gray tube; this is an "after" picture :D )
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/underneath.jpg

Then, use clip-on connectors that you should be able to get at any hardware/automotive store (gauge 14 through 16 should be OK).
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/connections.jpg

Use high-temp plastictubing to protect the wires (also available at an automotive store):
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/tapeup.jpg

Tuck in the plastic tube neatly between the roof and the liner:
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/tuckedin.jpg
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/tuckedin2.jpg

Test the setup by putting the ignition in ACCESSORY. Put everything together, and voila!
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/voila2.jpg
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/voila3.jpg


You can also test the setup after making all the connections; that way you can easily make any fixes if needed.

thanks for the pictures but i dont have the three different colors. I have three black wires that are very thin and are stuck together. they look exactly like the wires that plug in back of the auto dimming mirror. which wire is which? i wish i knew how to post pics so that i could show you. thanks

ps. i have the auto dimming with homelink. does that make a diff why i have different wires?

thanks for the pictures but i dont have the three different colors. I have three black wires that are very thin and are stuck together. they look exactly like the wires that plug in back of the auto dimming mirror. which wire is which? i wish i knew how to post pics so that i could show you. thanks

ps. i have the auto dimming with homelink. does that make a diff why i have different wires?

That's why you need the digital multi-meter; I wouldn't be doing this install without one. Also, check to see if once you take apart the courtesy lights, you see the actual connector that the mirror feeds into (it's the one that is taped together to the courtesy light connector). This connector *should* have wires of different colors, so you would feed the Valentine1 from the connector that feeds the mirror and not from the wires that connect from the mirror up to the roof. BTW, here's a picture of what my mirror looks like from the back:
http://www.dorianhernandez.com/images/back_connector.jpg

thanks a lot for your help. I ended up doing the fuse tap because I ran out of time. it works very well so i am happy. thank you so much for your help. i greatly appreciate it.

Great post I am going to change the way I did mine.

Thanks for this post. Just put my V1 into my '04 STi. Not sure if it's year or STi specific but just for FYI, on my STi, the wires were differently colored. Instead of Blue/black wires, I had Yellow/black. Of course this is easily figured out if you have a volt meter...

Here is the pics:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/derekmw/STi/IMG_2800.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f75/derekmw/STi/IMG_2804.jpg

Thanks again!