Wiring a radar detector

**asshanson** · 04-29-2006

Just got the Escort Passport 8500 x50 and all I have to power it is the stupid stretchy phone cord that plugs into the cigarette lighter. It's a huge annoyance when shifting, not to mention it's ugly hanging down like that. So, I want to direct wire it into one of the wires that provides power when the ignition is on, like the same wire my stereo is hooked up to. However, Escort decided to be tricky and use a phone plug for their power/controls.

I know there is a "direct wire smart cord" that Escort sells, but I don't really want to spend $30 on something that is as simple as a phone plug. My question is, which wires from the phone plug provide the power? There are the full 8 wires on the unit's phone jack, but there are only 4 on my current plug. So I guess that means it has to be one of those 4.

Has anyone done this before or know which wires I need to hook up? I searched, but couldn't find anything on the web. Any help would be appreciated. I'll be at the two events this weekend, if I find out which ones it is I'll probably just hook it up there. Now to find a black phone cord that I can cut apart.......

JiggahMan · 04-29-2006

I have a Whistler and a Cobra which I've wired into my WRX and 1g. What I did was cut the cord and spliced the wires inside the ground is usually white or black. For the power supply, all I did was take out the ciggarette or radio fuse. Wrapped the wire around a prong on the fuse, and plugged it back in. Probably not the most professional way, but my WRX has worked like that for 3 years.

96 Gsx Awd · 04-29-2006

all you have to do is take the positive and the negative on your radar detector and hook it to a positive negative somwere in your car. I wired mine under my dash and hooked it up to my ciggerette lighter wires.

**asshanson** · 04-29-2006

Well yea I know how to wire things up, but I don't know which two of the four wires power/ground are. That's what I was asking. I just don't want to hook up the wrong two trying to get it to work and find out I just burned up $300...

It's some cord that has buttons on it at the cigarette lighter so It has extra wires that connect to the unit in the phone plug for mute signals and status lights.

Basically looking for a wiring diagram or pinout of the cigarette lighter adapter. Maybe I'll just have to take it apart and see what is wired to each color.

iceminion · 04-30-2006

to find out which pins go where on the detector you should take the cig lighter adapter and trace the wires..... basically use a volt meter to complete the circuit or you can use a battery and a light.....

*WARNING* do this while not in the car, disconnect everything and do this inside on a table......next to a fire extinguisher

**asshanson** · 04-30-2006

Yea I remembered yesterday I should just use my voltmeter. Turns out two of the wires are 12V and two are ground. Then I finally found a wiring diagram online and figured out which two are the actual power and ground. It's the middle two wires, and they follow standard phone plug colors, they're red and green. Red is power, green is ground. Saved me from spending $30 on an Escort power adapter. Looks a lot nicer too, the cord is behind the mirror, can't tell its there at all. So much cleaner.

LaunchHard · 05-01-2006

I put the power wire in the fuse box by the clutch pedal, and grounded the other to a screw nearby. Make sure if you do it this way, you put the power in the bottom part of the fuse, or else it is constantly getting power.