tfischer

I want to wire in my V-1 to my RX330, which I have done in several other cars.

I read the prior posts about this, but when I went into the roof panel, none of the wires powering the moon roof in my car were the same color as those mentioned in the previous instructions, and none were switched power. I found two that were hot all the time: a thin light blue one and a very fat pink one.

I used the blue one for the time being, but don't like the idea that I could leave it on by accident and drain the battery.

Does anyone know of some other place in the car where I can find a switched power line to tap into? Even if it's under the dash, that would not be a big problem because it's easy in this car to run a wire down the side of the windshield all the way to a spot under the dash without it being visible at all (because I did this for the remote readout that I can now place on the far left side of the dash).

Are the wires for the sockets that we used to call cigarette lighters easy to get to, or will I have to take some parts off to find something? I have not had a lot of time to look for this yet, because I just bought the car (an '04, Japan built) about 10 days ago.

It seems like there should be a switched power line related to the sun roof, but maybe the remote opening with the key function means that the power has to be there all the time. I sure could not find a line up there that had switched power. Maybe the ones assembled in Canada have different wiring?

Thanks.

TIM

salimshah

Check the cigaretter lighter.

Salim

larrytrk

Keep checking the wires to Mirror in sun roof switch area. My 2000 RX and my 06 400H both
provide switched power to my Escort.
Yoy have to re initialize sun roof when you disconnect wires to it.

tfischer

Thanks for those tips. I'll poke around in there again next weekend. Maybe I can find a line to the mirror or to the device for the IR that controls the rain-sensing wipers, which is up there in that area. Those should both be switched power.

. . . and I found out about the need to initialize the sun roof. The first time I was confused because the controls would not work correctly, but the manual explains the procedure.

larrytrk

Scaired the hell out of me when the sun roof didn't work properly, I removed my wiring to take it back to the dealer, thinking I screwed something up. Live and learn!!

tfischer

Yep. Same thing here.

But I remembered that the manual had several things that needed to be reset after a loss of power, so I looked it up and was able to solve the problem. I also thought for a while that maybe I had screwed up the roof computer.

Could happen.

tfischer

I tried to get to the wires that feed the cigarette lighter sockets, but they are not readily accessible, and I can't figure out how to remove the kick panels that cover them.

Does anybody know how to get to these wires or know of any other place where a readily available wire is that carries switched power?

Thanks.

tfischer

I finally got it figured out, so here's how to do it if you can't find a switched wire in the overhead light area where the roof motor is. (Maybe I could not find the usual wires because my car has an extra module up there for rain sensing wipers -- who knows.)

There is switched power going to the "cigarette lighter" socket on the dash to the right of the shift lever. You really can't get to this from behind, but it's very easy to get to from the front.

The wood trim piece around the gears lifts right off. Pry it up with your fingers from the front edge and lift it off. The pressure clips will spring loose -- no problem, and if you don't use tools, there will be no damage. It's designed for this. Then use one finger and pull the right bottom edge of the wood panel which holds the lighter socket and the heated seat controls forward. It is also held in place with pressure clips and is designed to come in and out this way. Then pull out the left side.

The gear shift lever is in the way of allowing the panel to come completely free, so set the brake, turn the key to on and move the shift lever out of park, then move the panel and the wires free, put the gear back in park and turn off the key.

You can unplug the wires going to the lighter socket in order to work with them. The one going to the center is the power lead, the other is ground.

Next, take the end of your wire and run it behind the glove box and into the back of the area in which you are working so it feeds along the side of the harness that holds the wires that feed the switches. Now tap into the switched power line in the usual way. Reassemble the pieces, which is easy as everything snaps back together quickly.

Run the wire behind the glove box and down to the footwell near the right front door. There is plenty of room to push this wire into the seam up to the top of the dash, and along the side of the dash to the windshield. Then push it into the seam between the windshield and the pillar. It is completely out of view.

Once you get to the top of the windshield, you can easily push it into the seam across the top of the windshield. When you get to the center, there is plenty of room to feed it into the large open area which you access by removing the light module that also has the roof control buttons. Connect your V-1 power module here: connect the red line to the line you just ran from the switched power, and use one of the 4 screws as a ground for the black wire. Secure everything with some tape, and use a phone cord to run from the power module to the V-1. I got a beige cord from Radio Shack because it is less conspicuous than the black one. This works for mounting the V-1 on the visor on on the windshield with the suction cup mount.

You are now on the air. If you are also using the remote readout accessory, as I am, run that wire (use a black one for this) down the left side of the windshield and store the end under the dash until needed. I put a little velcro square on the far left side of the dash so I can stick the remote readout there when I hit the highway.

Since the V-1 now draws power from an accessory outlet designed for this purpose, I know I won't overload any other circuits that I might find in that overhead compartment, and I have the peace of mind in knowing that I won't leave it on by accident when I park the car and run down the battery.

I know that will happen sooner or later.

KeysRx300

I put my XM radio in my Sunglasses holder on my RX. And used the Moonroof power. It had both hot and switched. I used the instructions from the RX How 2 Web page.

http://rx300how2.home.comcast.net/radar_detector.htm

tfischer

I saw that post, but it's not as accurate for the 330s. The pics and wire colors are for a 300.

Also, try as I could, I could not find a switched power line up there, but as I mentioned, it only takes about 10 mintues to run one up from the lighter socket, which is a better source anyway, fuse-wise.

Finally, you can avoid the wire shown in those pics that runs from the front edge of the eye-glass case toward the windshield because there is plenty of room between the windshield itself and the headliner to run that wire above the headliner, at least on a 330.

KeysRx300

I used a multimeter to find the switched power on the sunroof connector. And ran the power wire about one foot to the sunglass holder. Now if I could only get rid of the cassette tape adaptor. Good luck