Hi Everyone,

I'm going to direct wire my Escort 9500ix this weekend into my 2008 XKR. I have the Escort direct wire cord ( ) and an add a circuit kit for the fuse box. I thought I read somewhere that there is a fuse box in the passenger area of the car under the dash. I took a look and didn't spot anything. I did notice there's a cigarette lighter in the glove box so now I'm thinking about just getting a cigarette lighter plug and just wiring the direct wire to the cigarette lighter plug. I want to make sure the outlet is switched first.

I'm also going to try and route the cable through the glove box and up the A pillar. Any idea how hard is it to remove the interior trim piece on the A pillar? Does it just pop off? Looks like I'll have to try to do the same with the top and side trim pieces as well. End goal is to get the radar detector up somewhere around the rear view mirror, likely to the passenger side of it.

I think I"m going to put the LED alert piece in the ashtray. So far I haven't found a better place for it. In my BMW I had it mounted in the dash.

Ryan

 

I mounted the LED in the plastic surround for the Speedo/tach just below and centered under tach. Just pop off the trim piece above steering column (probably wood), then three screws hold plastic trim (two behind trim piece and one behind tab at top). Hide it nice, and easy to see speed and alarm LED. A Pillar easy, pops of, but use care re-fitting it as tabs can get bent. I mounted the detector read-out right to the trim that covers stalk for R-view mirror - just remember to measure carefully so it does not interfere with mirror travel.

You should be able to mount junction box behind instrument panel drivers side trim

 

I got a cable to wire my V1 off the interior-mirror electrics, though I still haven't fitted it yet. You may want to consider that as an alternative, since there's no need to remove the trim.

The front accessory socket looks to be switched, based on the circuit diagrams.

 

The direct wire kit I bought has a bit of a bulkier unit which also has a button to mute the detector along with two LEDs in a black case. I'll look around in that area to see if there's any room for it. Where did you get your power from?

 

I'd still have to run the remote mute button / remote display wire down the trim though. That is an idea though, I'll look around there and see what I can find.

Good to know the socket should be switched. If I can't find the fuse panel that is supposedly over there somewhere then I'll look into getting a cigarette plug and wiring it up and just using it and leave it always connected.

 

Ryan:

The plug inside the glove box goes HOT when the ignition is turned "on" and "off" when the car is turned off. I use the inside glove box power plug for my dash video cam.

This power plug makes it easy to have a 12 volt accessory, especially if you want it to go "on" and "off" without always having to open the glove box and manually plug it in.

 

Thanks Richard. I'm going to go look for a cigarette lighter adapter that I can attach my cables from my hard wire kit to and try to just use that.

 

eBay.....

 

Radio Shack had one for $6. Not too bad.

 

I hard wired mine in with the plug on the back of the power outlet in the glove box. I hid all wiring under trim pieces. So I still have the outlet if I need it.

 

So I got the electrical all hooked up. The cigarette lighter adapter plug I bought at radio shack was super easy to use. Just depress a spring and slide the wires in.

The problem is the interior trim piece which goes up the window. I can't for the life of me to get it to budge. I was trying to do it by hand and I think I'm going to have to go buy some interior trim piece removal tools. Anyone done this before and agree/disagree?

 

I wired mine into the overhead console, where you don't have to worry about trim.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ertible-35831/

 

I would still have to worry about trim due to the remote mute button / LED feature of the escort hardwire kit.

I bought a trim removal kit off amazon and it should be here tomorrow. I'm hopeful that's going to help me get better leverage on the trim piece to remove it. We'll see.