Valentine One Install
By
Cy Stanton
(Dittohead)
The following procedure is for �hard wiring�
the Valentine One (V1) Radar Detector in the C5 (all models), thus
eliminating the ugly cord hanging down from your V1 to the cig lighter.
We will start by wiring the �direct wire power adaptor� that came with
your V1, to the aux power plug located under the kick board on the
passenger side, then we will mount the V1 and run the flat, black wire
provided by Valentine in such a manner as to be mostly invisible from
view. Note: This is not necessarily the only way to skin this cat, but
it�s how I did it. Hope you find it helpful.
Tools/Parts needed:
Wire strippers, small screw driver, black electrical tape, small wire
nuts, alcohol wipes, �direct wire power adapter,� (provided with your V1),
small blue wire harness connector (provided with your V1), fingers (yours
and a friend’s), and a tongue (I�ll tell you what this is for later).
1. Remove the floor mat and locate the removable kick panel
on the passenger�s side. To remove the panel, lift the two black latches
shown (Figure 1).
Figure 1
Once you life the
latches, gently lift the panel upwards and out (there are two small
�fingers� that hook into square holes near the bottom of the panels at
either side, so don�t force the panel straight out or you could snap the
plastic fingers.
2. Once the panel is off, you will see a
metal box and a black fuse box as seen in
Figure 2.
Figure
2
3. Locate the aux power plug�on some cars it will be
�snapped into� the side panel (as it is in figure 3). You will then need
to locate the three aux power wires coming from the back side of the aux
power plug. These three wires are loose with no connectors, but are taped
together with a piece of black duct tape. You may need to fish around a
little to find them, but they are there. The wires you are looking for
are Orange, Yellow and Black. We are interested in the Yellow and Black
wires�the yellow wire is hot only when the ignition is on. The Orange
wire is hot all the time. The black is ground. We�ll use the Yellow as
our hot wire because we want the V1 to shut off when we turn off the
ignition.
Figure
3
4. Carefully cut off the tape binding the three aux
power wires (be careful not to cut the wires).
5. Use a pair
of standard pliers and crimp the small blue connector onto the Yellow wire
(the blue connector that came with your V1). Just crimp it with enough
pressure until you hear a slight �snap.� If you crimp it too hard you can
cut the wire in half. NOTE, if you don�t have the small blue connector,
you can use a small wire nut to connect the Yellow wire to the red wire on
the V1�s �Direct Wire Power Adaptor,� as we will do with the black wires.
Figure 4 shows crimping the connector onto the (yellow) wire. Then,
insert the blade connector (red wire) on the �direct wire power adaptor�
that came with your V1, into the blue connector that you just connected to
the yellow aux power wire (as seen in the bottom half of figure
4).
Figure
4
5. Next, strip about � inch of the insulation off the
black aux power wire (this is the ground). Also, strip about � inch of
the insulation from the black wire on the Direct Wire Power Adaptor. Now,
put the two black wires side-by-side and twist the bare ends together.
Then �screw on� a small wire nut to hold the ends of the two black wires
firmly together. You can see the orange wire nut I used in figure 5.
Figure
5
6. Ok, next use standard black electrical tape and
tape up the wires to prevent any short circuits. I suggest first taping
up each wire/wire pair individually, and then tape them all together, as
seen in figure 6 below.
Figure 6
7. Next we
will locate the �Direct Wire Power Adapter� in a safe place. Refer to
figure 7. I located the adaptor just below and to the right of the black
fuse box. Notice that I used a small alcohol wipe to clean the area
before attaching the self-sticking Velcro pad that comes on the bottom of
the adaptor. Figure 8 shows the adaptor in place.
Figure 7
Notice in figure
8, I have taped the wires together in a couple of places. I also taped
together the excess and placed it snuggly under the fuse
box.
Figure
8
8. Ok, now install the V1. We installed this one
just to the left of the mirror. Next, plug in one end of the flat, black
telephone-like wire to the V1 (this wire came with your V1). Next, gently
pry back the back side of the black molding at the top of the windshield
and push the wire into the molding, as seen in figure 9. You may need to
use a small, flat bladed screwdriver to help push the wire into the
molding. Work your way across to the passenger-side A-pillar.
Figure
9
9. Next, carefully pry off the A-Pillar molding from
the passenger side, as seen in fig 10 and fig 11. Start at the top and
pry gently. There are three plastic male connectors on the back side of
the molding that fit into three female slots on the windshield
frame.
Figure
10
Figure
11
As seen in Figure 11 above, once you have �popped� the
three molding connectors, gently pry the molding up and away�.take you
time. It is not hard, but don�t rush it.
Notice Also that the
molding is also slid onto to a �spacer� stud as seen in figure 12 (I am
pointing to it). The end of the molding is U-shaped and slides onto this
stud, and behind the lower black trim piece that the stud is affixed
to.
Figure
12
Figure
13
Figure 13 shows the side window frame with the molding
removed. Now you can run the wire down the space between this frame and
the window glass. Use a couple wads of black electrical tape to stuff
into the space between the frame and window glass so as to keep the wire
contained. Figure 14 shows this.
Figure 14
Stuffing a few
wads of tape into the space between the frame and glass to hold in the V1
power wire in place.
10. Finish running the wire down the window
frame, then stuff it into the space between the side of the dash and the
molding as shown by the arrows in figure 15.
Note that in this picture,
the window frame molding is still on. In reality, it this point, the
frame molding would be off, but I�m using this picture this just to show
where to run the wire after you�ve run it down the window
frame.
Figure
15
Figure
16
11. Notice now that the end of the power wire is
routed behind the tan side kick panel. Just plug it into the main outlet
on the adaptor and the wiring is done!
12. Before you button
things up, turn on your V1, then turn on your ignition and make sure the
V1 turns on and off with the ignition. If not, double check your
connections. Once you are sure it is working, replace the floor board
kick panel, and the window frame molding. The kick panel is easy, the
side molding is a bit tricky, but I�ll try to �splain� it the best I can.
13. First, reinsert the U-shaped piece onto the stud, as shown
in figure 17.
Figure
17
Make sure the end piece of the frame molding is
properly aligned with the spacer stud as shown and press it fully home so
that the U-shaped opening on the end of the molding is completely engaged
and centered onto the stud. Now, the fun part is keeping this end piece
in place while you snap in place the rest of the molding. I have done two
of these and the end of the molding wants to pop off the stud as you pop
on the rest of the molding. The trick is to hold your tongue just right,
while also holding this end piece (I told you I�d tell you what the tongue
was for). Then start with the lower-most molding connector and gently pry
the molding at that point until the male end engages into the female slot
on the frame. Then work your way up to the center connector and finally
the top connector. Once each male connector is aligned with its female
counterpart, a gentle rap with your fist at each connector point will pop
each one into place. It may help to have a friend hold the molding end
piece onto the stud to keep it in place while you pop on the rest of the
molding.
That�s it, you�re done. It really isn�t all that hard to
do. Putting the window side molding back on properly is probably the
hardest part of the whole thing, but just take your time and you will get
it. The actual process of doing this install took a lot less time than
doing this write-up.