Hello, I installed a radar detector on my C7. Worked fine for 2 months and is now dead. It seems that the Purple, 12V power wire used for the interior mirror is dead, I used the Black wire in the same harness for a ground. Any idea where the PURPLE WIRE ENDS UP? Any wiring schematic for this area out there? What is strange is the 3 indicator lights on the mirror, OnStar etc. are still on. I also checked all the 20A and below fuses in both blocks for continuity.Thanks, Jon.

 

The purple wire is fed from 5A Fuse # 51 in the underhood fuse box. There is a 2nd 12V power wire (hot all the time, I think), for the Onstar, red colored, that is fed from a different fuse, #26, also located in the underhood fuse box.

 

Thanks, I will check it out.

 

Are you sure it's #50? The manual says it is ENGINE/TRANSMISSION??

 

Are you sure it's #50? The manual says 50 is ENGINE/TRANSMISSION??

 

FWIW, perhaps nothing and hope you find a fuse- if there is one! I'll explain.

In October 2013 when I got my C7 Z51 the "word" on the forum is you can't tape the mirror like I and many did on our C6! GM says it won't work!

So I taped the passenger sun visor mirror light as I had in my '88 and '93 Vettes. All went fine, soldered wires to those to the mirror. My Passport Max lite for about 2 seconds then out! Thought, blew a fuse. That was about a year or more before the 2014 Service Manual was out! Owner's Manual did not show a fuse for that light. Took everything apart and assured there was no short. By that time there was power back on those wires! Funny!

Tried again and sure enough when I plugged in the detector it tripped again in ~2 seconds or so and again in 10 minutes power was back! It was NOT the detector as it had been working fine with the adapter plugged into the power receptacle on the dash.

Found out the C7 monitors current draw in a number of circuits and if more than it is supposed to be is flowing it trips a breaker! May well be a solid state breaker!

About that time, a forum poster showed how easy it was to use the fuse for that console power receptacle that is on the rear panel. At first thought, crazy going all the way to the back! However he was right, took just 5 minutes as the wire just slips under the carpet molding! Used an Add-A-Circuit with a 2 amp fuse and the detector worked fine in my 2014 for 3 1/2 years.

However when I got my Grand Sport many folks had used the mirror so I bought the Blendmount wire connector but mounted the detector as I had in the 2014 to the right of the mirror. I found the very thin Blendmount tips did not work but by using a dental pick I enlarged the gap in the back of the plug and used the larger tip. With a pair of small long nose pliers I pushed it in deeply. Has worked fine for a year.

If you don't find a fuse, find it's not a tripped breaker, the one connector has not shorted to the other, suggest inserting the Blendmount wires deeper!

Will be interested in what you find.

 

 

Interesting. I had this Escort Max 360 in my 07 convertible for 2 years using the Blendmount and jumper with no problem. I installed this same stuff in my 17 convertible. It worked for 2 mounts, until the Plastic RJ, telephone jack clip broke. I replaced the RJ and it worked for about a week. Then nothing. I thought, perhaps I tugged on the Jumper a little too much replacing the RJ and the pins pulled out. The pins fit loosely anyway. Found out the Jumper wire itself was bad. Rebuilt it and checked for continuity and was all good. I must have shorted the Purple wire 12V power or ground out as even without the jumper attached the is no longer power. I will check the fuses that had be suggested. And your idea on setting the pins deeper before I bring in a new power source. will post the final answer. Thanks, Jon.

 

^^
Be interested if you find the fuse and knowing which it is.

Other Note:
Before I spent the money for the Blendmount wire I bought a cheap one that was on Amazon. The phone plug was so hard to remove I offered to return it. The vendor said keep it! I ordered the Bledmount also from Amazon (which is a much better quality and the phone plug fits fine.

For fun I files the plug on the old one and no mater how much I removed it never released properly! Just a word of caution for those finding that $10 wire!

 

My bad...the mirror fuse for the purple wire is #51, not #50. The purple wire at the mirror is only hot when the engine is running. Fuse #51 is located in the engine compartment fuse box, and is a grey 5A fuse located near the center of the box, and is wider that the other fuses. This fuse is a special "dual" fuse, called a "Micro 3", because it contains two separate 5A fuses, and has 3 pins.

 

Hello, here is the final answer. To connect my Escort Radar Detector to a power source at the interior mirror on my ‘17 all I needed to do is “pop off” the plastic cover behind the mirror. I applied my thumb nail to the crack between the 2 halves at the bottom edge and it split apart. The wire harness is on the back side of the remaining half. Pull the harness out and then gently pull it down. The wire that goes up into the headliner console will have at least 2-3” of slack to work with. The power is the Purple and the ground is the Black wire. I used the Blendmount jumper with the heavier pins. If you have trouble shoving the pins in the harness, simply use a small Awl or ice pick to enlarge the spaces slightly. I carefully bend both pins in a 90° angle. The bends are approx. 3/8” from the tips. I then used a small tie wrap to secure the jumper to the harness so the pins will not pull out easily. When reinstalling I run the jumper wire up between the headliner and the plastic cover. It makes a clean look. If you have trouble and accidently short out the jumper as this Bozo did, the fuse for the power is #51 (cluster) in the engine compartment. It is a had to find 5amp 3 pin Fuse. I got my replacement fuse at Mouser Electronics in Texas for $0.63. Jon.