Has anybody tapped into the rearview mirror or the black box behind it for accessory power? If so, how did you do it?
i didnt tap it but i pulled it to see whats there. you should be able to. it just pulls off, no screws. however the pieces aroumd mirror post are seperate and kind of a pain to get back on all together.
I pulled the box as well, to see what was in there. Mostly empty space on my Renegade. As stated, the box is easy to remove, but when you replace it, the pieces above the mirror can be a bit of a pair...I find it much easier to pull those pieces right off, clip the box back up, then replace the small pieces, starting with the one directly above the mirror. Everything snaps together easily. The box itself is a bit short for many radar detectors to fit--measure carefully.
I did some research recently (pulled the box) to hook up my Valentine One... a couple of ways to go about it. If your mirror has any powered function, auto-dim, etc. there is a power cable running to it. There are two or more websites where you can buy short wires made for the different detectors to directly connect to the mirror. Try www.mirrortap.com or www.radarmount.com. Unfortunately my Latitude has the old-school, non-powered mirror, and it only has the auto-light sensor in the box. I have the box pulled off and will be installing a different style connector (5-pin male -female I bought at an electronics store) in the box, so that I can disconnect there and don't have to undo the RJ-11 all the time. From there I'll run the power cord most likely to the 12V outlet (cigarette lighter plug), since I don't want to mess with the firewall quite yet. By the way, has anybody pulled off the inside cover of the post between windshield and passenger door? Looking to run the cable down that side...
Yeah, I was thinking of running a cable under the headliner and a-pillar liner and hook it up under the dash--dunnof how much I trust that the power supply to the mirror electronics is robust enough for the detector (but I will look at those sites). BTW, the sensor for automatic lights is on the dash. On my Rennie, the only sensor under the mirror box is the rain sensor for the auto wipers; I think they put the sensors for automatic vehicle proximity & lane change stuff under there too, for those that have it.
Interesting to see how many different configurations Jeep / Fiat is using for the sensor locations ... I pulled the wire from the sensor behind the box and got a warning that the auto-dim sensor is malfunctioning... Spitfire, do you know already where you can hook into under the dash?
No, haven't even looked. I was thinking I might have to go through the firewall. But on the other hand, looking at the sites you linked, I'm thinking that may be worth a try--a lot easier, for one thing. I was told the auto headlight sensor was the little black bubble right centre on the dash, near the windshield--but the autodim sensor may well be separate. Under the box on mine, there's one sensor on the glass near the top, which I thought was the rain sensor for the automatic wipers; there is a plastic clip glued to the glass below it, with nothing attached (I may remove that to fit). I will have to check the power supply to the mirror itself.
