Valentine One Radar Locator - Installation

How I did it | Lorne Speaks | Derek Responds | Bill Adds | Brian Blows | Alfred Decodes | jdlamonica Says

How I did it.

• To get power for a permanent installation, I removed the center console left side panel and carpeted panel to access switched power. The two panels (one vinyl/leather, one carpeted) are removed by grasping the rear edge (farthest to the front of the car) and pulling out (toward the fuse panel). Pull hard; they'll eventually snap free.
• The middle wire in the 3-wire harness is switched-hot (Green w/ Black stripe). Use a nearby metal-in-metal screw for the ground wire. My car is a 1997 model. The 1998 Boxster has a 4-wire harness (the blue clip and pink wire are power for the V1).
• I put the V1 main unit above and to the right of the rear-view mirror (my car cover was on to prevent sun-overexposure of the image). Here's how I routed the wiring.
• I placed the Concealed Display on the steering column (and another). I like it here because it's with the other instruments and that's where I'm looking naturally. The warning lights behind the display are little-used and aren't totally covered up. Here's an image from the side showing part of the wire routing down the side of the steering column. I mounted the display with black velcro such that the steering column's range of movement isn't affected.

The Valentine unit changed in 1998. My unit, purchased in July 1997, does not have a mute button on the Concealed Display. I reach up to the main unit to mute the V1. Later models have a mute button on the remote making my behind-the-wheel mounting less desirable (though IMHO still better).

Hints from Lorne Blackman:

I did the deed yesterday with my Valentine One, hardwiring into the car using Berkeley's great instructions. I have some suggestions, below, but let me first say "thank you, Berkeley" -- without your lead I never would have taken the plunge!! Took my time, and even with my less-than zero mechanical aptitude it went just fine.

I offer the following suggestions, based on my experience:

1. If you are going to mount on the passenger side, as I did, it was easier to route the cable up the passenger side pillar/windscreen rather than bringing across the driver side. There is also no question about a single cable being long enough that way.

2. I pulled both pieces of carpet on the center console, but not the leather panel. This allowed me straight through access to the wire harness so I could work from the left, but pass through to the right.

3. The harness [mine is a 98] is 4 wired, and I used the green/black to have a hot/switched wire. It is perfect. But -- what does the harness connect to? It appeared to be lying there loose. I have heated seats, but not power seats, and no hardtop. The electricals in the center console [seat heaters and power windows] are working fine. Is this for an option I do not have? I will check the manual for a wiring diagram.

The 4-wire harness is used for the factory phone. My early model 3-wire harness? I don't know.

4. To hide the cable I pulled the passenger side sunvisor torx bolts [see FAQ on removing air bag stickers] and in doing so, released the trim unit down the pillar. This allowed for full hiding of the cable rather than jamming it in. Much easier.

5. I will probably put the remote unit in either the lower shelf or in front of the shifter, but want to drive it a bit before finalizing that decision. For now I have enough cable available to go in a number of different directions.

That is it ... as I said, great instructions from Berkeley and a simple job. I spent about 90 minutes on it, but was in no hurry and exploring as I went.

Lorne

Derek J. Stutsman responds:

I did mine the exact same way [as Lorne]. The cable was not long enough for the driver's side so I ran it on the passenger's side.

I also agree about your mounting choice for the remote unit. I have mine attached with the (supplied) Velcro at present, but a stereo shop says they can fabricate a new piece of ABS plastic with the remote nicely flush-mounted into it. That would be cool, eh? Shouldn't be too expensive either.

Here is a picture of the remote mounted in front of the shifter. It doesn't interfere with the shifter at all, and it's very convenient for muting.

William Lewis adds:

I sent Berkeley pictures of my installation, including the 4-wire harness differences in the '98. He just hasn't had a chance to update his site yet (too busy with fame and accolades from his article I guess :))

I had no problem routing on driver side with unit mounted on the passenger side of the mirror - but not much to spare! I routed the wire over the top of the vent duct, steering column and some other stuff that was under there, and this tucked it away nicely.

Here's a picture of my remote. I like it hidden in the open tray in front of the shifter. The shade in the back of the tray helps visibility of the LEDs in direct sunlight (top down), and it's easy to find the mute button with the tray to guide your hand in there while you are watching the road.

All personal preference of course! I couldn't bring myself to cutting a hole in the back of the tray, hence the short-term solution of letting the ugly black wire hang out the front.

Bill from MA

Brian blows a fuse:

Thanks for the installation tips. I had a small problem that had me cursing them for a while. I have a '99 and I hooked up the power to the green wire in the 4-wire harness as instructed, but no power with ignition on or off. Got to work with my multimeter, but no luck.

After much contemplating, I checked the fuses. Guess what? Number E8 (7.5 A) was blown. I replaced it with the spare and voila! Might be useful to include this bit of info for others.

Alfred decodes the 4-pin connector:

Thanks for all your help! Here are the pinouts for the ['98 and newer, 4-pin] connector:

I included a picture of my install in case you wanted to add it to your site. Thanks again!

-Alfred

jdlamonica says:

You ignored the power supply right in front of you... the dome light. Power is available anytime the ignition switch is on.

Valentine One Web Site

If you've got more, different, or better information about the Valentine One installation, tell me about it at berkeley(at)industryfigure.com. I'll add it here.

Berkeley | Boxster