wiring question

Ok, so i've got a question for you folks, hopefully you can help me out here, im gonna tell the whole story to understand it so bare with me... so today, i decided id undertake the project of getting my TomTom and Radar "hardwired" into the car. I used El Cobra's how-to on the A-pillar removal to do the job, and another thread from the Z or LXforums, i cant find it for reference now, for the wiring. Thanks for that El Cobra!! it was perfect!! So i bought some cheapy cigarette lighter sockets at Murray's (oh wait, i mean O'Reilly), and gathered the rest of the things from the work truck (wire, taps etc.) I make a wire for one socket to go in the drivers side pillar for my TomTom, since the wire supplied with the TomTom wasnt long enough for what i wnated to do. Well, as I get my a-pillar's removed, i see that I have 1 plug and socket for overhead wiring on my passenger side, and i have a socket on my driverside but no plug for wiring. My wires however dont match what i saw during my research. So i bust out the trusty multimeter, and begin doing some tests, im looking for Hot with Key ON only, (mainly the wire for the sunroof would be ideal), but i only find ALWAYS HOT. Except for one wire, which seems to give me what i want, its tied into the dome lights somehow? So i do all the work, tap into the one line i tested and seemed to give me what i wanted, put everything back together, and started doing the final test of everything. Here comes my issues, and questions, When the key is ON, the radar detector and GPS are powered. When i turn the key to off, the radar detector turns off, the GPS however, stays on. When i open the doors, the Radar turns back on, after the short delay, and the dome lights fade off, the radar turns off again, the GPS however, stays on (i have the GPS set to turn off on loss of power). I just noticed now (because its dark) that if i keep everything plugged in, the little led's on the radar have a very faint pulse, as well as the GPS. My question basically is, what, if anything did i goof up on, is this pulse normal for the car, or is it something i did, and at the same time, is this a drain on the battery like i believe it is? Whatever you guys know would be of great help... I have the most faith in my fellow CAMM members on this one...

So you wired them up to wires that were in the pillars themselves? I know the passenger side pillar has the wire for the dome lights, its yellow and white. I wouldnt wire to that one. I would try to wire them both up to the cig lighter in the dash because that powers off with the key turned off. The wires on the drivers side pillar have something to do with the Uconnect I think so I wouldnt even bother with them because im unsure how they are wired up.

When i wired my gps and radar detector i used the wires in the passanger pillar as well... i believe it is the pink and green wire that is acc power... i will look later today to double check... there is also a ground wire that is in the same group...

the ground is black and green... and the acc power is either pink and green or pink and brown cant really tell eyes are bad but i am thinking its green...

it is pink and green...lol

Here's a write up on the (or A) technique on this from LXF:

http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=11339

thanks dave... i personally found it easier to tap off of the pillar... less wire to run...

And, here's a link to a Word doc with instructions to tap off the roof console. I think this is the approach I'm gonna do...seems easier logistically:

http://m3coupe.com/Charger/Valentine/V1_Install_v2.doc

yeah, i used those write ups on the LX as well, i wanted to make sure i was doing things right.... i found a different one too that dealt with the plug in the a-pillar. I was looking for the Pink with Green wire however i don't have that wire, which is why i went with my testing. Ive got the black and green for ground, which is what i tied in there. Ill get a picture later on today to show you guys what i did. and which wires i tied into. I've got an 09, which i was reading the wiring might be a little different. I do not have u-connect or anything fancy up top except for the dome lights and sun roof. I hope i didnt break my baby

the pink wire is down below the white plug that is next to the windshield...and dash

ahhh... so i wasnt supposed to tap into the wires going up above???.... here is a few pics on what i did... I have a yellow wire with blue chaser for the + and the black and green for ground. as you can see.. i also have a yellow with white chaser, a green with grey chaser, white, and white with orange chaser.

... so from what I gather, i tapped into the wrong and should have tapped into the wires going into the female end of the plug?

if you got it to work great... doesnt matter then... but yeah i tapped into the plug coming up not going down... seeing this is where the actual power is coming from...

well, its working, but im wondering about the pulse that i noticed creating a drain on the battery... i guess maybe i should just re-do the set up and find that pink and green wire to put my mind at ease

x2 do it...

so, the weather was nice yesterday, so i decided to open up my a-pillar and take a look see at what i got going on here... I remove the plug that comes up from the dash board from the clip, to look at the wires... I find the pink and green everyone talks about (it was a pretty dark pink though), so assuming i found the right wire, i tap into it, only to find out that this wire is always hot as well... I guess, since mine is an 09, the wiring is completely different... I was forced to go back with my original set up, its just a little annyoing i suppose because the radar goes through like 3 P.O.S.T's just getting in and out of the car, and the gps doesnt turn off... I just thought id give you all an update on what I came up with... bascially... im back with my original situation...