scn101 Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Thought I'd share how I hard wired a dash cam and radar detector to my 2019 MKZ HEV. I moved my wiring from my 2014 Fusion to the MKZ and captured a few pics that might help. Here's the end result. The Uniden R3 is small enough to still allow full use of the sun visor (no interference). I used a permanent stick on mount ($15 on ebay). Using a blow dryer and floss, you can remove them easily as I did moving from the Fusion to the MKZ. I love how neat the end result is. The yellow sticky note is to cover the serial number of my toll pass for this write-up. The detector uses a standard RJ11 telephone cord and runs off 12V so no voltage conversion is required. You can buy hardwire kits for Uniden and Beltronics/Escort on ebay. All seem to use the same RJ11 and luckily use the same pins and polarity for the 12V. I simply used an old telephone cord I had lying around. I figured out which pins were +12V and ground by measuring them using a voltmeter and the standard cigarette lighter adapter. The dash cam uses a mini-usb and as such needs a 12V to 5V converter. Available on ebay and Amazon they are 12V wires in and mini-usb 5V out. Below is a pic from the Fusion but the MKZ is almost exactly the same. The white foam on the right houses my USB voltage converter (about the size of a pack of wooden matches). The rest of the excess wiring tucks neatly into the available crevices. I apologize for the next pic but here's where I tapped the power. I soldered the two 12V wires together from the telephone wire and the USB converter together and did the same for the two grounds. I used two short lengths of green wire that I will use to tap the power and ground. I used heat shrink to ensure nothing shorts out. Strip about 3/8" of an inch of insulation and solder tin the wire. Then slip the tins ends into the back side of the following connector, 12V positive on the left, ground on the right. Since you tinned them it should be a nice tight fit as you push them into the back side of the connector. This friction fit contact worked great for the past 6 years and should do the same in the MKZ. Add/subtract solder tinning to get it to a nice snug fit. I then used one small zip tie around the wire bundle to hold the green wires from pulling out (not shown but would be place about an inch away from the connector). No bare wire should be exposed. The connector is located under the blue piece shown below. Simply pull at the top as shown. No need to remove the green piece. How to pull off the overhead console. On earlier models you'll need to release two clips as shown below. This was the case on my 2014. Don't just pull the console down and off or you'll ruin the attach points shown where the pick tool is and the console will end up popping off when you hit a bump. On my 2019 they improved the design and now the overhead console is held in with normal clips, so simply pull down on the rear of of the console (the end that faces the rear of the car) and start prying it away with your fingers, no tools needed. It should tilt down at the rear and then pull out completely. Unclip two connectors to get the console out of the way. OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS for the earlier models: Open the storage compartment. Push upwards on the rear of the console, use a 90 degree pick tool and release the RH and LH rear console clips. Finally, the connector I tapped is below. Pin 1 for +12V (hot in accessory and run) and pin 7, ground. The 12V circuit is fused and adding a few hundred milli-amps of load to the circuit is inconsequential. Remember, you're slipping the tinned wires into the backside of the connector, so you're not modifying/cutting/damaging anything. You're not affecting the connector in anyway. I hope someone finds this useful. Robert Iggy Cerami and RAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 Very nice write up. Quick question, are pin 1 and 7 on the bottom row as you're looking at the back of the connector? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scn101 Posted January 24, 2020 Author Share Posted January 24, 2020 When you remove the blue trim piece (blue in the service manual pic above) you'll see the backside of the connector so pin 7 - GND will be on passenger side; pin 1 +12V will be on the driver's side. You can't mix them up if you go by the wire colors entering the connector, ground is black with a white stripe and +12V is yellow with a grey stripe. No way you'll mix them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scn101 Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 Idiot_Driver.mp4 I almost needed my dash cam, though in reality this would have been cut and dry. Hard to believe someone would enter the freeway's 45MPH service road from a driveway without slowing down or even looking. Somehow I was able to avoid disaster by switching from the right lane to the middle lane in a nick of time as I honked to ensure the she didn't continue to swerve out into the middle lane. And the pièce de résistance? She flipped me off when she later passed me, perhaps upset that I honked at her. Classy. Next driveway was a Service Collision repair shop. In retrospect, quite convenient I suppose. I lowered the resolution of the video to keep the file size under 1MB. R2D2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multitask Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Maybe she was telling you , that you are Number 1? buhahahah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzy3906 Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Lucky there was no one else on the next lane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris109 Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 21 hours ago, scn101 said: Idiot_Driver.mp4 I almost needed my dash cam, though in reality this would have been cut and dry. Hard to believe someone would enter the freeway's 45MPH service road from a driveway without slowing down or even looking. Somehow I was able to avoid disaster by switching from the right lane to the middle lane in a nick of time as I honked to ensure the she didn't continue to swerve out into the middle lane. And the pièce de résistance? She flipped me off when she later passed me, perhaps upset that I honked at her. Classy. Next driveway was a Service Collision repair shop. In retrospect, quite convenient I suppose. I lowered the resolution of the video to keep the file size under 1MB. Why does this surprise you in this day and age? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multitask Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 Came across this one... not a bad price for what it does... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082FCZK4V?pd_rd_w=6FSiU&pf_rd_p=967b77e0-bd86-481b-84d4-680d73ddce78&pd_rd_wg=tW9VW&pf_rd_r=C0R9FE5KPMS1GZPX47PF&pd_rd_r=6fb8d1fa-3293-4655-8c14-9f5f8c1c348f Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusionff Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 I gotta get around to installing and wiring up my dual DR02 cameras in the MKZ. I was waiting for the warm weather, I guess I have no excuses now. Have a DR02 single cam for my truck too, looks like it's time to pop a few cold ones and get busy. ? R2D2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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