I want to install the Escort SR1 remote radar detector. I have done all my remote radar detector installations in the past. I was going to have this one done professionally but could not bear to have someone else work on the car and I want a clean installation and one that makes no permanent visible alterations.

There is a unit that has to go in the front, visible to the roadway, and one on the back license plate. I'm having difficulties with:

1) Where to mount in the front grill. I only see a to bar to mount it to that I don't think I can drill into.
2) How to get the cable from the front grille into the cabin.
3) How the heck to get a cable from the back license plate into the cabin.

This looks by far the hardest car to do this on. Has anybody done an installation like this ? Are there any references or shop manuals available yet to help me with the installation ?

 

If there is some way you could pull it off, id reccomend putting it underneath the car, drilled into the front end underneath the furthermost part of the passenger side front...
if that wasnt a horrible explanation, i dont know what is...
anyway, thats what i plan on doing to mine.

 

I just finished my SRX install late last week. This was also recommended for a dealer install but, I could not find a nearby dealer willing to do it on the Z. The SRX has two front mounted laser shifters, One front mounted Radar receiver, and one rear mounted laser shifter.

The rear mounted shifter was faily simple, just attached to the plate screws (Using tamper resistant stainless fasteners). You can run the wire behind the plate where there is a rubber boot that you can put the cable through to the interior (you may need to cut a small slit and run the wire then seal with silicone). I then ran the wire to the front of the car through the spare tire area and under the edges of the plastic trim and kick plates to the front dash.

All the gadgets up front were a different story. The metal bar you see is the actual bumper. I mounted all three devices to the bumper. If you are installing the SRX with the laser shifters they should be evenly spaced to each side of center and must be forward facing and level to the road. I also mounted the radar receiver the same way, but closer to center. If you have attached your front plate you would find it difficult to get all three devices in place and leave the two plastic panels in place to the outside of the grill on each side. I needed to remove ten fasteners from the engine fairing underneath the car so that I could get a drill up to the bumper. I then used a wire ties to tidy up the three cables and followed the path of the horn and other electrical cables from between the front bumper and radiator up into the engine compartment. This also took some additional disassembly to run these wires along the existing electrical and keep everything all wire tied and professional looking. After I got the wires up into the engine compartment I again followed existing wiring to the battery compartment keeping everything wire tied neatly. To get through the firewall without drilling you will have to remove the plastic over the battery compartment (all of it up to the windshield, not just the cover). You will also need to remove the battery (remember the precautions about the windows). There is a fuse box behind the battery up against the firewall. Behind that fuse box is where the wiring harness enters the interior. It has a soft rubber boot around it. There was enough spare space that I could run all three wires in through that boot. I made a small cut in the boot stretched it to fit my wires through and then sealed with silicone when I finished. I then reassembled the engine compartment and bottom engine fairing.

Once this is done I found the interior to be a piece of cake. I took power from the fuse box wiring harness and tapped into the same wire that powers the aux power/cig. lighter. The ground wire can be attached to the frame of the fuse box. After this was complete I found locations for the display unit (I don't have NAV so it is mounted in the empty nav space) and the control box. Mounted them up and finished all the connections. I then neatly wire tied all the spare cables (the escort install did not recommend splicing or reterminating except for the rear radar shifter). And securely wire tied these to another electrical harness under the dash.

I will try and take some pictures and post them to this thread in the next couple of days. I have installed several car stereo systems in other vehicles and you are correct, this is one of the most difficult installs I have completed.

If you have any questions please post them here or PM me.

Jim
Daytona Blue Touring.

 

Here are some photos of my SRX install. Unfortunately I did not take any while I had the car apart and these are all after install shots.

 

Front Laser shifter and Radar Ant.

 

Rear Lasar Shifter.

 

Top View of Radar Ant. from hood opening.

 

Wiring in Engine Compartment over strut.

 

Battery Box. Wires run through here.

 

Wider angle of battery box.

 

Under dash behind battery box were wires enter interior.

 

Interface Box where all device wiring is connected.

 

Display/Alarm unit in NAV opening.

 

The lasers seem to take up a lot of room. Have you notice any cooling problems? I'm planning on doing the same thing, and even adding fog lights to the outside of the lasers.

 

Haven’t had any problem with cooling since installing the SRX. If you look at the total grill space the SRX components really don’t take up that much of a percentage. I also have no plans to mount the front plate. The front plate would make the SRX install a real bi@*^. Once the plate is on, it would be difficult to find a clear view for the radar ant.

The last section of the grill towards the outside has plastic air damns installed. If you mount your fog lights in front of these it should not interfere with air flow, but finding a way to mount them will be difficult. The air damns are mounted with plastic retaining clips that may get in the way.

 

Thanks for the pictures ! There are a big help. I'm going to install this weekend. I don't know if I'm going to get the SR1 or the SRX. There is a new SR7 coming out but I don't know if I can wait. It was due 9/2002 but there is no sign of when it will be available.

I would go to the SRX except for two things:
1) I have a front license plate so I don't know if I can fit the SRX.
2) I have called about 30 places, local dealers, internet, etc., and I cannot find a SRX to buy. Very few places have them, and the few that I have found either won't sell it to me (they said Escort has called them recently) or they won't install it on my car and won't sell it. So, I have no source for an SRX, not even installed. I do have several sources for the SR1.

One last question. How did you attach the radar unit ? Did you screw into the plastic part of the bumper or the metal part of the bumper ?

 

Thank you very much!

I just picked up the ZR3 Shifter addition for my 8500 and was going to install it this weekend.

How did you get the front in the air to remove the air dam underneath and drill?

Kevin

 

The Pictures were great also.

 

I attached all the components to the metal part of the bumper. I felt that this was more secure. I did need to go get some additional SS hardware over what excort provided.

I did not need to lift the car to install any of the laser shifters of radar ant. I only needed to undo about 10 screws/nuts from the plastic fairing that is under the motor. It is flexible enough that you can then pull it down to get your hands arm and a drill behind the plastic bumper cover. However, It was a little bit tight lifting the car may make it easier. I did read in another thread about someone using ramps. I have not tried ramps yet but may give it a shot when it comes time for the first oil change. I'll need to watch closely to make sure I don't hose up the front end. Otherwise I'll use a jack & stands.

 

Cool. Did you just screw into the metal ? Is the metal bumer hollow ? Did you use any glue ?

It seems like the bumper was solid and would not work for a screw.