Behind the kick panel... light blue wire.. what does it do?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by ES44AC, Jul 2, 2012.

  1. ES44AC

    ES44AC C.A.U.S

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    It was suggested by jdc02005 that I connect my V-1 radar locator to the 'light blue wire' that resides in a bundle behind the driver's side kick panel. The information was correct, in that this wire does power up when the car is READY.

    But it drive's my V-1 nuts if I don't have the unit ON when I start the car. IE: If I try to enable the V-1 after the car is ready it won't power up. It sits there with all it's lights on and buzzes loudly. I have to literally shut the car off, and turn the V-1 on, then re-start the car to make it work.

    Does anyone know what that light blue wire actually does?

    It's almost like it's not a pure 12v source when the car is READY. The V-1 is fine so we can eliminate that from the mix.

    Thanks and enjoy the holiday!
     
  2. Jay J

    Jay J Active Member

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    May not be a strong enough 12v ground source...My car would go bonkers I found out the 12v lighter wasn't getting a strong enough reading
     
  3. ES44AC

    ES44AC C.A.U.S

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    I spoke with V-1 tech support today and they indicated that on power up the V-1 goes through a self-test and can draw up to 1/2 amp of current. They advised getting a better quality phone cord and trying that in place of the crappy piece I had to order from the 'net. If the problem still persists with a new cable then the 'light blue wire' must not have the current capacity that it needs and I need to go to the fuse block.The V-1 works fine plugged into the cig lighter with a different piece of phone cable.

    The V-1 folks mentioned that they see troubles with GE brand phone cord so try and avoid it if you can.

    The OP jdc02005 didn't mention any of these problems so it must be that cheap phone cord I got.

    Thanks!
     
  4. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

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    OT: I was a bit disappointed that the radar cruise control does not uses one of the police radar bands (X, K or Ka). At least my BEL is not picking it up. It would be super sweet to ward off tailgators on the interstate when I am already 5 above the PSL.

    I have picked up K band trasmission from older Lexus LS' before.
     
  5. Jay J

    Jay J Active Member

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    Infinti uses Laser so does the MB Distronic
     
  6. ES44AC

    ES44AC C.A.U.S

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    Problem solved!

    I ended up replacing the cheap a** phone cord I was using and replaced it with a better grade of wire.

    Now I can turn the V-1 off and on whenever I want and not have the aforementioned troubles. That blue wire seems to work fine as a power source for the V-1.