The car is a 2003 Civic LX, into which I'm trying to install a Uniden scanner. It comes with a power cable with three wires. Red, Black and Orange. The red and orange are already fused.

Here's what the instructions say:

1. Attach DC Power leads. Red goes to a positive connection on your fuse block, while black connects to the vehicles chassis ground.

2. Connect the orange lead to one side of the headlamp switch so that when you activate the headlights, the scanners LCD back light dimmer level changes color and intensity.

My questions:

1. Which fuse should I connect the Red to? Years and years ago when I would do cheap installs, I would pull the fuse out, jam the wire into one of the sides of the fuse, and jam the fuse back in. What is the CORRECT way to draw power off the fuse box?

2. How the heck do I find the correct wire to run the orange wire from? Again, when I was doing things the wrong way, I would've used a clip that has metal prongs in it that clamp onto a wire, and allow you to connect a second wire to it. Is this the right way to do it or is there a better way?

EMT-B

EMT-B

Yellow/red is acc. to your red.
Black is ground. to your black
Red/black is illumination. to your orange. 94

You get what you pay for.

Nothing is impossible, the impossible takes longer and costs more money.

EMT-B

You get what you pay for.

Nothing is impossible, the impossible takes longer and costs more money.

Obviously, I unplugged the stock head unit, and shoved the wires into the harness before making any permenant connections. The radio powered on and off perfectly, but the Red/black lead seemed to do nothing for illumination.

On a semi-related note, I don't think my stock head unit dimmed with the headlights anyways....

EMT-B

The red/black should have 12V+ on it when the park/head light switch is turned on.
Maybe the the scanner is the problem. 94

You get what you pay for.

Nothing is impossible, the impossible takes longer and costs more money.

EMT-B

The red/black should have 12V+ on it when lights are turned on, if there is no effect on the scanner readout when the orange lead is connected to the red/black, then there is something wrong with the scanner. 94

You get what you pay for.

Nothing is impossible, the impossible takes longer and costs more money.

Quote, originally posted by fcm »

The red/black should have 12V+ on it when lights are turned on, if there is no effect on the scanner readout when the orange lead is connected to the red/black, then there is something wrong with the scanner. 94

Thanks for the help!

EMT-B

EMT-B

Turn the scanner on and then touch the orange lead to chassis ground, anything? 94

You get what you pay for.

Nothing is impossible, the impossible takes longer and costs more money.