From what I have gathered, it is not constant hot but in fact controlled by the SJB. After 10 minutes, the SJB will shut off power if you lock your doors / arm the alarm system. But if your vehicle is running, power will be sent to the wires in question indefinitely (until the engine is OFF or doors locked, etc...)

 

ill tell u now that i tested this by accident.

i turned on my map lights manually with the jog dial one night and didnt turn them off. the next morning they were still on.

if the car turns them on, ie like when you open a door or whatnot, they will go off automatically too.

 

OK, so I think I get it now. So the blue wire is a constant hot--sort of, but after you leave the car, 10-15 minutes later is turns off the power to it to save the battery. This can be defeated however by turning on the overhead lights with the dial switch on the light panel, and if the car is running it is always hot...is that correct? So in other words, I would be fine to use the blue wire to tap into for constant hot, as it would receive power as soon as I open the door, which would allow me to hit the garage door open on the Homelink before starting the car? Thanks again for the clarification.

 

This is correct

 

There are actually TWO circuits within the map lights....one that allows you to turn on/off the map lights independently of each other and when the key is off (I would imagine the batt saver circuit would shut off power after a while) and the second circuit is for the courtesy lamp function, i.e., when you open the doors manually or with key fob or via the dash wheel...these gradually dim the interior lighting after a few seconds, etc. This circuit is what I tapped for the footwell courtesy lights and is controlled by the Black/blue stripe and Green/yellow stripe wires....the constant hot wire for the map lights is the white one that goes to the individual switches (IIRC).

Remember - these wires run down the passenger side A piller and come down right behind the dash (above the fuse box) you can tap into them there as well.

 

So which wire did you tap for +12V for the radar detector, and which did you tap for the GND? Black-Light Blue stripe for +12V and Black for GND?

 

Metro - don't know if you were asking me or not - but neither the Black/blue stripe or Green/yellow stripe are proper grounds...I ran the footwell courtesy lights by connecting one wire from the two lead socket to each and you do not ground the socket....curious when I was testing for hot/ground with my test lamp grounded to the frame - the Black/blue wire made the test lamp work the exact opposite of the coutesy lamp circuit, it would brighten up and then stay on as the courtesy map lights dimmed then went out and (IIRC) the Green/yellow was always hot....that's why I just tapped into both wires rather than running one hot and ground lead for each socket. I think the Black/Blue wire must connect to the delay module for the courtesy light dim cycle or something and it must be a switched ground via the module

Keep in mind, I only added footwell courtesy lights to the existing overhead map <courtesy circuit> - I didn't add any accessories like radar detector, etc. There is a white wire that goes to the individual overhead map light buttons and it did appear to be a constant "hot" wire that I imagine would act the same as the independent map lights function - that could be tapped for an accessory. When I tested my footwell lights off of the white wire and the black ground wire - it acted as a normal hot and ground setup and functioned the same as the map lights.....NOT the overhead <courtesy> circuit......sorry if this doesn't seem to make sense - been waaay too long of a day and I'm not sure I understand what I just typed....

 

Solid Black for Ground and Black with Blue Strip for Power.
This will power the Radar and shut off ten Minutes after the key is turned off.
ANY electrical curcuit that will activate the light will activate the radar.
i.e. doors, trunk, key etc.

see reply # 9 above it has step by step instructions for this install.
I wrote up my own version becuase i lost my copy of dustin install instructions.

 

Solid Black for Ground and Black with Blue Strip for Power.
This will power the Radar and shut off ten Minutes after the key is turned off.
ANY electrical curcuit that will activate the light will activate the radar.
i.e. doors, trunk, key etc.

see reply # 9 above it has step by step instructions for this install.
I wrote up my own version becuase i lost my copy of dustin install instructions. Good Luck

Don't sweat it........ the WORST that you can do is blow a fuse!

 

Thanks for the assistance everybody. I also just had a friend look up the wires in the Ford Service manual, and the following wires are in the overhead console:

White/Light Blue=voltage supplied at all times (overload protected)
Black=Ground
Light Green/Yellow=Interior Lamps, return
Black/Light Blue=Interior Lamps feed
Red/Light Blue=Intrusion sensor module

Hope that helps clear up any remaining confusion, it did for me

 

I figured it out the old fashioned way with a volt meter