[jb]

About a month ago I hardwired my Beltronics STI. Recently I've had problems with it not working. The connectors are not consistently making contact and therefore I have to remove the shift boot and give it a light press to make it work (if I can manage to find it with my clumsy fingers). I have no clue what to do for a lasting fix; removing the boot every day is getting really old and frustrating.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix this? Is there a different type of connector besides the blue 3M Quickconnects that would work better?

[Alpine]

A more specific description of how you wired it and a better description of what is going wrong with the detector would help alot.
What came to mind first for me would be to make sure your ground is secure. That was an issue for me, but once the ground was solid, I was good to go.
If that's not it, and it really is your splice, I guess you could go extreme and solder the wires in. I wouldn't do it, but hey.. it IS an option.
You could just try to relocate the quickconnect to a different place on the wire. That's what I would probably do in your situation. Hope this helps somehow.
Good luck!

[jb]

Here's the DIY I followed explicitly: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30100

Not sure about the ground, the DIY didn't mention it and no instructions came in the kit.

I already tried relocating the connectors to no avail and I'm a little afraid that playing with these wires too much is going to really screw up something. I guess I'm a bit intimidated by my inexperience.

Your help is much appreciated!

[Alpine]

Interesting. I didn't do my hardwire that way, but I'll see if I can offer some suggestions...

If I were you, I would essentially redo the wire tap completely. Since you've said you have already tried moving them, but it still works, sounds like its 1 of 3 things. Connectors are bad, wire is bad, or the detector is bad.

First thing's first, I would go get some new quick connects. The ones I used are 3M from walmart, but they are red, and appear more heavy duty. Got them in the automotive section.
If the wire is bad, which I doubt it is, then most likely something else is going to be going on and off with your detector (when it malfunctions). Look around and see if things still work right when your detector shuts off. If nothing's wrong, then it has to either be your connection to the wire or the detector itself.
Have you run the detector plugged in to the cigarette lighter for a while? You might want to try that just to make sure your detector isn't malfuntioning.
I suppose it could also be the wires going from your detector that connect to the quick connects.
Essentially I'm just suggesting that you check everything.. and then check it again. If I were you I'd take out the connections, get new quick connects, and connect to the car's wires in a different spot (a few inches away from where you tapped into it the first time).
Hopefully some of this helps, Good luck!

[jb]

I just rewired it to the fuse box. It works great now! Thanks for your help!

[Alpine]

That works too. lol Glad you got it working!

[Josh49]

Originally Posted by jb

I just rewired it to the fuse box. It works great now! Thanks for your help!

Saw your first post and was immediately going to suggest this. Much more consistent power..

Glad you got it figured out..