I broke my left side mirror (oops!) and needed to have it replaced. Buying from manufacturer costs 3 times the amount for one mirror. Instead, I ordered a set (left and right) online with the added ability of a motorized mechanism which allows the mirrors to fold in on their own when the car is off, then fold back out again when the car is turns back on. I was also able to order the new mirrors to match the color of my cars body.
So the instructions the mirrors came with for wiring them up (electric mirrors and also folding mechanism) wasn’t very clear. The electric mirror adjustment was a simple unplug/plug; but the auto folding mechanism required a signal wire for each mirror along with constant power.
Constant power, no problems. I can pull that from the other electrics in the door. But the signal wire coming from the black controller box (this is a simple timer/relay box) needs to somehow be run through the door grommet and up to the mirror. I wanted to push the wire through the existing grommet and was not prepared to punch holes through it. The darn thing is TIGHT! After beating my head against a brick wall for over an hour, I finally gave up. I knew that other models of the car have blinkers in the actual side mirrors, so I tried to look for the wiring for this function (which my mirrors don’t have and never had) on the off chance that the harness for all the models is the same (including the model with the blinker mirrors), but no luck here either.
At the end, it was getting late and I had work the next day. I needed my car to be in one piece so I put everything back together and with the intention of revisiting this project at a later date. One day, I will fix it. But not just yet.
- Broken mirror. oops!
- Broken mirror. oops!
- Removing the broken mirror
- Trying to decipher the instructions
- The controller box is on the right
- At the end I couldn’t decipher the instructions so I just wired it up how I thought it should be on my bench and tested it
- Yep! It works. The relays fold the mirror in and out.
- I needed to pull it apart to make sure I didn’t wire it up wrong when testing it on the bench. Waste of time. If only the instructions were clearer!
- This is an Arduino-based controller I had built a while ago for another function I built in to my car. This one is a hidden secret function which can only be activated by me, but is VERY useful. Sorry, no project will be made for this 🙂
- Installation of the new controller/relay box for the mirrors.
- Next to impossible to run a new wire from the dash through to the door.
- I was hoping to find an unused wire in the harness (it happens more frequently than you would think) in the harness but was not prepared to pull the door apart as it was getting late.
- New mirror. Nice and…. reflective.
- New mirror. Nice and…. reflective.
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