Cheap auto-dimming, homelink mirror

[Poyter]

I will be testing it tonight, although I’ve never tested wires with a 9v battery. How should I go about this? I haven’t found anything online yet.

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[RDRahn]

When I have done that I just hold bare part of wires to the battery. If we are correct in assuming that the black wire is ground it should always be touching the negative (-) terminal. Touching the other wires to the +side of the battery should cause the mirror to do something. At least that’s what I’m thinking.
Then you can write down what wire does what. If the black is NOT ground then you will have to try the others until you identify the correct ground wire.

 

[raymaines]

Hey guys, I can help.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ming-homelink-mirror.8346/page-58#post-497198

Better yet, look for post #576 on this thread by Eagel11 for lots of pictures of how it all works.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ming-homelink-mirror.8346/page-39#post-283270

Post #578 is a good video too

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ming-homelink-mirror.8346/page-39#post-283756

 

[RDRahn]

Oh. And it could be that more than one wire shows the same result. On my three wire, one was for connection to “always on” power and the other to “switched” power.

look forward to hearing what you find out.

 

[RDRahn]

Hey guys, I can help.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ming-homelink-mirror.8346/page-58#post-497198

Better yet, look for post #576 on this thread by Eagel11 for lots of pictures of how it all works.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ming-homelink-mirror.8346/page-39#post-283270

Post #578 is a good video too

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ming-homelink-mirror.8346/page-39#post-283756

If I am not mistaken, @gp1200x was commenting on the mirror side wiring which seems to have 4 colored wires unlike the 3-wires shown in these videos and mentioned in many of the posts onb this thread. gp1200x please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Beninark]

Just a quick follow up. I decided to go ahead and skip trying to find a cheap Kia mirror. None of the orders were ever shipped and time vs money component was starting to kick in.

Ended up ordering a Gentex-536 mirror off of ebay for $60. If you go this route, I would highly recommend that you find a mirror with the pig tail (other half of plastic connector piece and some length of wire coming out to tie into). It has worked out really well. I went with a method of building a wiring harness as detailed by Mark (aka mabcim)

Link to Harness Post
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ge-opener-and-ford-auto-dimming-mirror.32299/

He does a good job walking you through what parts to purchase.

In the PDF he has an image that shows what wire goes to what. For the harness I used the ground and the 12v Accessory wire to power the mirror. I made splits in those wires and soldered two wires off of the 12v and 1 off of the ground to match the existing pigtail that went to the mirror which had obviously been clipped off of another car.

For the Gentex-536, I wasn't able to find a pin out diagram but I was able to find another website where someone else had figured what the three pig tail wires did. Turns out the black/wire and the middle black were power while the remaining black wire was ground...gee thanks what ever engineer came up with that.

Referenced Gentex-536 wiring website.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/help-with-gentex-mirror-wiring.200595/

The build for the wiring harness was intimidating for me as my knowledge of electronics is limited...i.e. I know you don't want to let the magic smoke out...if the smoke gets out, it wont work. Soldering work was tedious especially since I don't have much experience there but honestly the process was pretty straight forward. Just took some time.

Tips from my experience:
- Buy at least two or three of everything you might need...except pins...have a hundred of those. I broke, lost, bent, multiple pins and receiver pins.
- I had a one connector pin (on the plastic piece you have to buy) fall off on me when I was 90% through. Don't bend the pins. Was no way to resolder the pin back on.
- I didn't have a hot glue gun but I did use heat shrink sleeves (with glue) to cover the pin connections and anywhere else that was soldered. This helps prevent any accidental metal to metal contact.
- Put your head shrink tubes on before soldering your pins to connectors.
- It took me about 4 hours of labor to make the wiring harness, 10 minutes to get the plastic cover off above the stock mirror and 2 minutes to attach the wiring harness and new mirror.
- Be sure and reset your new mirror. You will have to drive in circles to calibrate north and remember to set your compass zone. Mine was off by 30 degrees until I changed the zone.

 

[hdave]

I tried ordering again with that note about taking responsibility for fit and will not return, they still canceled it.

 

[grod]

I tried ordering again with that note about taking responsibility for fit and will not return, they still canceled it.

I'm not having any luck either. I may hit up a couple of salvage yards, when I get a free weekend.

 

[BrewingAdventure]

I finally installed the mirror I ordered a few months ago. This video was very helpful and has a couple screens to help you identify wires.

I tapped into the overhead light wires using Posi-Taps.
https://www.amazon.com/Lockitt-POSI-TAP-Assortment-connectors-10-22/dp/B00CMC5DII/
Pretty easy to use, but double check your connections with a multimeter before buttoning everything up. One of mine wasn't making good contact, but a quick adjustment fixed it.
The wires are thin, ~20 gauge, and I only had 2 appropriately sized taps, so I tapped ground, and put both power wires onto the ignition power wire. Should be fine for my needs.

 

[homerdog]

I hooked up the mirror. It works fine during the day but doesn't work at night. What'd I do wrong? I've got copilot 360 and tapped into the purple/white wire

 

[Eagle11]

I tried ordering again with that note about taking responsibility for fit and will not return, they still canceled it.

Go to your local Kia dealers web site and search their parts department, they will have it. For the last 4 mirrors I have installed, I have gotten them from a dealer.

 

[hdave]

Go to your local Kia dealers web site and search their parts department, they will have it. For the last 4 mirrors I have installed, I have gotten them from a dealer.

how much did it cost you from kia?

 

[Eagle11]

how much did it cost you from kia?

$30 buck or so, much cheaper than what Ford will charge you.

 

[Mabcim]

I hooked up the mirror. It works fine during the day but doesn't work at night. What'd I do wrong? I've got copilot 360 and tapped into the purple/white wire

Are talking about that wire at the dome light?
Myself, and some others, found that wire is not a constant 12v. Might just be a Lariat thing, as others have had no problems.
My current thought, based on what I found the Auto Start/Stop button light is doing, is that it is most likely a pulsed signal; where the pulses determine brightness.

I used the camera connector, for my power. Here is a thread with my write up on it: https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ge-opener-and-ford-auto-dimming-mirror.32299/

 

[Eagle11]

Are talking about that wire at the dome light?
Myself, and some others, found that wire is not a constant 12v. Might just be a Lariat thing, as others have had no problems.
My current thought, based on what I found the Auto Start/Stop button light is doing, is that it is most likely a pulsed signal; where the pulses determine brightness.

I used the camera connector, for my power. Here is a thread with my write up on it: https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...ge-opener-and-ford-auto-dimming-mirror.32299/

I have wired 10 Mavericks, the way I posted in this thread and not one has had an issue...

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