Auto-dim mirror installation, for those who asked

metalman

Registered User
I read on the "mirror, what does it do" thread that some people asked if you can put a auto-dimming rear-view mirror on a car that didn't come with it to begin with. Funny I read this because I just did that today. So, I'll tell you.

Give yourself an hour. I might not take that long, but to be safe...I went to the junk yard today (U-Wrench-It) and pulled the wiring harness from a '90 V6 bird and the mirror from a '90 Lincoln Town Car. The mirror itself add the same electrical connections but instead of a dimming wheel, this has an "Off-Low-High" sensitivity switch. Grand total cost me a wopping $7.50.

To pull mirror and wiring from the parts car-Unscrew the square sensor first (the Town Car had a flat head screw). Then loosen the mirror with an allen wrench and slide it out of the mounting track. Unplug the two electrical connectors. Great, you have the mirror now.

You have to then lower the head liner and remove the driver side trim.
-First unscrew the driverside sun visor and both driver and passenger side visor clips (the plastic clips on the center of the liner that clip the visors in place).
-Remove the center dome light. Pry off cover and unscrew three mounting screws (phillips head)
-Then pry loose the two wires that are under the dome light. They are kinda hooked in, so just use a flat head to pry them from the ceiling. Pull the wire loose from it's 'stays' to the driver door.
-Remove A pillar trim. Three screws and a plastic pop pin in the door jam. Pull the trim from the center of the door to pull the holding clip.
-Remove drivers side rear interior trim. 1 screw in indention for electric seatbelts, 1 screw about one foot south of that. The screw in the cloths hook, 1 about 5 inch to the left, 1 in the very rear tip of the trim behind the rear seat belt mechanism (used stubby phillips). Pull off seatbelt mechanism housing. (if you've never done it before, just pull). That should be all the screws. Then just pry the clips loose. 1 at the forward center of trim, and one near the rear light on the trim. Pry the round access flap out if you need some leverage.

You should be able to just move the rear trim away from the side enough to see the connection of the rear trim light. (But you might want to take your rear seats out to get totally remove the rear trim.) Disconnect the light (pull apart) and follow that wire down to the large wiring harness connector, that's one end of it. Start pulling it out. You'll will probably pull the 'stay tabs' out of the harness along the way but that's no big deal.

The head liner that this point should be totaly loose and half way to the floor now.


Pull the harness loose all the way to the forward of the car and up to the mirror that you've disconnected. And there you go.

Off course you then need to to the same thing to your car then put the new one in. I secured my new wiring with zip ties and a bit of electrical tape here and there.

*Remember the position of the two wires in the dome light. They were kind of a pain to get back in. I had to shave a bit of plastic away to get it in and helped secure it w/ electrical tape.

*Becare full of the rear defroster terminal on the glass. It is pretty fragile. I ripped mine off today trying to position the rear trim right when putting it back together. Now I have to fix that.

So that's how ya do it. I know it's a big long in text here, but I'd rather be too detailed than too vague.

I hope someone gets something out of this. I hope I didn't right all this for nothing :) Enjoy!

Metalman
 
Cool.. I'll have to keep my eyes out for such a part at the salvage yards. I need to replace my mirror anyway.

Thanks.
 
I believe I was out of a '90 Lincoln Town Car. The dimmer switch is different. It has a "Off-Hi-Low" Sensitivity switch rather than the dial that the normal t-bird mirror has, but the wire connections are the same.

I honestly haven't driven my car since I installed it because I ripped my dashboard out of my car shortly after...and it is still out of my car. So, I haven't seen the mirror in action yet.

Later,
Metalman
 
Most of the mid 90's Lincoln mirrors will work,look for the mirrors with a little round sensor in the upper right corner,works great.....
z
 
rear view mirror

metalman said:
I read on the "mirror, what does it do" thread that some

enjoyed reading your how to on the mirror. my mirror does not have a place to connect to of the wires coming from the headliner. it has little switches for map lights. is this a stock mirror or what. also when i tip the mirror i can not see images in the rear at night. thanks for your help lorenzo

william2550@yahoo.com
 
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