How to: Homelink Visor Install

I've been wanting these for a while. I've been waiting for the light gray version of these to match my interior. I must be one of the last '00s with the light gray interior!

A member on EF purchased a wrecked Limited for its chassis. Of course it was equipped with these being a limited. And of course it was fitted with the dark gray interior. I finally said ok to accepting the color difference and purchased them. They came today and I was rather disappointed. In the accident pop/coffee was sprayed on the drivers. Quite a while was spent cleaning them and they look pretty good. Onto the write-up!

What I started with:



And the new visors:



Removal

First thing to do is remove the 3 screws located near the A-pillar. Each can be accessed by moving the visor to a different position. Just have to move it around until it its easily accessible.



The assembly will then drop down. Make sure to leave the opposite side locked in until you have a hold of it. The smaller visor is rather weak.



Next, remove the post for the visor on the console side. It just slides out rather easily. Then you can slide out the opposite side.



With a little wiggling the connector will slide out of the hole. I used a small screw driver to compress the clip and pop it apart.





Installation

Installing them just takes connecting the plugs, inserting the small visor into each clip. I found putting in the console side easier. Make sure to properly get it seated with the spring clip touching the flat side of the post. Once again, be careful, the posts are weak.

Put the 3 screws in and you're set!

Finished product





Color match isn't bad at all. Definitely different, but livable. This is a nice upgrade if you use a garage with an opener and is a direct bolt in if your visors have the little mirror lights. I don't know if all years are compatible. $30 well spent!

And I don't have to have this thing hanging from my visor!



Questions and clarifications are welcomed.

This didn't take long to complete either. 20 minutes in 20* weather.

Thanks for the article Todd

IAmTodd said:

I don't know if all years are compatible.

Click to expand...

I can tell you all years aren't compatible. I added lighted sun visors to my 2000 explorer. I forget what year they came from. I think it was maybe a '98. It didn't have a connector like that. It just had a single bullet type connector.

I did this same mod a few months ago in my 99 XLT and had no trouble with the connectors there were the same as in Todd's photos

Great write-up as always Todd. I love that feature, but I still haven't got around to programming it for the garage in my new place. Thanks for the reminder to do it this weekend.

what do the rec and play buttons do, record sound?

Yes, you can record reminders for yourself.

thats crazy, does it play through the speakers or is there a small one in the visor it self?

There's a small speaker in the unit it self

Thanks I always wondered how difficult it was to change to these.

Now finding green ones... um yeah...

How do you program the door openeners?

Its outlined in the manual.

Or go here: http://www.homelink.com/training/train.taf

They all operate the same no matter what car it is. Took me a while to get it to recognize our intellicode system.

IAmTodd said:

Its outlined in the manual.

Or go here: http://www.homelink.com/training/train.taf

They all operate the same no matter what car it is. Took me a while to get it to recognize our intellicode system.

Click to expand...

That's why I haven't got around to doing mine yet. We've got a Chamberlain setup and I think it's one of those secured ones. In a nutshell, what's the trick? I've got the instructions somewhere but want to hear from someone who's done it before.

Clear the current codes(forget how to do that).

Take your factory remote, place it up against the the Homelink controller.

Push the button on the factory remote and the desired button on the Homelink controller.

Push the connect button on the drive motor and then push the desired button on the Homelink controller.

IAmTodd said:

Clear the current codes(forget how to do that).

Take your factory remote, place it up against the the Homelink controller.

Push the button on the factory remote and the desired button on the Homelink controller.

Push the connect button on the drive motor and then push the desired button on the Homelink controller.

Click to expand...

Todd:

After I posted, I went outside to figure it out. I remember at our old house I could teach the Homelink the code directly from the existing remote. Didn't happen with our new opener (rolling code). I did all the programming from the opener itself:

(1) Reset the codes (needed to do that anyhow because I hadn't done it since we moved in last October).
(2) Hit "learn" buttom on opener (must program in 30 seconds)
(3) Hold desired button on Homelink for 2 seconds
(4) Success!

I then reprogrammed our other remotes the same way. Pretty simple. I was glad to see we had a rolling code setup here. I read a local story a few years ago how people were stealing codes from non-rolling openers and breaking into garages (and houses with attached garages). Rolling code openers were immune in this scenario. I'm sure the bad boys have lots of toys to bypass that.

Sweet. The Genie system must be different. I had to do the thing with the remote. It was a little hassle and wasn't outlined in the manual(if I remember correctly).

celly said:

Todd:
I was glad to see we had a rolling code setup here. I read a local story a few years ago how people were stealing codes from non-rolling openers and breaking into garages (and houses with attached garages). Rolling code openers were immune in this scenario. I'm sure the bad boys have lots of toys to bypass that.

Click to expand...

Thats not a very good feeling knowing that. If we go away for a long period we pull the power to the units and place vice-grips on the tracks to prevent the doors from moving.

IAmTodd said:

Sweet. The Genie system must be different. I had to do the thing with the remote. It was a little hassle and wasn't outlined in the manual(if I remember correctly).

Click to expand...

What was really strange is that I followed the instructions printed right on the opener unit itself and it didn't work. I then followed the instructions Homelink had for programming Homelink transmitter and followed the same instructions for the other two Chamberlain remotes and it worked for all. Go figger.

IAmTodd said:

Thats not a very good feeling knowing that. If we go away for a long period we pull the power to the units and place vice-grips on the tracks to prevent the doors from moving.

Click to expand...

Ours has a lock feature. You just hit the button right beside the wall switch and it de-activates the opener. Haven't used it yet but probably will when we go away next. Our garage is part of our monitored alarm system for extra piece of mind.

IAmTodd said:

Its outlined in the manual.

Or go here: http://www.homelink.com/training/train.taf

They all operate the same no matter what car it is. Took me a while to get it to recognize our intellicode system.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, my car never came with a manual and i couldnt figure out where to find instructions.