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Adding heated mirrors

damarble

Well-Known Member
Joined
June 20, 2008
Messages
759
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City, State
Washington
Year, Model & Trim Level
21 Bronco & 88 Bronco II
Has anyone added heated mirrors to an explorer that didn't have them? I bought a set and need to wire them up.
 



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Have you yet taken an existing mirror off to see if the wiring harness for it has the power leads, compatible connector for the new mirrors? That is what I would do, passenger side if you need to keep driving it till you figure it all out - BUT check your state laws just in case, in many it is legal to drive without the passenger side mirror.

Otherwise, it seems like you have two choices, either adding a new switch somewhere to individually control the mirrors, or wiring it to whatever else makes the most sense to you like the rear defroster circuit. Since we're talking about heating elements, albeit small ones but still that's a bit of current, you'd want to look at what your fuse rating is on the circuit you pick.

You can pull that fuse and measure the current with a multimeter in series on the fuse contacts while operating everything on that circuit, to see what reserve current capacity it has. You can wire the mirror heater elements to a 12V source and measure with a multimeter to see how much current they draw. Add the two, compare to the fuse rating, compare to the wiring gauge too.

A little bigger fuse can be substituted but you don't want to overtax the wiring. Now I'm drifting into an unlikely situation because the factory wiring had to have a certain level of accommodation since it was a factory option, but it is something to keep in mind.

Anyway the rear defroster/defogger also seems to make sense because it's a timed circuit that shuts itself off. I assume this is standard on all trim/options packages? A diagram I have shows the timer through the GEM, wiring colors (at least for my '98?) and where the heated mirrors tap into the circuit. If you follow that then you can ignore the latter 3/4ths of what I wrote. :)

heated_mirrors.png
 






It looks like my best bet is to add a new circuit since it's controlled by the GEM and I don't have rear defrost to piggy back off. I'll split the wires at the plug, sending the power mirror function through the stock wiring and the heat through a new separate connector (along with puddle lights since the new mirrors have them and the old ones do not).

I'll use a radio bezel from a defrost equipped ex so I can use the factory defrost switch. I already have an auxiliary fuse box from when I converted to electric radiator fans so I'll pull power from that. I purchased this timer to finish it off.

Heated Mirror Timer [03-RE-HMT1] - $31.50 : Midwest Bus Parts, We Do More Than Bus Parts
 






Even though your model did not come with the options, it is possible that the wiring in yours has existing wires for the heat and puddle lights in the harness..
When we bought our truck it did not have the keypad and no puddle lamps, but when we changed the doors with ones that had the keypad and puddle lamps, the harnesses matched and everything worked without modifications..
 






This should take care of it.

20171120_181300.jpg
 






Cool. I expected to see tapping into the factory defrost circuit, and add two wires to the mirror.

Is that timer adjustable? I've planned a couple of circuits in the past that I needed a timed circuit for.
 






The existing defrost circuit would make sense but I don't seem to have one.

This particular timer isn't adjustable but others I was looking at can be set between 1-20 minutes. I can't even find any documentation stating what the time is on this one. Apparently it's commonly used on busses. The low price made it worth the gamble.

Theoretically a completely standalone harness could be made to drop this setup into anything.
 






Thanks, I'm always pondering some new idea.
 






This particular timer isn't adjustable but others I was looking at can be set between 1-20 minutes. I can't even find any documentation stating what the time is on this one.

Doesn't the instruction sheet in your picture state approximately 10 minutes?
 






Lol it sure does. How did I not see that.
 






It looks like you already have a solution that will work, but keep in mind that if you have a GEM at all, there's probably a way to do it without a separate timer module, assuming your relay box has contacts for the defroster relay and you install one. That is, I am assuming the same GEM is used and on a trim level that doesn't make use of all possible options packages, those GEM controls were going unused.

Per that diagram I posted previously, you'd wire the GEM connector C280 pin 1, to the defrost switch, then the switch to ground. With a factory switch/light assembly you'd also wire the relay output going to the defroster circuit/mirrors, through the switch-on bulb indicator.

You'd make sure you have a 10A fuse 32 installed, and wire from the relay output to the heaters and switch-on bulb. Note that what I am referring to as a "bulb" is really the resistor and LED in series in the diagram, not the other bulb that lights with interior lighting on.
 






Hmm maybe I should try that first and save this for another project.
 






It looks like you already have a solution that will work, but keep in mind that if you have a GEM at all, there's probably a way to do it without a separate timer module, assuming your relay box has contacts for the defroster relay and you install one. That is, I am assuming the same GEM is used and on a trim level that doesn't make use of all possible options packages, those GEM controls were going unused.

Per that diagram I posted previously, you'd wire the GEM connector C280 pin 1, to the defrost switch, then the switch to ground. With a factory switch/light assembly you'd also wire the relay output going to the defroster circuit/mirrors, through the switch-on bulb indicator.

You'd make sure you have a 10A fuse 32 installed, and wire from the relay output to the heaters and switch-on bulb. Note that what I am referring to as a "bulb" is really the resistor and LED in series in the diagram, not the other bulb that lights with interior lighting on.

Do you have experience with understanding schematics, of a GEM for instance? I've got the parts/components to put together a 4WD "system" from a 98 Expedition. I know to make it work will require analyzing the GEM module of two vehicles(the 4WD circuits), and mating the proper wiring with the new 4WD switch.

The Explorer 98-01 uses a three position 4WD switch, and the 98 Expedition had a four position switch, with two functions being different. The Expedition has a 2WD position, plus the 4WD Hi position utilizes the shift motor, to mechanically shift into 4WD. The Explorer simply engages the TC clutch to achieve 4WD Hi, no shift motor function. I have the Expedition/Navigator TC(BW 4406 TOD), the 98 Expedition GEM, and a four position switch from another Expedition(2002 I think). There are varying resistances for each position of the switch, so I'm not sure the one I have is a perfect match for the 98 GEM of the Expedition.

That's my list of details, does this sound like fun to dig into? My thought was to find the 4WD circuits inside the Expedition GEM, and remove them if possible. That GEM is bigger than the Explorer GEM I believe(6+ years back), I doubt the whole thing would fit in the dash.
 






^ Good schematics, I am fairly good at reading and reverse engineering. Bad schematics, maybe or maybe not.

I know nothing about the Expedition setup except what you've just written, and very little about GEMs in general except the expectation that there's a microcontroller and some transistor or mechanical relays among other components. This leads me to suspect that there is no way to remove the 4WD portion of the circuitry and transplant it. If you find that there is a separate circuit board in it for that, then it seems more do-able, "maybe".

Hmm, upon doing a little research it seems that you've been on this project for 10 years, lol. I'm not sure how much more help I can be but if you can narrow down exactly what needs to be done electrically, I might be able to figure that out. Trying to do it without having the components in hand is often a lot more difficult or even a show stopper if it's not a relatively simple circuit. It seems like the much better way to get it working would be add another switch and whatever support components are needed for the 4th, 2WD switch position, "If" the Explorer 3 way switch will do the other 3 modes.

Otherwise what are we talking about? Just pulling as little out of the Expedition GEM as possible, regardless of whether that will fit under the dash, wiring it up to power, wiring it up to the transfer case motor, and wiring it up to two speed sensors, and NO other connections? If so, that might work but I have no information about to use a GEM for an individual function, whether there are any kind of safety lockouts (engine RPM or neutral transmission or ???) if it does not receive certain other signals or any other reason it might not function as a stand alone TC-controller only.

Anyway, I'm doubtful there's a way to pull the TC circuitry out of the gem, that you'd have to keep the whole thing intact, maybe stowed in the back or under a seat or something.
 






Yes J C, you got my idea in the middle there. The Explorer 4WD system is very similar to the Expedition, in component locations and wiring. The 4-position switch I have will retrofit into the stock Explorer bezel location, and the extra position will be just left of the labeled "A4WD" left choice. That will let me get 2WD with it moved left a bit, not visible but available to me.

The main wiring difference seems to be the wires to the 4WD switch, the extra circuit path there, and how it differs in the GEM. The transfer case I think uses the same wiring, or it's no trouble to add a wire etc. So if I can figure out what to change at the GEM location, the rest should be minor. Worst case I figured I'd discover which are the 4WD wires, and move them from the Explorer GEM, to the other nearby, and supply needed power/ground etc, for the extra GEM.

Over lapping circuits would be tougher than if the whole circuit path is separate inside the GEM and could be removed. Thus my wish is to identify the GEM inside differences and hopefully dissect the two. If none of that is feasible, obviously the fall back is to use the Explorer system and live with the three selections like stock V6 trucks have. I'm not ready to dig into that deep yet, I was just wondering if that is something you might consider interesting enough to work with.
 






Would a GEM and switch from a ST or Sport make more sense since they have the 1354E without 4wd auto?

I was under the impression a shift motor from a 1354E actually bolted on the back of a 4406E and could control it.
 






Would a GEM and switch from a ST or Sport make more sense since they have the 1354E without 4wd auto?

I was under the impression a shift motor from a 1354E actually bolted on the back of a 4406E and could control it.
Does the 2nd gen Sport Trac(01-05) not use the same BW4405 as the 95-01's? What models do you mean for having a 1354E? I did my searching about 8-10 years back, time flies.
 






Nope, 01-05 ST and 01-03 Sport have a 1354E.
 






Hmm, what are the functions of the ST 4WD switch? I hadn't looked at one closely, the last one I was near was when I got the rear hatch glass from an 03 Sport.
 



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0201_06z%2Bford_explorer_sport_trac%2B4wd_knob.jpg


This is how mine looked. I've since converted to manual shift so I'm using an AWD bezel.
 






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