Adding heated mirrors

[CDW6212R]

Interesting. It looks like Ford heard the many Explorer owners wishing for a 2WD choice, and went back to that, but took away the automatic feature. My 99 V6 truck does well with the A4WD.

I don't know how the system will work with 400-500hp and it trying to engage the internal clutch for the front drive shaft. That's partly why I'm interested in the Expedition system. The manual 4WD choice might be best for WOT if you stay straight. I'm not there yet though, maybe late next Spring I'll have that on my plate.

 

[J_C]

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.

...and supply the speed sensor inputs if you want the auto-4WD to function instead of being manual only.

What I read was that there is no extra circuit path from the 4WD switch, that it's just sending a different resistance based on the switch position. Is that how the Explorer switch is set up or does it use separate wires for each switch position?

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.

I'll look at any schematics you have, but I don't think it's going to be viable to dissect and extract part of the Expedition GEM, that it would require using the whole thing. I mean physically the whole circuit board, not necessarily using it as a "GEM" instead of the original GEM, just that the whole board might need to be intact for the transfer case functionality, that trying to saw/solder/whatever off some of it, could be more of a risk than it's worth.

I might change my mind if you have good pictures of both circuit boards, some way I can try to trace where the signal input from the switch is and where the outputs to the transfer case motor are. It is hard to speculate about this sort of thing remotely. Did you want to start a topic about it or email me some docs? The bigger and more pics and schematics, the better. I have no data whatsoever about Expeditions.

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks J C, I will send you a PM to place mark the thought, and give me reference to this conversation. I'll begin that project hopefully in the middle of Winter, changing to the 4WD TC is one of my first steps for this truck.

I think they both use just one wire from the switch for a single resistance signal. I have the EVTM's for Fords through 2002 I'm sure, but I don't know how detailed those might be. I will find out more before I go at it officially, and ask you what you think then. Regards,

 

[239]

Has anyone added heated mirrors to an explorer that didn't have them? I bought a set and need to wire them up.

I looked into adding them to my 2000 XLT but the two pins needed for heated mirrors aren’t on the mirror connector, even though I have a rear defroster. The wire for the heated mirrors may be bundled into the loom that runs under the door step trim. My truck didn’t have the wiring for illumination on the rear window switches, but I found that the wire for the lights was already in the loom, Ford just tapped into it at the factory when they made explorers with illuminated switches.

 

[CDW6212R]

I looked into adding them to my 2000 XLT but the two pins needed for heated mirrors aren’t on the mirror connector, even though I have a rear defroster. The wire for the heated mirrors may be bundled into the loom that runs under the door step trim. My truck didn’t have the wiring for illumination on the rear window switches, but I found that the wire for the lights was already in the loom, Ford just tapped into it at the factory when they made explorers with illuminated switches.

Hi 239, you've been away for a while. The wires for the heated mirrors aren't in the main body harness, I've seen a couple of harnesses from non-Limited's. The connectors are all the same though, simply the needed wires are not there. You can take any connector apart and add or remove wires as needed. The tough part is getting the wires from one vehicle, and routing them into another.

 

[damarble]

I found a nice little defrost switch from a crown vic that I think I'm going to put next to the mirror adjust controls instead of using the radio bezel switch since I originally wanted a second fog light switch there to run a rear light bar.