4th gen mirror question

[03exp]

i am gonna put 4th gen mirrors on my 03, and i was wondering if i can put heated ones on if i don't have heated mirrors already? and if they will work.

 

[MillerTimeX17]

I'm sure if they would or not. This was my first full winter in Colorado, spent most my life in Texas, and I would love to get the heated mirrors. I had a few days where I couldnt use either of mirrors cuz they were so iced over. I know they just heat when the rear defroster is on but not sure if theyre wired for it already. I would love to find out though.

 

[NHarris]

I beleive all 3rd and 4th gens are wired for heated mirrors.

 

[MillerTimeX17]

I knew you would chime in Nate!! Guess the only thing left to do it try it out...

 

[NHarris]

Well I did some searching and came up with mixed results. Some say yes and some say no. From what I have read the best way to check is to get a wiring diagram and find out what color is for heated mirrors and see if your harness has that color wire. I searched through the forums and found this:

Heres an update, I went to dinner with my Ford tech from Battlefield Ford and some friends. He has worked on fords for 20+ years. I asked him about this heated mirror situation and he said that Ford runs 2 different wiring harnesses in the Explorer. One harness is for base models like XL, XLS and stripped down XLT. The second harness is for loaded models like EB, Limited and loaded XLT. He said that I should have the loaded harness because my XLT is loaded with back-up sensors, factory DVD entertainment system, moonroof and etc. So I'm going to have him pull my door panel next week and have him check my wiring to his factory diagram book. I will let you know what I find if anyone else is interested in this swap.

Thank you so much for everyone's input it has helped out a lot.

Another solution is to call up ford and ask them. After researching I am mixed on this too. I will check my repair manual and see if I can find any information on this.

EDIT: CHECK MY POST BELOW

 

[NHarris]

So with further research it looks like if you have power mirrors you are good to go for heated mirrors. They seem to be prewired. Below in the quote shows this:

My 02 XLS had standard power mirrors and I installed a set of powered/heated/lighted mirrors. Plug-n-play.

yeap theyre plug and play...got a set of oem heated mirrors a while back and just hooked them up and they work great...

So go for it, it should work. I just have to double check myself before I possibly give a wrong answer.

 

[MillerTimeX17]

Sweeeeet. Looking forward to buying some new ones!!!