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Autodimming mirror with Homelink

CanadianGuy

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#1
I was a little ticked that the Titanium came with an auto dimming mirror and the ST did not. Went as far as to have the Ford after market mirror included in the initial order price of the ST. Luckily Ford racing added a bunch of Mountune items and I switched the mirror out for other goodies. Still the past few weeks driving in the morning was annoying me because it could have been installed at the factory. So I went looking for a wreck Titanium to rip the mirror out. Could not find any but one wrecker suggested the Nissan Maxima Gentex 453 mirror. The mirror mount is the same and comes with homelink (you can get one with compass and outside temperature but why [dunno] ). Now having the homelink is a huge plus for me to get rid of the visor clip button dodad. He also said he would rip a length of the cabling so I can rewire it. $60 Canadian buck later it was mine. And the last added benefit is that you don't need to wire it to the reverse to turn the mirror off when reversing. It has a built in switch.

Here is a Focus ST guy that did it. I followed most of it. But not all.
http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st-electronics/20517-homelink-installed.html

I had some 4 conductor wire kicking around from an LED lighting project I did for cove lighting. Since the wires are joined together it makes it cleaner to install. I just ripped the wire off that I did not want to reduce it to 3 conductor. Remember to use braided/multistrand core. Solid core wire can tend to break in automotive applications. I off set the crimps to avoid creating a huge bundle.
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Next I mounted the mirror and fished the wire along the liner (see the focus thread for those pictures) and down the A beam to the dash. I then popped off the side cover to find a hole behind the glove box. First i removed the glove box of course.
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I found two fuses. One always on (ignition) for the homelink wire and one for switched on for the dimming. Boy was there a smile on my face as I shoved the add a circuit into the fused labeled autodimming mirror. You know celebrate the little victories
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Added a ring terminal to the ground to attach it to one of the brackets nuts under the dash. Simply take the nut off, place the ring terminal on it and tighten.
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Cut and Crimped the wires to the correct circuit and tie of loose wire so it does not interfere with the glove box.
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Voila finished goods
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So happy with the results.

Here are two helpful videos. First one explains the mirrors you will find on ebay. The second how to program them

[video=youtube;jjwjeVfdZ8k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjwjeVfdZ8k[/video]
[video=youtube;D54x-uc1zCw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D54x-uc1zCw[/video]


As for the mirrors search ebay for Gentex 453. They have universal wedge mounts and can even come with the wire harness or you can order that separately.
 


MKVIIST

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#2
Very nice, I did a similar write up, but used a different Ford part number.
 


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#4
awesome! (i know i commented on the other thread but wanted to subscribe to this one as well)
 


OP
CanadianGuy

CanadianGuy

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Thread Starter #6
As a quick update.

I have had zero problem with the product works very well as an autodimming mirror and garage door opener. One thing to note is for the garage door the range is far greater than my visor clip on door opener (maybe the batteries were dying) and the open button does need to be pressed for 2 seconds.

Highly recommend as a rather inexpensive upgrade for 2 extra features that I use daily.
 


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#7
well i don't have a clicker for my garage so that is even better. haha
 


OP
CanadianGuy

CanadianGuy

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Thread Starter #8
Well one year and still working perfectly. And I really enjoy the garage door opener function more less clutter.
 


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Las Vegas
#9
I wonder if they make one that is battery operated that you don't have to wire up? Or maybe some sort of hidden garage door opener so we can rid of the clicker.
 


OP
CanadianGuy

CanadianGuy

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Thread Starter #10
I wonder if they make one that is battery operated that you don't have to wire up? Or maybe some sort of hidden garage door opener so we can rid of the clicker.
Well you could hide the clicker in the arm rest or glove box. As for the wires from the mirror you cannot see them once properly routed.
 


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#11
Thank you for this write up! Installed this morning in little over an hour. Best part is that I didn't have to splice a single wire! First mod to my Fiesta lol!
 


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Location
Dallas
#14
gotta do this, auto dimming is something i desperately need (especially side mirrors)
Auto dimming side mirrors would be freaking awesome. I don't have much use for the auto dimming function as my rear tint is 5%, so it already helps reduce the beaming headlights of trucks through the rear window, but not the side mirrors. However, I do love the homelink feature. This is the only reason I did this install.
 




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