I replied to another thread but no one responded so now I'm starting my own thread. :o

I'm looking to buy a homelink mirror and install it myself, wondering if someone who's looked can answer some questions...

Copied from another thread:

"9. The all-black wire (or maybe it has a brown stripe, my eyes are getting old) will provide power only when the car is turned on. The red/black wire is constantly powered. From the V1 kit, attach the blue wire clip to the wire that will give you the behavior you desire."

Can anyone tell me which wire the homelink mirror is attached to? Personally I would want to be able to use homelink all the time, even when the car is off, but wouldn't want the compass on all the time to drain the battery, so I guess I will just have to adjust to using it only when the car is on.

The lights come on when the door is opened. Is there a 3rd wire or something running to the lights for that?

Does the headliner have a hole cut in it for the wires to slip thru? or do they just squeeze thru the edge next to the glass?


Thanks.

The sport package doesnt have the loom for the homelink mirror. Your going to have to run the wires yourself up the side collumn from the fusebox below.

Why? I thought the homelink mirror requires just some power feed which can be run from the map lights - certainly easier than running the wires all the way from the fuse box...
The map light area should have constant power, even when the car is off.

True. I was thinking switched power, but the mirror would need always on power wouldnt it?

Originally posted by Genom
True. I was thinking switched power, but the mirror would need always on power wouldnt it?


If I had to guess, I would say both. Like in my original post, constant supply for the homelink, and switched for the compass.

I've never had a car with both on the mirror, but I've had homelink and a compass seperately, and thats how it worked.


I guess I can just email the companies and ask them how it runs. I could just buy the mirror withOUT a compass, as homelink is more important to me, and run it off constant power. That shouldn't drain the battery too much.

actually, how exactly does the auto-dim work? Is it electronic or what? Is it perhaps connected to the headlights? to only work when you turn the lights on?

anyway, I'm contacting a company that sells them to see what they say.

There's a photocell on the homelink/auto dimming mirror that detects the amount of light coming into it, and adjusts/dims the mirror if it's getting more than a certain level.

FYI if anyone is interested...

response:

Very good questions. Whatever power supply that goes to your current
mirror, will not be able to hook up to this new mirror. You will need
to have a complete new wiring harness installed that will connect to the
power of the vehicle. The mirror will then be powered only while the
vehicle is turned on so it will not drain your battery. This harness
will connect to the back of the mirror. The harness is then fed through
headliner, down the A-pillar of the door and through the firewall
(behind the pedals). The wires will be connected to the power of the
vehicle then the temperature line will go on further to be mounted
towards the bumper. That's just a run through - for more details check
out the complete wiring instructions:
www.mitocorp.com/mirror_installation.htm.

The "Auto-Dim" feature does need power. It does not connect to the
headlights, instead there are two sensors - one pointing to the front
and one pointing to the back of the vehicle. When the sensors see
ambient light from both the front and back they know that it is
daylight. When only the back sensor senses ambient light then that's
when it kicks into the auto-dimming mode in order to prevent glare from
the lights behind you.

I hope that this information has helped you. I do need to tell you that
if you are interested in the Homelink mirrors, it must be installed by a
professional. Homelink is restricted to where we cannot sell it
directly to the end consumer.