FAQ: Side Mirror Problems (heated, auto-dimming, tilt)

I'm sure they're the same. You can also find them on the Shelby Series 1 if that's easier for you

Ya, but it's hard to find one in my color!!

I wonder what it would cost to have a body shop paint the mirrors for you?

Albertj

While we on the topic of side mirrors, does anyone know how the electroluminescent feature works.
My drivers side mirror is always in the Dim Mode, even with car off.
I can't find anything in the manual that explains how it works and what i need to do to fix it.

Jack the R wrote:

I'm sure they're the same. You can also find them on the Shelby Series 1 if that's easier for you

Rick: are they tinted dark blue? means a short somewhere is keeping power fed to the mirror, whcih makes it darken.

If the tint is a funny gold color I think that means the darkening medium (a fluid) has failed.

If both the interior rearview and the exterior mirror are dark blue tint, I would suspect the photocell behind the mirror has failed or has something blocking it like a hang tag or sticker.

If only the drivers side rearview is dark blue and the interior mirror is not, then I'd suspect a short in the wire bundle into the drivers door or some such.

An easy test: block the photocell on the back (part that faces thru windshield) of the interior mirror, then shine a flashlight directly on the photocell on the mirror frame adn see if the mirrors change to the dark blue tint. Might have to pay around a bit to get this to work. the reaction is not instant but it's quick. You can block the photocell on back of the mirror with a fingertip or flip mirror around and cover hole temporarily with small piece of electricians tape.

I remember thinking my mirrors were busted, to keep a long story short it turned out that a piece of a paper hangtag was blocking the photocell.

Albertj

There's nothing hanging from the mirror.
The inside rear view and outside passenger mirrors work as they should.
The drivers rear view has a gold tint to it all the time.
I believed it was the electroluminescent feature that had failed but just didn't know how it works technically, just curious.
I assumed I would have to replace the mirror to correct the problem.
But I will go through the motions of blocking the sensor and lighting the photocell and see what happens.

I've also read the gold/yellow color is a sure sign of leaked fluid, a common issue after several years of use. I have std mirrors on my Riv.

Yes when the driver's outside mirror looks gold all the time, it's not going to auto-dim.

Ed Morad may have one or more working ones. Or a local pick and pull.

Good luck

Albertj

If the driver's side mirror on my car has a gold coloring to it, does that mean it is a heated mirror?
Did they have this coloring when new? or do they turn color with age?

Are the heated mirrors automatically ON if the ignition is on? There is no button anywhere to turn it on or off. I guess that is why I am questioning it to begin with.

I had the perfect opportunity to test it while in Waterloo, Iowa over the Christmas holiday.
On Saturday I awoke to an ice storm that coated my car in 1/4" of ice.
I scraped the ice off the windows and mirrors before thinking of trying it out.

I am told the gold tint indicates that the electroluminescent feature has gone bad. (That's the auto dimming) It has happened to mine also and the mirror needs replacing to fix it.
The heater will come on automatically when the temp goes below a certain temperature, not sure what the temp is and don't know if it's on a timer or not.

So, it was actually an auto dimming mirror like the rear view mirror?

Interesting.

Rivieras equipped with the auto-dimming inside rearview mirror came with auto-dimming driver's side rearview mirror as well.

The mirror heat comes on with the rear defrosters. When you push the Rear Defogger button the HVAC programmer kicks on a couple relays. One turns on the lower zone of the rear window defogger and the other turns on the upper zone of the defogger and the heat to the mirrors. THere is a short delay from button press to turning the defoggers on. The mirror heaters are fused twice, sort of. THere is a 30A fuse in the RH rear fuse block for the upper zone of the defogger, and a second fuse in the LH rear junction block for the mirror heaters. (mirror motors run thru a different fuse).

The HVAC control will disable the defoggers if system voltage is low (below around 10 volts I think).

The HVAC control will turn the defoggers off by itself IF the car is moving less than 30 MPH for a while (5-10 minutes), and will disable the auto-off timer if the car is moving faster. I do not know if the timer re-sets itself if you drive over 30 mph then stop a while with ignition on.

Albertj

Thanks for the clarification Albert, I'm not feeling well enough right now to digest the wiring diagram or research the manual. Thank You.

Rick - sorry you are not feeling well, get better soon!

Actually I found all this stuff out messing with the mirrors. I am pretty sure it can be verified in the manual.

I found out about the HVAC disable when my battery died, kinda. I usually set the headlight delay to minimum/off. Kids (both now in college) liked to set it to the longest delay - my daughter thought it made the headlights brighter if you did. Anyway, after a short while they ran down the battery (it was past its service life anyway) and a bunch of stuff quit working. You would not believer - or maybe you would - the sheer amount of stuff that fails as the system voltage drops. Basically, the accessories become possessed by demons. So anyway I spent time using a couple testers - an in-circuit one with a couple watch batteries adn an LED, and a 12V light with a couple jumper leads. Anyhow - When you pull the defroster fuses the mirror heater fuse goes dark.

I have to run

Albertj

Thanks for the info Albertj!
Now I understand what I have, and how it works.

They sure seem to make the simple act of turning on a heated mirror a study in Rube Goldberg engineering.

Dale - I'm sure the manual makes it clearer than I did. I just remember how the thing goes from my earlier troubleshooting.

THe relays and delays and carrying on were probably helpful in that you don't have to have a bunch more switches and you don't have to manage the controls for conditions that are foreseeable in the design process. If it did not work this way I bet we'd be asking why the mirror defoggers don't come on with the rear window grids, and rigging relays to make it do so.

Albertj

I don't think any 95 has heated mirrors. Turn on defog will stay on 10 minutes even if parked in run position. When it turns off , if car has not been shut off will go for 5 minutes if turned on. Resets timer for 10 minutes when car shut off and started again.

I have a 97 supercharged and im confused......I have the autodimming rear view mirror. but i was wondering do i have heated mirrors? also on the driver side mirror there is a sort of a black plastic lip around it, whereas the passenger side mirror has no lip. If I dont have heated mirrors is it possible to get them, since i live in wisconsin heated mirrors would be awesome to have.

I have a 98 with heated mirrors and right on the mirror itself is 3 small squiggly vertical lines. (International symbol for heat)

97rivsc wrote:

If I dont have heated mirrors is it possible to get them

I'm pretty sure your mirror housings are not wired for the heater wires, so you'd have some complex wiring to take care of first, since it might be missing from the harness as well.

the black frame around the mirror is b/c of the dimming mechanism. i have that on mine, but i dont have heated mirrors.

ok, so ya i dont have heated mirrors then

and I thought my mirror was supposed to look gold.

what causes the mirror to turn gold?