Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

Last year I bought an auto dimming temp/compass mirror out of a late model pickup or Tahoe at a swap meet. I finally got around to installing it while I did my headliner installation. Last night I snapped a couple over exposed pics for those that care. If our snow ever melts and I can get the car outside in some natural light, I'll take better pics. Initially I was going to post a tech article, but now I'm not sure. The hardest part about this project is getting a switched 12 volt power source, and frankly, that wasn't hard. This is a nice mod for anybody who wants to modernize their interior a bit without actually changing the appearance. This is one of those nice subtle mods that almost nobody notices, yet it adds just the right "something" to the feel of the interior that helps you forget that you're in a 20+ year old car. I love knowing what the temp is, and the auto dimming mirror is cool too.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I love what you did with the mirrior and i want to get one in mine now, but how the HELL would i do the wiring? and is there any modifications i should do to do this?? Im really eager to do what you did.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I'm going to have to look for one of these mirrors for my car now. Like you I enjoy doing subtle mods that make the car more enjoyable. I just did heated mirrors on my car, and other than the little heated mirror symbol on my left mirror lens, no one would ever know about them.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

How did you do the heated mirrors on your car? I tought about that a long time ago but never thought it would work. What parts did you use? Help me out.:thanks:
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Does the mirror have the temp sensor and compass inside? Or did you have to install the sensors outside?

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

C4 Corvettes come with heated mirrors that turn on with the rear defroster. The wiring should be pretty simple, though you would be wise to incorporate a relay so that you don't overtax the original circuit. I had thought of doing this in my car, but since it's garaged and not driven in bad weather, there wasn't much of a point in my case.

The compass is built into the mirror. The temp sensor is mounted in the inner fender area.

Wiring is easy. There's a 7 pin connector on the mirror. If you get a used mirror, make sure it comes with the connector and at least a few inches of wiring. Mine came with about 10" of wiring, which was plenty. I could have just hooked up as-is, but I decided to cut away the heat shrink tubing, remove the two unused wires & pins from the connector, then re-shrink some new tubing on it. You need to hook +12 volt ignition power to the #1 wire, and ground to the #2 wire. Wire 3 needs to either be hooked to the car's reverse light circuit if you want to disable the auto-dim in reverse, or just tie it to ground like I did. Pins 4 and 5 are unused. In stock trim, they were used to send the "dim" signal to the exterior mirrors. Pins 6 and 7 are what you hook your temp sensor wires to. You can see in my first pic that I did this wiring above the headliner for easy access. I ran the 12 volt ignition power from the fused side of the radio ignition wire, which in my case was the only small gauge yellow wire coming out of the fuse panel. For ground I tapped into the overhead console ground, which itself is grounded right above the console. I ran the two sensor wires from the inner fender up to the headliner area when I installed the headliner, but it's an easy thing to do after the fact.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

How I did it............go here and you will be enlightened!! : https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...d-mirrors.html

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I had this idea in my head for the longest. My dad's '02 Savana has the same Rear view mirror.

Im a little confused about one thing though, are the sensors built into the unit?

Damn, I dont know if i should do this. My car has map lights built into the mirror. =/

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

That looks great Jim.I installed an auto-dim mirror in my '83.It's the simpler mirror GM used(I think it's a Donnelly but could be Gentex - have to look).And the heated exterior mirros are a neat idea as are the wind deflectors the C4 Vettes use.

Turboman you can buy the mirrors pretty much self contained except for the outside temp sensor.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

Right. The compass and all of the auto-dimming crap is in the mirror. The only external piece is the temp sensor which I mounted in the inner wheel well on the passenger side.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I know i'm waking this thread up from the dead, but i recently got a pontiac grand prix as a DD, and one thing i REALLY love is the mirror! I'm fixing to re-do the interior on my 87 IROC, including the seats, headliner( t-tops) and carpet. So for the mirror, I assume all the GM ones were pretty much the same? I can pick up anything with temp/compass? Where/how did you run the wiring for the temp sensor? Underneath the trim on the front of the windshield? I have t-tops, and I'm trying to figure out how I would do that. Or maybe, i can just hide the sensor under the upper console trim? Where did you get the sensor, and how much wire did it take to run it to the fenderwell?

Thanks!

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I just ran the wiring behind the windshield pillar trim, then down behind the dash, out through the passenger kick panel to the temp sensor in the passenger wheel well.

But... next time I blow the car apart, I'm moving that temp sensor up in front of the radiator. Where it is now, it's very slow to respond to temperature changes. Apparently there's very little airflow in the area behind the passenger wheel well.

As for the mirror, the mirror out of just about any GM vehicle should work. In fact, as far as I know, any compass/temp mirror out of almost anything will work... just verify by looking at the shape of the mount. I think that the company that makes these for GM only makes them in the gm-style mount, so even if it comes out of another car (like a Subaru for instance), I think it's going to be the same mount. But... I'm speculating, so you should check before buying.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

Many of the GM dimming mirrors were made by Gentex, but the one pictured is made by another company and I don't recall the name off hand. It usually says somewhere on the mirror. The Gentex were on Fords, Chryslers and GM vehicles BTW.

The mounts are different for different years and they're typically larger than the standard style. You might be able to swap mounts if they're similar enough but I haven't done anything like that with the newer mirrors. I started a thread to gather as much information on the mirrors themselves but I don't have anything on the temp sensor etc. Located here. >Link

Nice job on the install! :thumbsup:

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I installed a CIPA mirror (auto dimming, temp, compass) several years ago. The mount was considerably different than OE, which I was forced to remove and replace. I ran the wiring much as Jim suggests, though I did place the sensor behind the fog lights.

JamesC

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I'm assuming that mirror you put on the car doesn't have any lights on it? The thing that would keep me from doing something cool like this is, the only interior lighting I have in my convertible is the two lights on the rear view mirror. :(

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I can't comment on the mounts from other styles, but my mirror mounted directly to my original windshield mount.

As for lights... nope, no lights. Stick some brighter 194s in your wheel wells and you'll be all set. :)

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

Damn it I was gonna do this and thought I would be the first. Oh well I know now that it really is as easy as I thought it would be. A couple of questions though does your mirror have the airbag off light? I know some have the airbag light and onstar controls which I would like to not have since our 3rd gens don't have either. does anyone know which mirror would not have these or which model of vehicle to work for.

As for lights in the mirror I'm sure there is one that has them, these mirrors are in about every gm vehicle (maybe not cars though I guess I have never seen one now that I think about it)

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

Mine doesn't have the airbag light or the Onstar controls. The non-Onstar mirrors are getting hard to find. The most common source for them is from late 90's and early 00's GM trucks... back then Onstar was an option, so a lot of the trucks had the mirrors without it.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

They do sell ones with map lights, there's a seller on eBay that will even let you choose from like 6 colors for the display. Apparently it even has a wire to make the map lights come on when the doors are open like the stock setup, and it's got buttons to control a garage opener. Only thing it's missing is the light that shines down onto the gear changer, but you could just wire a little LED to come on when the headlights are turned on. I'm planning on getting the mirror I'm referring to eventually, but I need to take a break from spending money for now.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

Just did this myself... Great Idea Jim!

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

where is this? i have looked on ebay and can not find this.

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

Have you seen this mirror with lights? I have been looking and I don't think they make em that way. That is the only reason I hadn't done this mirror conversion on my car (I did it on a z71 truck I had). But your idea of lights in the floor area is great. I have a 92 z28 and it did not come with those lights (the holes are there in the panels, but no harness or lights). I think I'll add the lights down there and then switch mirrors....thanks for the idea!

Re: Installed an auto dimming temp/compass mirror in the car
 

I know this is a really old thread but its an easy and great upgrade that is usefull . bought one at the wreckers today for $10 and tested the wiring and it works great . will install in the spring when I get the car out.. in fact I think I might do one in my 2001 Honda beater..