Help With Rear View Mirror Wires

[bowen873]

I just traded my 2007 limited for a 2010 limited this weekend. I read through some posts and thought it would be easiest to tap into the rear view mirror wires to hard wire my Escort radar detector. I found out quickly how small the wires were, and I either cut one too short of blew a fuse. I have no power to my mirror (and no more backup camera). If someone could please help me out I have a few questions:

- Which fuse controls power to the rear view mirror (couldn't find in the manual)
- If necessary, would it be possible to replace the connector coming down to the mirror with all of those wires?

 

[Jaker]

I just got traded my 2007 limited for a 2010 limited this weekend. I read through some posts and thought it would be easiest to tap into the rear view mirror wires to hard wire my Escort radar detector. I found out quickly how small the wires were, and I either cut one too short of blew a fuse. I have no power to my mirror (and no more backup camera). If someone could please help me out I have a few questions:

- Which fuse controls power to the rear view mirror (couldn't find in the manual)
- If necessary, would it be possible to replace the connector coming down to the mirror with all of those wires?

I can't really help you with the rear view mirror issue, but perhaps this will help you with your radar hard-wire.

 

[bowen873]

Thanks - appreciate it. That will definitely help once I try it again. I was using white (not white/black for ground). Now back to trying to figure out how to get power back to the mirror...

 

[Qjake]

Download Nashmans electrical wiring diagrams they should be helpful

 

[bowen873]

Thanks for the link - I'll check it out and see what I can find.

 

[bowen873]

I looked through the diagrams, and I wasn't able to find answers to either of my questions. I may have missed it, but this is new to me. Anybody have any other suggestions?

 

[Antman]

The fuse that is most likely blown is above the driver's footwell in the fusebox- ECU-IG NO.2- it's a 10 amp mini fuse. It could also be ECU-IG NO.1 (10 amp as well in the same location). Check both fuses.





Can you post a pic of the damage you did to the wire(s) at the plug? Maybe I can tell you how to fix it...

 

[Qjake]

The fuse that is most likely blown is above the driver's footwell in the fusebox- ECU-IG NO.2- it's a 10 amp mini fuse. It could also be ECU-IG NO.1 (10 amp as well in the same location). Check both fuses.


Can you post a pic of the damage you did to the wire(s) at the plug? Maybe I can tell you how to fix it...

Your savior has arrived :boink:

 

[bowen873]

Antman - thanks for the help. I checked and both of those fuses are good. Also, I didn't think of this at first but if it was a blown fuse I'm guessing there would be other things that aren't working. Everything in the overhead console has power, it's just the mirror that doesn't. I didn't take pictures because I have all of the wires taped up. I'm thinking it must be that I cut one of the wires trying to strip it. Do you have any idea if I could replace that connector going up from the mirror to the overhead console? The part going down into the mirror is fine.

 

[Antman]

That plug is part of the complete wire harness. You are going to have to fix whatever you cut!

Post some pics of the carnage! We might laugh a little, but we'll get you fixed up for sure. A/M

 

[bowen873]

Damn, I was hoping that wasn't the case. I'm sure there may be some laughing involved. I'm traveling this week, but I'll post some pics Friday to let you see the mess.

 

[bowen873]

I took everything apart again tonight and I think I may have found the problem. I cut the cover up higher and it looks like the orange wire accidentally got cut somewhere along the way. The wires to the left were for the detector, which I disconnected. I'm probably just going to take it somewhere to have it done right.

A couple more questions - I was using blue for hot and white for ground, but I read in another post that the white with black stripe was ground. Does it make a difference? At one point before I lost all power the detector was turning on but it was just flashing and beeping rapidly. I was also wondering if maybe there wasn't enough power there or if it was just the bad wiring job?

 

[Jaker]

Holy crap. Now that's some carnage! I promise I don't mean to offend, but have you not heard of vampire clips/t-taps?

As far as which wire is ground, make sure to use wire that is white with a black stripe.

As far as how to fix the damage, it shouldn't be too difficult. It would take some most excellent soldering skills to solder it in its current location. If you want a cheap fix, creative use of some vampire clips and the appropriate gauge wire could fix the orange one.

 

[bowen873]

Haha - no offense taken. I actually used the clips, but took them apart when things weren't working right. Thanks for the tips.

 

[GrantK]

Tip from an engineer and ham radio geek:
All your connections should be soldered and covered with heat shrink tubing (preferred) or electrical tape. Either a loose connection or worse, a shorted one can not only make things not work right but damage the ECU and other parts.

Also, in the pic, it looks like the orange wire has been cut and a gray or violet wire wired to the connector side. Verify this is correct and that gray or violet wire should be the only connection to the orange wire as opposed to tapping into the orange wire.

 

[bowen873]

I need to learn how to solder. I had the clips and electrical tape on, but took everything apart to troubleshoot again before I took the picture. Nothing else is connected to the orange - that's just the wire where it accidentally got cut. Thank you as well.

 

[westwind77]

I need to learn how to solder. I had the clips and electrical tape on, but took everything apart to troubleshoot again before I took the picture. Nothing else is connected to the orange - that's just the wire where it accidentally got cut. Thank you as well.

Wow, how in the world did all of that happen?! Looks like a badger was loose in your 4R for the night!

To anyone else thinking of wiring your detector to the mirror power supply may I recommend this:

Blendmount.com - MirrorTap Power Cords

I popped the black plastic conduit shield off, pressed in my 2 connectors pins, popped the shield back on and I was done, less than a minute and no carnage!

 

[bowen873]

Wow - wish I would have known that existed two weeks ago. Lesson learned. Thanks again to everyone for you help and tips...

 

[Antman]

Seeing that picture makes me cringe.

You are very lucky not to have started a fire with that! Let someone fix it that can do it the right way, as others have stated- it must be soldered and shrinkwrapped now.

Good luck!

 

[GrantK]

While we're on the subject of rear view mirror and video...
Does anyone know of a good (read easy) place to tap into the video signal from the rear view camera? I'd like to add a line going to my after-market stereo/nav system. Currently the rear view camera only feeds the mirror since my truck came with the minimal stereo.