OEM Heated Mirrors DIY mod

Great thread !
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When I installed, I simply went with a toggle switch. No timer. Manual On/Off. Works for me. Most of the time anyway.

With weather getting cooler and frost on the mirrors in the morning, I've been rolling out with the mirrors on, but forgetting them on throughout my commute to and from work, with a higher outside temperature in the afternoon than in the morning. Consequently, I've burnt a 5A and a 10A fuse along the way, likely due to the rise in outside temperature allowing the mirror elements to get hotter than in the morning, causing an increase in resistance, causing a higher current draw, burning my fuse.

That's my theory, but I want to put an ammeter on there and see what the draw is over time vs. exterior temp and mirror temp - if a 15A fuse will keep things happy across all temperatures, I could be lazy and turn the switch on in fall and off in spring... I've got the wire gauge to support it, so can't see why not...

Cheers.

 

If it were me, I would either install the Highlander switch or the magic timer-relay that bgreenley found:
http://www.wolstentech.com/products/timedelayrelay/tdr-mc.php


Good luck whatever direction you choose, and as always, you are welcome to post questions/comments here or PM if needed

"You can read about the timer relay above by following this link:
http://www.wolstentech.com/products/timedelayrelay/timedelayrelay.php
The timer relay is offered in many flavors. The correct flavor to order for this application is the TDR-MLC. This circuit, wired as shown below, will allow you to turn on the mirrors with a single press of the button. If you press the button again before the timer expires, it will cancel your request for the mirrors to be heated. This is really cool, and exactly the way most OEM installations are done. You don’t need another relay in addition to the TDR-MLC. It will drive the mirrors directly. The TDR-MLC can drive 10A continuous current, and each of the mirrors only consumes about 2A each (I bench tested them)." - bgreenley (Brandon)

 

Nice - thanks! Hadn't seen that one fly by in the thread.

It works fine for now but I just might do that at some point, even if only for peace of mind...

 

Ben: The mirrors work perfectly! Winter is just around the corner here in the Great White North...

The local Toyota Dealer was not the least bit interested in ordering the parts without a VIN number and was a little confused when I mentioned I didn't have a 2012 Highlander, but in fact had a 2013 Tacoma . I ended up orering the parts from Toyota of Yuma off of the links on your parts list. Took probabaly a week and a half for the parts to arrive.

Thanks for all of your help!

Now to do the Illuminated 4X4 switch using the 4 runner switch off of another thread.

 

Yea, that little gem is pretty sweet! Try it with the higher amp fuse, but a timer is a good idea. I know my brain doesn't work too great in the AM, so I definitely needed the babysitter to turn off the mirrors for me

Nice, glad to hear it! The dealers are sometimes hard to work with, and it's always fun to educate them on Toyotas and the different mods that we (TW) have come up with. The service guys are always interested to see what new mods I have done when I go in there.

I really like the looks of the 4Runner 4x4 switch, but I already installed the illuminated OEM switch in mine. Maybe I could re-sell that and install the 4R eventually

 

I can't use the Illumination Mod in my 2013 as it stops being an option after 2011. (2005 to 2011 only) according to the OP who builds the illumination kit. They changed the switch configuration so it won't support the add on led circuit board.

 

I pulled my 2013 4X4 switch apart to see if I could modify and install the illumination mod, however once you get all apart the outer bezel is black plastic with the silver printer over it. So even though there is a place in the back of the switch for a light and places that you could drill through to let the light through to the front the bezel will never let the light. Cheap bastards....

On a separate note the Wolsten timer works like a champ. I ended up mounting mine on some spare single sided foam tape that came with the Muthco mirrors above the fuse box, nice and outta the way, but still easy enough to if I ever have to.
By far my favorite mod yet...

 

I need to do this. Excellent write up.
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Subbed, added to the still to be done LED/step light mirror mod that i want to do

 

Cool, I'm gonna give this a shot

 

My thanks to those who have done so much work on this amazing DIY. I am always in awe of how much Tacomaworld members give to this site. I wish I had more to offer.

It looks like I am another one who received a defective switch. Last night I spent a couple hours with my electrician friend.

Finally confirmed that the switch doesn't work. Pin 4 should switch the ground, and on mine it puts out 12V, which means there is no ground with which to trigger my relay. Also, the dim amber light doesn't light up (bulb works though) indicating that the switch has power.

So far it looks like the guys at oemtoyotascionparts.com are going to take it back and send me a new one. All they have asked for is me to send back my switch, a note explaining what is wrong with the switch and my receipt.

 

Thank you OP!!!! My new weekend project!!! Brilliant!!!

 

My heated mirrors were nice to have this morning. 22° when I left today...

Sorry to hear about your switch Dave. Hopefully they'll exchange and the new one works.

 

I have had mine in for about a year now, and the passenger side still works great, but the drivers side one never worked great, and still doesnt, so I took them apart today and checked the Voltage at the mirrors, both sides has 12V (11.94V Pass & 11.91V Drive), so then I checked resistance of the heated element, and got 6.3 Ohms Passengers Side and 8.2 Ohms on the Drivers Side. Does anyone think that is enough to make a difference in the speed that the drivers side mirror heats up? Does anyone think that this would be an issue, or is it something else...?

I put it all back together, and turned them on, it is about 30F in my garage, so I left them on for about 5 mins, and the passenger side definitely gets hotter faster, but the drivers side does get warm, but the passenger side gets hotter.

Does it matter what terminal gets the +12V and what gets the ground?

Thanks

 

goufcustom, I've got the same with mine, but I've always attributed it to being my own fault. I broke the replacement Sienna mirror when trying to pull it from the plastic backer, so transferred the element to my original mirror with the addition of a little 3M spray adhesive.

I don't recall what the final resistance was, but obviously it's a little different from the passenger side. Figured it was my fault, but maybe not if you're seeing it too? I'm going to eliminate the issue soon with my new ProEFX tow mirrors.

Anyway, no, which terminal you feed + and - to doesn't matter on these - as long as the little electrons go in one terminal and out the other with a good connection, you're good to go.

 

Much thanks for this writeup Benson..I didn't do the mod but just used your early part of it to remove the mirror glass from the mirror on my wife's Rav4

 

haha, nice! Glad you found it helpful!

 

This makes me want to check the resistance on mine. I do notice the DS takes longer to heat up than the pass.

 

I've got to try this!

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