5 replies to this topic

[Aussie Ford]

Lighted visor mirrors

Don’t you just hate it when your lighted mirrors quit working…… so you pop off one of the covers and replace the bulb and it still doesn’t work! Then you get a tester and find that power is not getting to the bulb, and when you test the bulb, it is good. It gets worse if you just installed it after you wired in the pig tail for it while you were doing the rear dome light….. dam !!!

So, just how does one fix something like this? In my inventory of stuff, I just happened to have a couple of sets of them (none of them work). One was one that someone else actually fixed but the way they took it apart, it could not be put back together…. I started with this one since it was already broken. After looking it over, I decided to poke around on the edge.That line that looks like a seam is the joint between the two halves. It is shaped similar to a clamshell held together by some studs on one side that snap into keepers on the other.

I managed to open it using a screwdriver to pry it apart. While that did work on the test one I learned to be more careful on the one I want to install, and used a mini prybar and large screwdriver. By prying on both sides of the pins they didn’t break and remained usable to reassemble it.

Once opened, I found that the power wire just inside was broken off at its connector. After testing my other visors wiring, the same wire was not working on all of them. Now there is a coincidence for you.

The connector is a blade type and the male side is the one the wire was broken off of. To repair it I just stripped a small bit of the wire and soldered it onto the connector blade. Then plugged it back in. Tested it, all worked well so I snapped it back together got it ready for installation.

I know this stuff never happens to you but if on that rare occasion it does, and it isn’t just a bad bulb, at least now you know what needs doing.

AF

PS: couldn't post the pics seem to always get an error on page message for the site.

[Aussie Ford]

Lighted visor mirrors - Repost w/ pics Thanks Dom

Don't you just hate it when your lighted mirrors quit working…… so you pop off one of the covers and replace the bulb and it still doesn't work! Then you get a tester and find that power is not getting to the bulb, and when you test the bulb, it is good. It gets worse if you just installed it after you wired in the pig tail while you were doing the rear dome light….. dam !!!


 06-14-11_2058.jpg   41.65K   11 downloads  p1.jpg   60.93K   19 downloads

So, just how does one fix something like this? In my inventory of stuff, I just happened to have a couple of sets of them (none of them work). One was one that someone else actually fixed but the way they took it apart, it could not be put back together…. I started with this one since it was already broken. After looking it over, I decided to poke around on the edge. That line that looks like a seam is the joint between the two halves. It is shaped similar to a clamshell held together by some studs on one side that snap into keepers on the other.

 p2.jpg   41.94K   26 downloads

I managed to open it using a screwdriver to pry it apart. While that did work on the test one I learned to be more careful on the one I want to install, and used a mini prybar and large screwdriver. By prying on both sides of the pins they didn't break and remained usable to reassemble it.

Once opened, I found that the power wire just inside was broken off at its connector. After testing the other visors wiring, the same wire was not working on all of them. Now there is a coincidence for you.

 p3.jpg   54.28K   26 downloads

The connector is a blade type and the male side is the one the wire was broken off of. To repair it I just stripped a small bit of the wire and soldered it onto the connector blade. Then plugged it back in. Tested it, all worked well so I snapped it back together got it ready for installation.

 p4.jpg   50.88K   22 downloads  p5.jpg   59.59K   16 downloads



I know this stuff never happens to you but if on that rare occasion it does, and it isn't just a bad bulb, at least now you know what needs doing.


AF

[SVTDEMON]

Excellent Write Up, TY from all of us at FCO to Aussie and Dom

[GhoSStRyda]

good info here~

i had totally forgotten there were lights in the passenger visor mirror.

does anyone know what size bulbs are used in the visor? i wanted to change'm into white led's :)

[robdog]

They use a tiny t5 mini wedge. I sell those locally but You can get them from ebay for a bit cheaper. I order bulk and just make sure you buy a few more than you need because sometimes you get a few bad ones. It come from china so it will take a week or two.

[paulschott48]

Hi Aussie,
Do you think that a right side lighted mirror can be retrofitted on the drivers side visor? The mirror frame seems to be the same size.
Thanks for the dismantling pics you posted. I never saw the seam before. I was thinking the mirror frame snapped out.
I got the mod bug going now.
Thanks Paul