Auto-Dimming/Homelink mirror

STOP! Step away from your phone and introduce yourself to Google!

That's not very reasonable at all! I ordered the AutoDim Mirror w/HomeLink through Amazon.com for $158.00 with free shipping and had a local Stereo shop install it, cost me $35.00 for the installation. It took about 20 minutes! And you can add it to a Prius with the Sun Roof, Craigmri here on Prius Chat did it, and he did the install himself. Please shop around before you give your stealership $450 of your hard earned money! For that cash, you can have the mirror, fog lights and body side molding!

 

Rog,

Paul is correct. First off, the Mirror your buying from Toyota is not a "Toyota" mirror. Its made by a company called Gentex. They make the Auto dimming/homelink mirror for all the car companies. There is nothing unique or exotic about the one that comes in the prius. I bought mine on Ebay for $75 shipped. It was used but you cannot tell.

As Paul also stated, I did my own install. The mirror only requires three wire connections....A Ground, 12Vdc constant and a 12V switched with ignition or headlights. I too read all about how this mirror isnt for Sunroof cars....Cannot understand why actually. I got my ground and constant 12V up under the console.dome light and got a headlight switched 12V under the lower glove box. The install was actually alot easier than I thought it would be. If your mechanically inclined you can do it.

The Gentex Mirror mounts right onto the factory windshield mount and I got the wire cover that conceals the wires going from the mirror to the headliner.

If you are not comfortable working on cars by all means find a local shop as paul did. If you want the piece of mind by all means use your dealer if your comfortable with his price.

Craig

 

This is the exact mirror I purchased from Amazon.com, and it comes with the wire cover:
http://www.amazon.com/Gentex-GENK41a-dimming-mirror-HomeLink/dp/B002Z63H5M/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1287746840&sr=8-11

The installer is a guy we've used in the past, so I probably got a bit better of a deal. But seriously, check around, it should not cost $225 to install this mirror! In fact, I wouldn't pay more than $75, and that's on the high end!

 

Rog,

Thus the reason I went to a local Stereo Shop, they are used to this type of intall and know what panels need to be pulled. All power was tapped from under the left side of the steering wheel. Only two panels were removed, the piece that runs down the side of the windshield on the drivers side and a small panel under the dash on the left side of the steering wheel. Took the installer less than 20 minutes, and that was only because it took him 10 minutes to read all the way through the instructions so he knew which wire was powered all the time and which wire went to the accessory power! You'd think they'd be labeled on the wires!

If you're not comfortable tearing into that brand new $25K automobile (and I certainly wasn't!), call around and find a local car audio shop to do the install.

 

Yes, the mirror did come with instructions and the wiring harness, There is actually a gap between the windshield and the headliner, you run the wires from the mirror to the side pillar and just push the wires up above the headliner and they stay in place. The plastic piece on the pillar snaps off and you run the wires down the pillar (careful not to obstruct the airbag) then they splice into existing wires under the dash. I watched as it was installed, and running the wires took less than 10 minutes, they were not marked as to which wire was powered all the time and which was powered when the accessory is on, so he had to read through about 80% of the instructions to find out which wire was which. From that point it was just a matter of splicing each wire to it's appropriate source and snapping the panels back in place. I probably could have done it myself, but just wasn't comfortable snapping the plastic pieces off and splicing into the wires of my new car...

 

Rog,

I sent you a PM with Harold's contact info. The Shop is called Xtreme Auto Lighting...

 

Rog,

If you don't hear from him in a day or so, give him a call, it seems he's always at his shop, and I think he's got a hyper active spam filter on his e-mail! I have sent a couple e-mails that he said he's never received...

 

Orange County

Any OC'ers that can recommend a shop to do the mirror install as well as the fog light kit?

Thanks.

 

Ok, so I just finished the install of my auto dimming mirror with homelink. It's the one that was posted on here from Amazon. I am having issues with my mirror vibrating and the cars in the mirror shaking. It is very noticeable during the day and not so much at night. I do not remember my stock mirror vibrating like this except when I had the base way up. Is anyone else having this problem?

 

Did you snug down the set screw where it mounts to the windshield mount?

 

I had my autodimming mirror installed by a local auto electronics dealer. I don't have Homelink but it was available, I did get a rear view camera with the monitor in the mirror. My total cost was about the same as your quote. The Gentex 50-GENK242 Auto Dimming mirror with backup camera is, I'm told the same brand that Toyota uses as OEM.

 

Yes, very snug. I tightened it down as far as I thought I could safely get away with, but it was still the same. The whole unit feels very solid and stable on the windshield so I'm not sure why it's vibrating the mirror part.

 

I bought a home link rear view mirror with auto-dimming feature from a junk yard in MA (eBay - $65), and I am going to fit it on my '10 Prius with the sunroof / solar panel. My Prius currently has the stock mirror with no features.

The first problem is the "foot" on the mirror doesn't seem the same as the foot on the car - I haven't tried to take the original mirror off yet - so I can not be sure. But, I figure I will have to take it to a windshield shop to have the foot changed.

The second is the wiring.
It looks like you figured it out.

But, I still have questions about the wiring.
The mirror came with a 10-pin AMP connector with 3 wire on it:
Pin 10 - solid red
Pin 8 - white w/ black stripe
Pin 6 - solid black
All using the pins across the "bottom" row of the AMP connector.

I have seen an example DIY install on a Honda forum that shows the back of a Gentex GEN41a kit. The mirror looks identical to the one I have. It also has a 10-pin AMP connector - but it uses a 3 wire ribbon cable - and only gray wires (from what I can see in the picture).
There is one gray with white stripe in pin 6, an all gray wire in pin 3 ("top" row - middle pin) and another all gray wire in pin 10.
The posting talks about an "all black" wire - but from the picture, they all look gray or gray/white.

On my junkyard mirror;
I am assuming the solid red is +12v.
I also assume the solid black is ground

What is the white with black stripe?
Is is ground? Is it +12v? Should it be switched with the car or the headlights?

Are the wires in the correct pins on the AMP connector (6, 8 & 10)? Or is someone pulling a fast one?

I connect up a +12v battery on my bench to test it.
Battery Positive to red,
Battery Neg to black
Battery Neg to white/black

There is a "red" LED (front side, left of middle) that flashes when I press one of the homelink buttons.
Nothing else lights up. I have pressed the "I" and the "O" and no other indicators light up.
I have placed black tape over the sensor on the back of the mirror (the side with the AMP connector) and the mirror does not get dark.

I am Googling around to see if I can find the pin out for the mirror - but no luck so far

 

Sorry to "waste" the bandwidth - but I figured it out.

The solid black lead (pin 6) goes to +12 power - it runs the dimmer.
The white/black lead (pin 8) goes to Gnd
The red lead (pin 10) goes to +12 power - it runs the Homelink

With this configuration, the green LED lights up and the "I" and the "O" buttons turn the green LED (left of center, on the mirror side) on & off and the mirror gets dark & light as I cover / uncover the sensor on the back (connector side) of the mirror.

And, when I press any of the 3 Homelink buttons, a 2nd red LED (in the same holder as the green LED) blinks.
I programed the Homelink - and it works fine.
(press the two outside buttons and hold for 20 seconds - that erases the stored settings. Then, press the desired button and hold while you press the existing remote at the same time - and the home link will start flashing fast to indicate it is programmed).

I figure I want the solid black to go to a switched +12 connection (off when the car is off) and the red to go to +12 constant (Homelink) and the white/black to go to a wiring harness GND.

I've read other posts that said their mirrors used pin 3 (top row center) for GND.
I used my Volt/Ohm meter and found 0.2-ohm (the limit of my Ohm meter) from pin 3 (top row, center) to pin 6 (bottom row, center) - I think it is a short. So, it looks like either one could be used for GND.