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03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03 Finished

84K views 45 replies 21 participants last post by  Zmann 
#1 ·
I've been looking around on Diesel forums trying to find one solid write up on the Mirror Upgrade for the 99-early 03s. I have found several you can read through to get the just of things, but I want to try my best to make a one stop shop for the complete MOD, from modifying the 03-07 Mirror harness, to installing a 91-94 Ford explorer Momentary defrost switch w/ timer. I understand the OE mirrors heat stays on once the ignition is on, I personally would only like Heat on demand. This is upgrade is popular due to heated Mirrors/Turn signal & running lights. I'm not taking any credit for this upgrade, just compiling information I've found on other threads.

Parts needed:
03-07 Mirrors
03-07 Mirror harnesses
-Left Hand part # 1C3Z14A411BA
-Right Hand part # 1C3Z14A411AA
Pins (for Mirror Harness)
-http://www.clipsandfasteners.com/Ford_Wedgelock_Pin_Type_Terminals_20_18_Gauge_060_p/a20475.htm
4 pin Molex connectors
-http://www.amazon.com/Molex-4-Pin-Connector-0-093-Sets/dp/B0009WBHLK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336177804&sr=8-2


(this does not include everyday shop parts. ie - electrical tape or wire)





A) Plug for Heated Mirror Power & Ground for Mirror. Later on in the write up, this plug will no longer be needed and will be replaced with the Molex 4 plug. B) Plug for Mirror control C) 03-07 Mirror Plug








As you can see in the picture, Pin hole 4, 7-10 are empty.. We'll only be utilizing pin hole 4 (Turn Signal) & pin hole 7 (running light)


Not too many pictures at the moment. I was supposed to get the rest of my parts in today. I'll take as many pictures as I can of the process, and I'll keep my thread updated as throughout the upgrade.
 
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#2 ·
Re: 03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03

Modifying of the Harness

PART 1 - REMOVING the factory heat/ground plug

1. Cut the black Loom holding the original 5 wires


2. Push the red tab (A) from the back of the grey plug. It will need to be pushed far enough so it can be grabbed by a pair of Needle nose pliers.


3. Once the tab is out far enough, pull it out with needle nose pliers


4. Tab is out


5. Once the tab is out, you can now pull out the factory pins for the heat/ground by depressing the Latches (A) that hold the pins in.


6. These latches (A) are what hold the pins in the plug. Removing the Red tab gave us enough leeway to depress the Latches



- I used a Dentistry tool to press the Latches towards the center of the plug while maintaining pulling pressure on the wire connected to the pin. Pin 5 & 6 are the two pins that need to be removed in order to remove the factory plug.

7. Factory heat/ground plug removed



PART 2 - Soldering the Pins


- Grey plug pins ( they considered Terminals but for writing purposes I'll call them pins)



The molex kit comes with (2) male plugs and (2) females plugs.. Males pins for the FEMALE plugs, female pins for the MALE plugs.


1. Cut 8 (5" long) pieces of wire. I used 18g wire, it was what I had laying around. Using 20g wire would make the process easier, I had a couple tight fits with my pins fitting into the grey plug

2. Strip about 1/4" off of each end

3. Solder the Grey plug pins onto each of the (8) wires. Make sure to leave the end of the rubber insulator flush or a tiny gap (A). After you solder the wire, you'll need to crimp the terminal around the wire. It's IMPORTANT to have a tight fit or else it won't fit while trying to insert them into the Grey plug.


4. Repeat this process for the MOLEX pins. Doesn't matter which pins you solder, just make sure that they are all MALE or FEMALE..

5. One harness wires completed. Just need to crimp the Grey plug pins (A). Also, the MOLEX plugs have more forgiving tolerances, crimping the pins (B) very tight is not necessary.


6. Once finished with the soldering and crimping of the pins, you can now insert them into their respected plugs.. For the Grey plug (4,5,6,7).... Molex plug, doesn't matter, as long as you annotate which wire is for what (turn, heat, ground, signal)

-When placing the pins into the MOLEX plugs, push them far enough until the metal tab is flare out (A)..


- once finished with placing the pins into the Grey plug, you can now insert the red tab, just the reverse process.

Finished Harnesses



Still waiting for the Mirrors to show up. Once they arrive, I'll take one day to install them, run the wires and mount the Defrost switch.
 
#3 ·
Re: 03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03

Out of curiosity if upgrading why not get the 08 and up tow mirrors? I installed them on my 04 and to me they are way better than my 04 tow mirrors.
 
#4 ·
Re: 03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03

How are you going to switch the heaters on? I used a Excursion rear window defroster switch(in stock location) to kick mine on using the explorer 15 min timer. If I needed more I could hit the switch again
 
#6 ·
Re: 03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03

How are you going to switch the heaters on? I used a Excursion rear window defroster switch(in stock location) to kick mine on using the explorer 15 min timer. If I needed more I could hit the switch again
I just picked up some 91-94 Ford Explorer Defrost switches at the Local Pick-N-Pull.. Ran me about $8 ea, compared to the $15 new on Ebay..



You can only see the (4) male terminals in the pic but there's (5).. I will be finishing the install this weekend, I've been swamped with work and haven't had anytime to finish.. I know there's two shown in the PIC, but only one is going to be used. I picked two to have one laying around for future mods.
 
#5 ·
Re: 03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03

I used a pair of wire cutters and some connectors. Done in a jiffy! LOL
 
#9 ·
Re: 03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03

Ditto
 
#12 ·
Re: 03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03

So, I finally had enough time to finish up my Mirror upgrade this past weekend. I tired to take as many pictures as possible, so if I left something out or you have a question, just hit me up.

1) Start with taking off the door cards. I didn't take any pictures of this because there's plenty of threads online that will show you how.
2) Make sure you remove the door speaker. You will need this gone in order to unplug the old round mirror plug (99 SD white in color).
3) Start to remove the nuts holding the mirror on door. It was very easy with a helper.



4) Remove old mirror (after unplugging) and install new mirror. Make sure to install new pad that came with new mirror. Also, feed the grey mirror plug before completing the installation of the new mirror
5) Leave off the door cards.
6) Take off the fuse panel trim piece to access wiring.
7) You will need to run 3 wires to each door from steering column spot. I cheated a little bit and used a piece of extension cord. (A) . I only ran the extension cord to the passenger side. The length for the driver was really short so I ran 3 individual wires.



NOTE: The three wires being ran are TURN, RUNNING LIGHTS, and power for MIRROR HEAT. The molex plugs have 4 pins because one of the spots will be utilized as a ground for the mirror.

8) After running the wires, get out the solder tools. If you go back to the beginning of the thread you'll see I customized the mirror harness so I can use a molex 4 plug. I'm sorry I didn't take any pics of the process this weekend, you'll have to look at the beginning for reference. Now it's time to put the other plug on. Strip the 3 wires enough so you can solder them onto the pins. Find a spot to use a self tapping screw or use another ground to tie in the ground wire. In the pic you'll see I used the self tapping method.




NOTE: Make sure you annotate which pins go where when inserting them into the Molex 4 plug. I've listed the pin-out on the OE grey Mirror plug. You just need to match them up respectively.

9) Once you have finished soldering and plugging in the connectors, you can now tidy up everything in the door and put back the speaker and door card. (A) - Mirror Movement (B) signal, running, heat, ground (C) plug to mirror

 
#13 ·
Re: 03-07 TOW mirror upgrade for 99-03

NOW TIME FOR THE WIRING!!

SIGNAL - I tied into the steering column at the signal switch. Left turn (light green with a white stripe). Right turn (white with a light blue stripe)

POWER for HEAT - I used the Ford Explorer defrost switch to send the mirror the power for heat. You can use whatever you want, I like the timer function. Below is the plug I used to make wiring in defrost switch much easier.

(1)- 12v OUT to mirror for HEAT (2)- can be combined. 12V fused input / timer power (3) - ground (4) - Illum (when your lights are on)



Where I decided on placing the UNIT. Sorry for the crooked pic



Underneath




RUNNING - I tied into the marker lights, at the light switch. Combined both mirror wires into one spade, than ran a Tee off of the wire needed.

I apologize with the lack of pictures for the wiring process. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them through a PM.
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the write up on this I have been wanting to do this for the last month and I couldn't find anywhere on how to do it now I do thanks Jdebo for this one. Looks great to on your truck and I agree the 08 ones look like a$$ bad idea with the little square light.
 
#20 ·
I used an Excursion rear window defroster switch. The PROBLEM is, in the excursion it has a Body Control Module, (ECM) for the body of the truck.

But I had a friend dissect a explorer defroster switch/timer and wire it to the Excursion switch. That way I had the stock switch for that truck, but also had a 15 min timer
 
#21 ·
Just out of curiousity where is the best place to buy the mirrors with out paying $700 at the stealership?
 
#22 ·
#24 ·
But what's their quality like? I know I can get them cheap but don't want complete junk.


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#28 ·
I'm gonna do this;-)
 
#30 ·
I'm pretty sure the bundles of wires under your kick plate are from the taillights and such so you could run your wires there. Simple test light check will tell ya if that's right or not


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