Jonathan Parker <jonathaneparker@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The OEM auto-dimming rearview mirror in my truck seems to have bit
> thedust. The led light won't come on (and stay on) when I press
> thebutton on the bottom of the mirror - it seems the switch is
> broken. Anyone have one they can sell me? Or know a good place to
> get anotherOEM one?
You might be able to fix it. If your '99 mirror is anything like
the one in my '96, it will have a 3 pin connector plugged into the
back, the black wire is ground, the white wire provides power (12v I
think) to the mirror when the ignition switch is on, and a third wire
sends a signal to the mirror when you are in reverse so that the
mirror will not dim when you are backing up. (On my truck, that wire
is purple.)
The first thing I'd do is to unplug the connector and put a
multimeter on the leads (black and white). Make sure the mirror is
getting power from the truck when the ignition is on. If not, you've
got to head back towards the truck to find the problem - could be as
simple as a blown fuse. If the truck is providing power to the
mirror, then its on the mirror side, there should be a screw on the
bottom of the mirror base where it attaches to the windshield - if you
loosen it, the mirror should slide up and off the metal "nub" which is
glued to the windshield. That will let you take the mirror to a
workbench where it will be much easier to work on than inside the
truck. At that point, I'd take the mirror apart and see if there is
anything obviously wrong. The switch contacts may just be dirty or
broken, you may be able to get away with cleaning it or you could
replace the switch. The mirror probably does not have screws to be
able to take it apart, but it may have a case of the type where you
can stick a screwdriver between the two halves and twist to separate
them.
If you decide to tackle that, let us know how it works out. (And
of course if you have any questions or run into any problems, please
feel free to post.) Or, if you'd just rather not mess with it and
decide to get a new mirror, I'd be glad to pay for the shipping cost
if you just want to get rid of your old one. (I don't have a
particular use for it at the moment, but if I can get it working, it
might be an interesting item to stick in a project vehicle.)
Oh, and if you do decide to just get another mirror, the only thing
I can think of is to try a junkyard; there should be a bunch of these
things out there by now since they have been installed in Daks since
at least '96 or so. If you don't have a local junkyard, there are
on-line junkyards also, though of course if you do that you do run the
risk of the possibility that the connector had changed if you don't
get one from the same model year. Naturally, there is always the
dealer, but that is almost always the most expensive option, and if it
were me, I'd go the fix-it route, or at the very least check the
connector voltage to make sure that the problem actually is in the
mirror and not the truck itself.
Good luck with it!
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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