lighted mirrors for the c4

[Nazgul]

Hello again to all.....

I recently purchased on ebay what I was told was an auto dimming rear view mirror from a 91-96 c4....I have a non lit mirror in my 85 and wanted to upgrade to something I could light when the doors opened....and also manually with a switch.....is there such an animal as an auto dimming mirror that mounts on the head rail as in an 85? This mirror has 5 wires total....in one group of 3 and one group of two....and what looks like an amber light points down....there seems to be some small printed circuit board behind the glass when I peek in the rear of the unit.....it has a normal looking flip paddle on the bottom for normal dimming.....can anyone identify this mirror...and how it functions in their car?...I have already read here that the amber light may be some sort of night lite....but is this a dimming mirror?....I have no wiring in my head rail except for vanity mirrors.... and would like to know before I start tapping into wires just what it is capable of....Thanks again in advance for any information you guys and gals can provide......Geoff

 

[XtremeVette]

sounds to me that you have the late model mirror

that mirror is indeed from the years you were told...my 1990 has the same thing.....3 lights in all on that mirror.....two white ones on each side and an amber (map light) that shines constantly when the parking lights or regular lights are on...it shines down to illuminate the center column and the shifter area. The other two lights run off of the same circuit that the interior lights are on....when you put the interiors on or open a door these come on....however they do have a switch on the mirror to allow them to come on whenever you need them.

Iam not quite sure on the wiring scheme since you say you have no wires up there but I know that it can be done....I gave my old mirror to my brother who has a 1989 firebird and he just wired it in paraelle with the interior lights...worked fine for him.

Hope this helps
jeff

 

[Nazgul]

Jeff...thanks for the quick reply....a friend of mine is lending me a 12 volt power supply so I can hopefully probe the terminals on my mirror, and maybe come up with some reasoning on how it might work. Sounds like you have....or had the same mirror....was yours auto dimming?..if so when did you notice any dimming?..one wire sounds like it needs to be connected to the light switch for the amber night lite.....does this wire also activate some dimming feature? I hope poking around with a 12 volt signal might have it give up some of its secrets to me.....Geoff

 

[-=Jeff=-]

Jeff...thanks for the quick reply....a friend of mine is lending me a 12 volt power supply so I can hopefully probe the terminals on my mirror, and maybe come up with some reasoning on how it might work. Sounds like you have....or had the same mirror....was yours auto dimming?..if so when did you notice any dimming?..one wire sounds like it needs to be connected to the light switch for the amber night lite.....does this wire also activate some dimming feature? I hope poking around with a 12 volt signal might have it give up some of its secrets to me.....Geoff

It is NOT AUTO DIMMING. you need to flip the lever for dimming. the 90-96 Vettes had the 2 connectors for power. Anyway, for that mirror, the smaller connecter will plug into the harness to a connecter that should already be in the header. possibly the other one as well. but it is not an autodimming mirror

 

[XtremeVette]

he's exactly right...

It is NOT AUTO DIMMING. you need to flip the lever for dimming. the 90-96 Vettes had the 2 connectors for power. Anyway, for that mirror, the smaller connecter will plug into the harness to a connecter that should already be in the header. possibly the other one as well. but it is not an autodimming mirror

yep perfectly said....if you really want auto dimming you might try maybe radio shack or possibly Jegs or Summit....I forget where but thought I remember somebody making some kind of auto dimming little gizmo for situations just like this. Just tell them you're looking for an auto dimmer for the interior lights....if you say mirror you may really confuse the hell out of them lol.