DIY Power Folding Mirrors: a journey

[akoza]

JDM mirror has defrost and blind spot function. It is slightly blue tinted and it is convex. Honestly, I do not love the convex distortion of it, but I really really like the lack of vibration. When I took the mirror off the driver side I could see how much it moved on its plastic clip and I could also see how the adhesive was failing. Interestingly when I switched the passenger side out, however I pulled on the mirror made me realize that I had made the adhesive on the passenger side fail as well.

Here is a link to the civicxi thread about this.

https://www.civicxi.com/forum/threads/drivers-side-mirror-vibration.50011/

I noticed on hondadreamshop and acuraoemparts websites that the driver side mirror is not available. I wonder if a lot of people brought the car in for this. I did not bring this in for a warranty claim because I was sure they would say it is happening because I switched the mirrors out.

If they had a flat version, I'd jump on that. When I had a GTI, I installed power folding mirrors, which came with convex glass on both sides. Tried it for a few days and couldn't get used to it so I swapped the driver side back to the flat glass.

I may consider going down the road of trying to take apart the mirror plastic and trying to reapply the adhesive, depending on how invasive it is. I have no idea whether the adhesive has any requirements for weather/temperature resistance or anything else.

Maybe Honda will come up with an updated version with better adhesive in the coming years that we can just swap in.

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[stanleywinthrop]

It took me about a week to get fully used to it, but I've grown to prefer the mirrors that came with the mikstore kit.

 

[akoza]

Anyone able to find the part number for the wire harness clip on the inside of the door panel that holds the mirror wire in place where it connects with the switch wires?

I’ve been looking at diagrams for a while and cannot find it

Take a look at dreamshop under Electrical/Exhaust/Heater/Fuel. The Wire Harness (6) section has a whole bunch of wire clips and is probably what you're looking for. They're color-coded, so start there to narrow it down. Then look at the shape and the length - hopefully that's enough to get you what you need.

 

[acurax]

Anyone able to find the part number for the wire harness clip on the inside of the door panel that holds the mirror wire in place where it connects with the switch wires?

I’ve been looking at diagrams for a while and cannot find it

If you need that clip, I have a driver's door harness I can remove one from. Let me know...

 

[acurax]

If you have one that’s in good condition that you are willing to send me it would be awesome. Mine got pretty jacked up with removal of the mirror and now the clip buzzes when I drive because it doesn’t hold in place well.

How does this look?

 

[acurax]

Looks good. I’m not sure if that’s the part I’m looking for. I have to take the door panel off to figure it out

This was removed from the branch of the harness closest to the power window & mirror switch terminals.

 

[ajamils]

Some things I learned during this install which are specific to the F Kit (and may apply to other kits)
- The green wire has a different connector on either end. Make sure you do not plug the wire in backward because depinning these connectors can be a PITA
- Tighten your screws all the way down or else your mirror will wobble, and you will have to live with that wobble or revise the install. I had to remove the mirror again and partially disassemble stop the wobble. With that said, do not over tighten the screws or you can strip the plastic like another member of this forum did
- If you switch out the mirror glass, when you reinstall it, make sure the tilt motor sticks are properly aligned. They are ball and socket joints but there is a little notch that must align. If you do not align the notch, the ball will break off
- Wear gloves when you remove the glass. Even clean hands are greasy. Also white lithium grease is behind the mirror to prevent plastic squeaking. It will get all over your hands, or gloves if you are wearing them
- Take more pictures than you need to to ensure putting things back together is easier

Yes, I finished the install.

Got the F-kit today along with cabus. Planning to tackle it sook. Any extra pointers would be appreciated.

 

[acurax]

Got the F-kit today along with cabus. Planning to tackle it sook. Any extra pointers would be appreciated.

Be careful not to mix-up the ends of the green wire running from the power mirror switch to the master power windows switch. The smaller terminal goes into the master power window connector.

Be sure to lift the lock on the connectors prior to attempting to insert the terminals. Both power window connectors and I believe the power mirror connector have such a lock, see example below. A small flat head screw driver or knife blade should be able to lift it, just be pay attention as you're handling things in case you accidentally push back in.

Also. after inserting the terminals into the power window switch connectors, you should be able to see the tip of the terminal from the other side. If you don't, you need to push it in further to ensure a good connection; otherwise, things may not function as expected.

 

[ajamils]

Am I missing a harness or do I need to make it myself with the wires I received?

 

[acurax]

Am I missing a harness or do I need to make it myself with the wires I received?

The black, white, and green wires on the right are used for the model F kit to add electric fold. Take a look at the install instructions here:
AUTO FOLD INSTALLATION WIRING GUIDE

The wires on the left are used for the reverse auto tilt. Review the install instructions here:
HONDA REVERSE TILTING WIRING GUIDE

 

[ajamils]

The black, white, and green wires on the right are used for the model F kit to add electric fold. Take a look at the install instructions here:
AUTO FOLD INSTALLATION WIRING GUIDE

The wires on the left are used for the reverse auto tilt. Review the install instructions here:
HONDA REVERSE TILTING WIRING GUIDE

Thank you for the links. In the first guide, there are sections for turn signal and heated lens, I'm assumig that they are not applicable?

 

[ajamils]

Well, it's finally time I come back and close the loop on this. About a year ago, my A Spec was totaled, but luckily I was fine. I mourned that car for months and refused come back here and revisit that day. Because of the car market last winter and other life circumstances, I elected to find a reasonably priced used CRV to replace the integra. At the time of the wreck, I had installed my rebuilt mirrors on the A spec, but I was awaiting new mirror switches, which leads me to my primary point: Don't do what my thread started out to do. I only discovered late in the process that I would need separately source window switches and that pushed my costs up to the point that it made no sense to do what my first 5 posts in this thread attemped to do. Just get the C or F kit.

The good news is that finally got back into the game a couple of weeks ago and purchased a 25 Si. I went ahead with the F kit and got power mirrors installed. I made a quick video of the install for anyone interested.

TL : DR Don't do what I attempted to do in this thread. Just get the F kit, and watch this:

Thanks for the video. It is really helpful. One question though, why did you remove the speaker? In other videos that I have seen for mirror removal for Civic, they did not remove the speaker, instead just unscrewed the mirror from the top hole.

 

[akoza]

Thanks for the video. It is really helpful. One question though, why did you remove the speaker? In other videos that I have seen for mirror removal for Civic, they did not remove the speaker, instead just unscrewed the mirror from the top hole.

I removed the speaker on mine as well. Makes it much easier to find and retrieve a bolt if you indavertently drop one into the abyss. I did the rag thing too for extra peace of mind.

I did not peel back the foam liner though - there are a few "holes" in it where wires go through - I took advantage of those and stuck my extension through them (as well as the hole above the liner). Makes things a bit tougher to work with and the 3 nuts are harder to get to (but still doable) but then you don't have to worry about adhesive and resealing anything.

One suggestion I have for when you're removing those 3 bolts is to line the inside of your socket with some masking tape. This will help give the inside some friction and bit tighter clearance so the nuts don't fall out of the socket as easily (of course if you have a magnetic socket you probably don't need to worry about this).

One more thing to note: I got the $158 kit before these model A-F kits came out, so this very well may be a moot point by now. The instructions I got from MIkstore mentioned a large green or yellow wire to tap into on the main window switch connector (the grey connector with the locking tab. Those were instructions for the Civic, and the colors for the Integra was swapped. From Stanley's video at quick glance, it didn't look like this wire was used anymore (unless I didn't look carefully enough) but my point is if something in your car doesn't match the instructions, test and confirm it with a multimeter before blindly plugging in wires and hoping it's correct.

Last thing I can think of (I swear this is the last one): the video doesn't mention this, but the Integra has painted plastic trim at the base of the mirror which I believe the Civic does not. You''ll need to swap this over (easily done with a plastic trim tool once the mirror is off the car). Depending on the color of the car and the color of the mirrors they send you, you also will probably have to swap the mirror caps over. To do this you'll have to take the mirror glass out first and then use a plastic trim tool along the outside, while pressing in some tabs along the inside. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think there are any screws holding it in.

 

[acurax]

Thank you for the links. In the first guide, there are sections for turn signal and heated lens, I'm assumig that they are not applicable?

That's correct, the type-s wiring harness is already wired for those. If it lacked either, then you would need to follow the instructions for whichever it was lacking.

 

[stanleywinthrop]

Thanks for the video. It is really helpful. One question though, why did you remove the speaker? In other videos that I have seen for mirror removal for Civic, they did not remove the speaker, instead just unscrewed the mirror from the top hole.

It gives a bigger hole with which you can reach up and maneuver the harness. It also allows you to stuff something down in the crevice to prevent losing a nut down there.

Can it be done without removing the speaker? Yes. For a guy with big hands like me it makes it easier.

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