Junkyard_Mad-Scientist
SHO Member
Recently I decided to get rid of my hazy lined out almost impossible to use auto dimming monchromatic driver mirror in favor of the less complicated easier to find spotter style mirrors with the small convex glass built into the corners. The issue is the BLIS or blind spot monitoring system does not work with these mirrors (lack of indicator on the mirror) so it sets off an alert for the system and the cross traffic system.
A few solutions, live with it, replace with the same failure prone auto dimming mirror, disable the system with forscan possibly, or relocate the indicators. I chose the latter and this is how I did it.
First, I replaced the mirrors, I can see and I'm happy about that.
Next, deciding where to put the indicators, I immediately recalled another car brand mounting them in the sail trim and there is room inside to mount them in the taurus. After that it was deciding what to use as indicators, initially I sourced some 5mm amber LEDs which were perfect (left in picture) but was concerned they may be too bright and annoying so I took apart the original mirrors and removed the existing led and found them to be perfect. Flat with diffuser and 2 wire simple connection, plus easily removed from the back of the glass.
After deciding on indicators and placement I drilled a jagged hole in the sail trim (use a sharp bit, I didnt.) And with some help from the wife filled them with epoxy for a flush window.
The epoxy set over night and I started assembling the sail panels. I used 3m VHB double sided tape since I had it on hand, added some heat for adhesion and lined up the light with the hole.
Now for wiring. I couldn't find any diagrams or pinouts for the mirrors so I sacrificed my damaged mirror to trace the wires back to the pins. Once I knew what wires I needed I tapped the indicator leads into the harness behind the plug. (I expect the criticism for using wire taps, be gentle though).
Now that it was wired up I simply snapped the sail panels back in place and started the car so it could do its self test. No error messages and the lights lit up on que. They seem like they won't be intrusive or annoying any more so than the original set up and I now have the best of both worlds. Spotter glass, no auto dim to deteriorate, and BLIS for those hard to tell situations.
A few solutions, live with it, replace with the same failure prone auto dimming mirror, disable the system with forscan possibly, or relocate the indicators. I chose the latter and this is how I did it.
First, I replaced the mirrors, I can see and I'm happy about that.
Next, deciding where to put the indicators, I immediately recalled another car brand mounting them in the sail trim and there is room inside to mount them in the taurus. After that it was deciding what to use as indicators, initially I sourced some 5mm amber LEDs which were perfect (left in picture) but was concerned they may be too bright and annoying so I took apart the original mirrors and removed the existing led and found them to be perfect. Flat with diffuser and 2 wire simple connection, plus easily removed from the back of the glass.
After deciding on indicators and placement I drilled a jagged hole in the sail trim (use a sharp bit, I didnt.) And with some help from the wife filled them with epoxy for a flush window.
The epoxy set over night and I started assembling the sail panels. I used 3m VHB double sided tape since I had it on hand, added some heat for adhesion and lined up the light with the hole.
Now for wiring. I couldn't find any diagrams or pinouts for the mirrors so I sacrificed my damaged mirror to trace the wires back to the pins. Once I knew what wires I needed I tapped the indicator leads into the harness behind the plug. (I expect the criticism for using wire taps, be gentle though).
Now that it was wired up I simply snapped the sail panels back in place and started the car so it could do its self test. No error messages and the lights lit up on que. They seem like they won't be intrusive or annoying any more so than the original set up and I now have the best of both worlds. Spotter glass, no auto dim to deteriorate, and BLIS for those hard to tell situations.
