Rearview mirror LED Lights Ala FJ

3895 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by psschmied, Nov 30, 2009

Gilboy

Discussion Starter · Nov 5, 2009

I always liked the lights on the mirrors of the Toyota FJs.So here's what I did tonight while watching the Phils loose the world series. I picked up these dual mode three wire surface mount LEDs on Ebay. They had a chrome ring that I painted satin black and come with 3M self adhesive backing. They are low amber as marker lights and High for the turn signals and hazards. I pulled the rear view mirror off the E and disassembled it to route the wires (that I shielded) through the mirror following the OE wiring (be careful not to pinch it anywhere). After reassembling the mirror I checked it to make sure all was working OK. I then remounted the mirror and pulled the door panel. Routed the wires down through the door (avoiding the window track) and out through the door jamb wiring boot. then fished the loomed wire out through the fender and wire tapped it into the turn signal bulb lead,

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Island E

· #2 · Nov 5, 2009

How much of a pain was it to get the glass off the mirror housing? Reason I'm asking is because I want to add heating elements to mine.

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Gilboy

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 5, 2009 (Edited)

That was the easy part

Frozen E said:
How much of a pain was it to get the glass off the mirror housing? Reason I'm asking is because I want to add heating elements to mine.

Just tilt the mirror glass all the way up then pull from the bottom edge of the mirror. It will release the two clips holding it on. swing it up and out.

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Eww-an E

· #4 · Nov 5, 2009

Looks good,nice job.

I've been planning on doing a mod very similar to that. No offence,but I think that a rectangular,or square l.e.d. might match the shape of the E' a bit nicer.

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AK-snow

· #5 · Nov 17, 2009

Mirror

Thats awesome!!
Yes i would go Square lights too.
And Heated would be nice in Alaska

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Gilboy

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 24, 2009

New Pictures

I finally got around to taking some pictures of both mirrors. first picture shows with marker lights on. Second is showing the hazards blinking.

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Eww-an E

· #7 · Nov 24, 2009

^^Nice! 8) Was that second brighter shot with your hazards on,or just how your picture turned out?

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Gilboy

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 24, 2009

Hazards on

Yes, I was trying to capture photos while the hazards were flashing. too bad I can't post a movie file.

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Island E

· #9 · Nov 24, 2009

Eww-an E said:
^^Nice! 8) Was that second brighter shot with your hazards on,or just how your picture turned out?

No flash, camera went into a higher iso setting (tons and tons of noise).

I was thinking about installing individual LEDs along the front of the mirror if I ever decided to rip the thing apart to do the heated glass thing.

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psschmied

· #10 · Nov 24, 2009 (Edited)

Frozen E said:
How much of a pain was it to get the glass off the mirror housing? Reason I'm asking is because I want to add heating elements to mine.

It's not hard to detach the glass of the side view mirrors with their backing.

Just angle the mirrors up as far as they can move, then carefully and evenly pry the bottom edge out using just your fingers. The bottom will "pop" away from the motor, swing the mirror up and unhook the upper edge from the motor.

I did a similar mod, except I ran the wire through the door boots. There's an album in my profile that shows more clearly the internals of the mirror, the mount that the glass/backing hooks onto and routing of the cable through the mirror and the door. http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/album.php?u=4850

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Gilboy

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 25, 2009

In then out

psschmied said:
It's not hard to detach the glass of the side view mirrors with their backing.

Just angle the mirrors up as far as they can move, then carefully and evenly pry the bottom edge out using just your fingers. The bottom will "pop" away from the motor, swing the mirror up and unhook the upper edge from the motor.

I did a similar mod, except I ran the wire through the door boots. There's an album in my profile that shows more clearly the internals of the mirror, the mount that the glass/backing hooks onto and routing of the cable through the mirror and the door. http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/album.php?u=4850

I too thought I would run the wires through the OE door boot. However; I figured that would put the wires inside the cabin under the dash. Then I would have to get them out of the cabin into the engine compartment and up to the front turn signals. By jumping out of the boot I ran directly through the fender to the turn signals.

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psschmied

· #12 · Nov 30, 2009 (Edited)

Gilboy said:
I too thought I would run the wires through the OE door boot. However; I figured that would put the wires inside the cabin under the dash. Then I would have to get them out of the cabin into the engine compartment and up to the front turn signals. By jumping out of the boot I ran directly through the fender to the turn signals.

It isn't hard to get back out of the cabin; there are soft body plugs through to the fenders just in front of where the boots enter the cabin. It is a little more work, but the wires are better protected in the boot.
I took the conductors for both turn signals grounded them inside the cabin, combined them with the wiring for my DRLs, and used one multiconductor cable under the hood to connect everything. I used inline disconnects on the wiring, so if the door, mirrors or DRLs have to be worked on, the harness can be easily removed and reinstalled.

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Rearview mirror LED Lights Ala FJ

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