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Rear defrost switch repurposed for heated mirrors

chevyCowboy

chevyCowboy

I might be crazy but i ain't dumb
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Springfield Nebraska
I was in the junk yard the other day and brought home a rear defrost switch and wireing connector out of a pre 96 suburaban that i was hopeing to repurpose as the switch for my heated mirrors that i will be installing. i wanted to do this because i was thinking that this switch would have the timer function built into it.

There are 6 wires coming out if the plug for the switch not sure why there would be so many but in the books that i have the wireing diagrams dont show me enough to get what i need. can anyone shed any light on the subject here?

Maybe some one knows of a better switch that i can buy? that would time out after say 5 min so that the mirror heat wouldnt get left on for hours.
 
At least on the 04 Silverado I have, the defrost button triggers all defrost units you may have installed... For my truck, the wiring was all there, the only difference is in that you have to have the glass defrost portion in the mirrors. Easily replaced, and it's just plug and play.... then a single button for heating up everything.
 
im putting on the duramax style mirrors i dont have any thing that has defrost now other that to defrost the winshield. so that is why i figured i woudl have to add a switch and one that is timed would just be all that much better
 
Is this for the 2000, or the 93 in your sig line? I used a defrost switch (has a timer) out of a 93/94 Suburban to power the mirror heat in the aftermarket mirrors I put in my 94. I powered the switch from the convenience center under the dash. I was able to utilize knock outs that were already built into the dash to put the switch into, so it looks stock.

Don
 
its in the 00 the 93 is no more (just changed my sig actually). it wont look factory but hopefully not terrible, maybe i can find one that will look stock but all the newer stuff had the rear defrost built into the Heat/ac controll, at least what i saw.

which wires did you need to use there are 6 in the harness what are they all for?
 
I'm struggling to remember everything at the moment. I'm looking in my notebook at the wiring diagram (copied from what I found in library) for the 1994 convenience center to rear window defog switch. The convenience center in the 94 and earlier vehicles was the connector block under the drivers side of the dash (next to the e-brake pedal) that has a couple relays and a bunch of wires plugged into it. These wires have different color connectors on them that correspond to a color marked on the block, such as green, orange, white, blue, etc. The diagram shows only 5 wires for the defog switch: black (grd), gray (hot with headlight switch in either park or headlight position), pink/black (hot in ig switch run, bulb test, or start positions), orange (hot at all times), and purple (power out to rear defogger grid, or as in what I did it went to the mirror heat). What wires/colors do you have in your switch?

When I was doing my mirror project I went to a pick-n-pull and got the complete under dash wire loom from a 93/94 suburban. My pickup didn't have anything in it's wire loom for power mirrors or window defrost. I then tore the burbs loom apart and pulled all the pertinent wiring out and made a secondary loom for the mirror, including heat. I then plugged everything in to the convenience center in what was, as near as I could figure, the stock location. Here where I live it is very seldom that mirror heat is needed, so I haven't really been able to properly test for heat yet.

At the moment I don't have the time, or inclination since it's raining, to go dig around under the dash to double check what wires the switch has. I'm working on replacing head gaskets in the old car my son drives. He's driving one of our cars and I need to get his running and back to him since it gets better fuel mileage, he drives over 80 miles a day at not much better than minimum wage.

Don
 
im likeing the look of the switch that you posted over the look of the one i scavanged from junkyard maybe i will just have to bite the bullet and order that it would blend in well with the dash and i do want this to look NICE!
 
That switch does look nice. The fact that it comes with wiring diagram and all parts needed is even better. The stock 94 switch like I used didn't have any diagram and it took me a lot of time to figure our where to plug into the proper locations on the convenience center.

Don
 
that really does look good there and that or on the bottom is where i had planned to mount mine.

Don just cause im curious now. i do have 5 wires. so if i understand correctly there is still a realay that i would be missing from the 94 setup.
 
No relay. For the 94 and earlier, you'd need to either make a loom that would run down to the convenience center, or do like I did and get the underdash loom and strip out the needed wires and make the loom. The colored connectors on the stock wires were very valuable to me when it came to connecting the switch in to the convenience center. I'd hate to think what would have to be done to wire the 94 switch into a later models wire loom.

My personal opinion is that the switch that Ed posted about would be the smart way to go, especially since it has the wiring diagram. It even looks real good in his pics.

Don
 
ya this is my thought i was just trying to figure out if all that was needed to have the timed switch was the switch its self of if a timmer relay was needed as well
 
chevyCowboy said:
ya this is my thought i was just trying to figure out if all that was needed to have the timed switch was the switch its self of if a timer relay was needed as well
Click to expand...

I bought the 2695 Kit it Includes the switch and timing relay, full wire harness, optional
mounting plate with screws, 20 amp fuse with mount, sand paper,
wire tap, additional connectors, wire ties and instructions.
Complete Kit - $43.95


The 2697 Clear View kit comes with a timing Relay & Switch Only plus instructions.
Relay and Switch Only - $35.95

Were I to do it again, I have enough wire and connectors lying around plus a couple spare fuses and don't need the full kit. As it is I did not need an under dash mounting bracket nor 20 ft of wire that would run to the rear defroster of a car. You just need to decide if you want to pay their price for spade connectors, fuses and wiring.
 
I installed the heated tow mirrors on my 94 prob about 2 1/2 - 3 years ago and just wired the heat to a nice rocker switch. Never used a timed circuit, have forgot to shut it off a couple times, and like a dummy had wired it to a constant 12v... it heated the mirrors for 8 1/2 hrs and never caused any issues other than dead batteries once. I have since changed it to a switched power source, of course, and heat still works on both mirrors. Now, I am not saying it's ok to leave the heat on all the time, but I dont believe its necessary to use a timed circuit. I would recommend using some sort of light that comes on "reminding" you that the power is on though.
 
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