[86scotty]

I'm surprised this thread hasn't led to, or at least discussed, the big elephant in the room. The fact that Ford didn't give ALL of use heated mirrors on big vans that absolutely rely on clear mirrors to be driven safely. At first I was going to do this mod but since Fall has set in and I'm driving in some snow and lots of fog and rain I've realized the Transit mirrors are prone to getting fogged/frozen over pretty easily. It's strange to me that many vehicles I've driven in awful conditions never have this problem and others do

Anyway, for me, the only option is to just buy the better mirrors with signals and heat and hope they will plug in. I'm going to be pulling my doors apart for insulation soon and will report on what is there. I'm hoping I will be as lucky as Boobahshazam and the wiring is already there for both.

Anyone scrapping their regular turn signal/heated mirrors for the long arm ones? I'm ready to buy.

 

[USMC Vet]

Torque screw driver size

Here's a video from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SUKruYEqHg

It shows how to take off the lens.

hoagie4901,

Received my replacement turn signal assembly for left side mirror today.
Able to get my chair close enough that I thought I would try switching out the broken one myself instead of paying dealer $85. an hour.
Followed the video instructions and was able to remove the glass mirrors with just a little bit of trouble. Then found out I don't have the right size torque screw driver. So mirrors have to go back in until I can figure it out. Dealer parts dept doesn't have that info. Will someone please advise so I can go get the right size. Thank You.

Semper Fi

 

[Eiko]

Then found out I don't have the right size torque screw driver. So mirrors have to go back in until I can figure it out. Dealer parts dept doesn't have that info. Will someone please advise so I can go get the right size.

I took my mirrors apart too. The first time pulling on the mirror is a bit scary. I have a torx bit set that had the right sizes but I couldn't tell you what they were. I'd recommend getting a set so you'll be ready for anything else in the future. This set works on security and regular torx:

 

[justcallben]

Will someone please advise so I can go get the right size.

Maybe this set is better for you. The other recommendation is a security bit set and they tend to be a little weak.

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-CC90396-Screwdriver-Insert-Bit/dp/B003VNKNW8/ref=sr_1_10?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1525409625&sr=1-10&keywords=torx+bit+set[/ame]

If you don't want that set then you'll need a T15 and a T20.

Cheers.

 

[USMC Vet]

T 8 does the trick removing turn signal assembly from mirror

I took my mirrors apart too. The first time pulling on the mirror is a bit scary. I have a torx bit set that had the right sizes but I couldn't tell you what they were. I'd recommend getting a set so you'll be ready for anything else in the future. This set works on security and regular torx: https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Grade-13... to be connected in a certain way? Semper Fi

 

[justcallben]

Polarity is unimportant for the heated mirrors since they have both the positive and negative wires and don't rely on a body ground.

 

[Quickredfox]

Thanks for all the insights, y'all. I've my new van for just a few days now, and will be doing this mod ASAP, - OR letting the dealership handle it for me when they do the several recall jobs the previous owner didn't address. I'll find out Monday or Tuesday how much they'd like for the job and post that info here.

 

[timber725]

+1 on using the ground wore on the door harness. t15 torx screw on mirror is not a good ground. spent two hours on first door fiddling with ground until i decided to aplice it jnto the harness. 2nd door took 30 minutes.

thanks for all the info!

 

[Poppa53]

I have a 2018 148 MR, It has electric mirrors, but no defroster or lights. I have rear door glass defroster. Can I buy the short arm electric mirrors on ebay/amazon with def and turn signals and just plug them in expecting them to work?? Or is that just naive?It makes sense to me that FoMo would use 1 harness for all of the same body applications, and activate the paid for accessories in the BCM. 1 sku is always cheaper than 30. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[asdrew]

It may be likely. For instance, on my original 2015 I added lamps and the wire was already live in the plug in the door. I'm not sure about the heater power, someday soon I intend to tear into my current 2015 to find out. There is a setting in the BCM for the mirrors which may be need to be changed.

 

[Vancave]

FWIW I was told that retrofitting the powered folding mirrors onto a 2019 would not work because the wiring harness was different.
That doesn't mean the turn signal wire isn't there, but they definitely have different versions of the harness.
As another example, my van did not come with rear door speakers and there were no speaker wires back there.

 

[asdrew]

FWIW I was told that retrofitting the powered folding mirrors onto a 2019 would not work because the wiring harness was different.

They aren't plug and play for sure, but where there's a will there's a way.

 

[asdrew]

Adding on to this old thread now that I've figured out a neater way to add the wires for a signal.

I didn't have pins on hand to add to the plug and didn't want to hunt down the right ones to buy, so I did this:

• tin about 1 1/2" of the wire ends and feed them through the harness sleeve.
• push the tinned ends through the correct holes
• bend the tips ever so slightly or add a dab of solder so they don't push back in when connecting the plug.
• connect the mirror end to your bulb socket

??

PS: I checked the plug for heater wires but did not identify them, so wires will be run to one of Hein's switches in the dashboard.

 

[Truck]

Apparently this was an option. The company I work for didn't check that box when ordering my 2015 drw high ext van.

I popped the cover where the lamp would be installed on the mirror and dont see any wiring harness but am unsure if one that would plug and play the turn signal bulb is in there somewhere.

Has anyone retrofitted the Ford parts in to mirrors that didn't have turn signals?

With a vehicle this long, and the turn signals up front on the vehice where drivers beside you can't see then, it is difficult for me to merge over in congested city traffic.

I'm not opposed to drilling a hole and just mounting a 12 volt amber light on each mirror if needed. But before I rip the mirror apart I would like to know if I'll even have a harness to work with... or if I'll need to make and run my own wiring from the fuse/relay box or front blinkers.

If you just start merging they get the idea (haha just kidding)

 

[asdrew]

If you just start merging they get the idea (haha just kidding)

lol - not kidding, that works great when done slowly. #drivingbigvehicles ?????

 

[cameronb]

I completed this job on my 2018 MR 148 this past weekend and all your pointers made the job very simple. I had removed the door panel the weekend prior and confirmed that I had a full set of wires on the van side of the harness - I did and it's an 8-pin harness on the 2018. I checked the pins with a multi-meter to confirm the turn signal and ground pins. The turn single wire color pattern matches what others mentioned before - Blue w/ green on diver's side and yellow w/ purple on the passenger's side - which was the last open slot on the side with the three existing wires. The ground wire was the opposite corner from the signal wire. Once I knew the harness had everything I needed it was smooth sailing. I found this video very helpful for getting in the door.

I used #7 o-rings you can get in the pluming department of any hardware store - they fit nice and snug with the T10 socket. The bulb type listed online was WY5W, which is a 2827. I'll see how long these regular bulbs last. I may swap them out for LEDs in the future but I couldn't justify paying 3-4x the cost at this point.

I tinned the ends of the wire as mentioned by asdrew, pushed them through the harness holes and wedged them into the gap of the slot. Worked perfect! Took me about an hour for the first side and 30 minutes for the second. I feel much better with side blinkers.

 

[RWalker]

The 2020 144MR cargo has a 12pin connector for the mirror with 3 wires in use for the adjustable main mirror. The Current mirror is the standard power, not retracting, short arm with no heat or turn signal light. I removed the door panel and went looking for a turn signal power source on the loom that plugs into the current mirror head. Did not get a voltage from any of the 12 pins to the mirror with the flashers on or turn signals using a light probe voltage tester at each pin with a good ground. Is it possible that the turn signal is not active to the door in the stock 2020? Suggestions appreciated.

 

[kazuo]

Wiring for 2018,the connector has 8 pins, pin #4 wire blue with a green stripe, for Left hand side, pin #4 wire yellow with a violet stripe Right hand side. From factory wiring diagrams, I have 2019 base model without lighted mirrors, there is a signal out to the door, As I remember the connector is attached on the far side of the sheet metal, you have to unattach connector from sheet metal, pull connector through hole in door then you can undo connector

 

[asdrew]

...Is it possible that the turn signal is not active to the door in the stock 2020? ...

Interesting that the 2020 has additional wires, presumably for the new features possible in the mirror housing. I would expect the more basic function of signal power to be there as in previous years, yet perhaps it needs to be enabled in the BCM now to send voltage to the plug.

 

[RWalker]

I followed the procedure outlined in this forum thread. OEM turn signal assembly fits in the 2020 mirror cover. Then removed the door panel and began checking for a signal out to the door by pulling the mirror connector out of the door and unplugging and testing for power at each pin from the door harness . Just wondered if I missed something or if 2020 might have a different control strategy requiring some setting in the control module to allow these to function.