[spacemanspif]

Long story short, my wife clipped the garage door pulling in the other night. I plan to replace the mirror with an aftermarket if I can't get to a junk yard soon. I know most late model Focus have heated mirror wiring even if they don't have heated mirrors so I'm thinking about replacing the broken mirror with a heated one. My only concern is if having only 1 heater mirror will cause issues.

Anyone ever run just 1 heated mirror with success? Not sure if there are any issues that would arise but would prefer to know before I plug in a new unit so I know the car won't burn down on her way to work.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[MattyDibbs]

I’d say it depends on where you live. I live in Michigan so having both heated mirrors helps a lot in the winter, but I’d imagine if you lived in a warmer climate it wouldn’t really matter so much. I’d say if you don’t often use the mirror defrost it shouldn’t be much of an issue for you.

 

[rambleon84]

I'd confirm the wiring is in place and you have the needed switch for it already. Other than only having one heated mirror, i dont see any issues.

 

[spacemanspif]

Thanks for the fast responses guys. Heater mirrors would come in handy during the winter but the car currently has non-heat ones so i'm just trying to add a handy feature in case it would help her in the future. The price difference between heated dorman and non-heated mirrors is minor so I'm willing to pay a few extra bucks even if it is only used a couple times each season.

I'd confirm the wiring is in place and you have the needed switch for it already.

It was my understanding that the mirrors came on with the rear window defroster. Is there a separate switch just for the mirrors? Where would I find it to confirm presence? Car is a 2007 ZX5 SES.

 

[rambleon84]

It was my understanding that the mirrors came on with the rear window defroster. Is there a separate switch just for the mirrors? Where would I find it to confirm presence? Car is a 2007 ZX5 SES.

Sounds like you are right, should just turn on with the rear defroster
https://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/mk1-focus/145314-heated-mirror.html

(i never looked into it since my 07 had manual only mirrors and def had no power going to them.)

 

[spacemanspif]

I found another thread saying that just having the 5 wires doesn’t mean you ha e heated mirrors because of missing wiring in the middle.

My concern was if having 1 mirror was bad for the heat circuit and it seems it will be ok.

 

[Paul1958]

I found another thread saying that just having the 5 wires doesn’t mean you ha e heated mirrors because of missing wiring in the middle.

My concern was if having 1 mirror was bad for the heat circuit and it seems it will be ok.

Mike
The post you read was probably mine at this thread (post 12):
https://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/mk1-focus/805971-heated-side-mirror-swap

I have done extensive research into the entire heated mirror issue for MK1 (2000-2007) US Focus. The bottom line is you need to check the wiring with a voltmeter or ohmeter to determine if your car is fully pre-wired for the heated mirror. It is a fairly simple test to determine if your car is fully pre-wired. If it is not then it is more effort to determine if it is partially wired.

The heated mirror circuit is switched on by the rear defroster switch as it is supplied power via the rear defroster relay. The rear defroster relay in turn supplies power to two fuses: 25A (rear defroster), 7.5A (heated side mirrors). The circuit is a 'parallel' feed to each mirror heating element so you could have only one heated mirror and it would work fine.

I added heated mirrors to my 2005 ZX4 which was partially wired (easy add) and to my 2002 SE wagon which had no wiring from the factory (much more involved).

What year is your Focus?

Paul