Wacky Auto Dimming mirror experience

During the winter I posted my experience with the auto-dimming mirror suddenly "fading" slowly until just a small circle of auto-dim crystal stuff was left and finally even that was gone. I accepted this and have been driving around with what now amounts to a regular mirror for at least 6 months, squinting at bright lights from behind me.

Well, 3 weeks ago, I got in the car to discover that a whole bunch of auto dimming liquid (looks like golden colored oil trapped between two tight panes of glass) had now reappeared in the mirror, seemingly from nowhere. It actually fills about 2/3 of the mirror and works great, even though it's there in the daytime, tinting everything I look at a slight golden color. The top 1/3 of the mirror has some sort of condensation in it, sort of like the top of a wine glass where the fumes collect and then drip back down, and it's clear colored like a regular mirror.

The on/off switch for the dimming portion of the mirror no longer does anything.

Anyone else have this experience? It's a 2002 LLBean edition. And what will happen next?

Reply to
Deb
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If you post this exact same question in sci.electronics.design, you will get answers from several engineers who design LCDs.

Reply to
Guy Macon

Was this a factory installed feature, or was it aftermarket? I didn't know this was available. Other automatic day/night mirrors I've seen were simply regular manual day/night mirrors with a light sensor that popped it between the day and night positions.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
YKhan

"YKhan" wrote in news:1117747331.077698.78990 @g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

It's a dealer installed option. My brother had one installed in his 2005 Legacy GT.

Reply to
Fuzzy Logic

You know, maybe that's what the problem was? If this mirror is LCD based, LCD's tend to be very temperature sensitive, especially to cold temperatures. The original poster didn't mention what her geographical location was, but she mentioned "winter" which would probably indicate that she's from a cold part of the country. That's probably why the factory doesn't install these type of mirrors -- it knows that they aren't robust enough, compared to the old-fashioned day/night mirrors.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
YKhan

Although dealer-installed, these mirrors are in fact an official Subaru option. The autodimming mirror used by Subaru is made by Donnelly, one of the two companies that supply these mirrors as OEM/optional equipment to auto manufacturers and also as aftermarket upgrades. The other company is Gentex. These same mirrors are installed in many makes and models of vehicles and use a liquid electrolyte technology for dimming. They are generally very reliable and don't have a problem with temperature extremes. The one I have in my WRX has performed flawlessly since new over four years of use in the Northeast with our cold winters and hot summers. The problem being described does appear to be a total failure of the dimming mechanism and would require that the mirror be replaced. If not covered by warranty, a replacement can be obtained through various means, including new from Subaru (probably the most expensive way) or through aftermarket retailers that carry these mirrors. They also turn up used on Ebay (buyer beware of course) and in the classifieds on the various Subaru forums such as NASIOC and I-club. If you are looking to purchase one via the aftermarket, be sure to get the proper "cam-lock" type mount for Subaru. Also note that although the mirror supplied by Subaru only includes a compass, the aftermarket versions are available with other options such as an outside temperature display (you'll need to install the included temp probe and run the wire into the vehicle and up to the mirror) and map/reading lights.

Reply to
mulder

It's a factory installed, standard option in my car. I don't plan to replace it unless the mirror actually becomes blurry and unusable. So far, that hasn't happened. The car will be 4 years old in September. The mirror only made it to about 3.5 years.

Reply to
Deb

If it's factory or dealer installed why not just get it replaced under warranty?

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
YKhan

My car's at 56K miles and I am long out of warranty.

Reply to
Deb

"magictentacle" wrote: > My car's at 56K miles and I am long out of warranty.

Does it work? I had one installed in my 2005 Legacy but had them take it back out. During the day it didn?t dim at all (other than the anti-glare coating), even when an SUV?s bright lights were shining directly in the mirror. At night it would lighten back up under street lights and the cars behind would blind me. It was as if the headlight sensor didn?t work. They said it was not defective. I told them it was impossible to drive with it since it does not have a manual switch. They refunded my money and put my old one back in. I was really disappointed since I hate all these bright DRLs that make you see spots and have to keep the regular mirror on the night setting most of the time. Should I try an aftermarket mirror?

Reply to
subie

The aftermarket ones are exactly the same. As I mentioned in my previous post the Subaru mirror is made by Donnelly, if you go aftermarket you'll find what's available are Donnelly and Gentex mirrors. They all work the same way so it wouldn't matter which one you got. The mirror you had was not defective, the dealer was correct when they told you that. However it can be "fooled" by high ambient light levels such as from street lights and not dim properly. The way it works is that there is a photosensor in the front of the mirror that measures ambient light to determine when it is dark enough outside to dim the mirror, and another rear-facing sensor that reacts to bright lights from behind and makes the mirror dim accordingly. The mirror will never dim during the day and as you found can be affected by strong overhead lights at night as well. One thing you could have done is to put some black tape over the front facing sensor, this would make the mirror think it was always dark outside and thus activate the dimming feature. However the unwanted result of this might be that even the bright ambient light reaching the mirror during the day would make it dim, not just someone using their headlights. I've had one of these on my WRX since new and while it isn't perfect I've been satisified with its operation.

Reply to
mulder

My original factory installed mirror did work like a dream, until it failed about 6 months ago. At night it was great. During the day I am not bothered by the bright lights for some reason, so I never noticed if it dimmed or not at that time, but I suspect it didn't.

Reply to
Deb

"mulder1" wrote: > On 9 Jun 2005 00:35:54 -0400, subie > > wrote: > > >"magictentacle" wrote: >  > > My car's at 56K miles and I am long out of warranty. > >

Thanks mulder for the explanation. I considered putting tape over the night sensor but ultimately decided returning it was the better option. I do see a few aftermarket mirrors with a manual day/night button but I am going to stick with the regular mirror for now. I probably would have kept Subaru?s mirror if it had one. I can say I am happy about how Subaru handled this. The dealer didn?t give me a hard time about returning it and SOA offered a refund on the labor cost. Now if I can get them to fix the jerking cruise control problem...

Reply to
subie

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