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Have a 2007 Pilot, 165K miles, has defogging side mirrors. Recently acquired 2018 Pilot, apparently defogging side mirrors only in Canada now-- too bad. Any retrofits available and how expensive?
De fogging side mirrors
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Seems unfair Honda has done that. I'm sure you get your fair share of fog, too. Although I use mine here in Canada more often during the course of a year to melt side mirror ice, I'm sure lots of places south of the border have to deal with icy mirrors as well.
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Some trim levels in 2018 did have heated side mirrors.
LX trim and/or some 2WD models lacked the heated side mirrors.
Which trim and drive version do you have?
Vehicle Specifications | 2018 Honda Pilot | Honda Owners Site
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2WD not LX trim, guess my good deal was a little short on the extras, but still very happy with car. Will just have to park under cover on icy days. Wonder if you can get replacements but need internal switches etc. Oh well, considering the shortages glad to have a great car to drive. Someone suggested putting plastic bags on mirrors at night. Might be a great fix just have to be careful if icy. Not frequent problem in NC. where I live. A.W. Atkinson
If you have moderate mechanical skills you can install heated mirrors on your vehicle. I did this on my Tacoma a few years ago. Overall it was about a 20 hour job. I had to carefully remove the mirror glass from its housing, apply the heater pad, cut out the mounting bracket to accommodate the heater pad wiring, then put it back together. Then there was the wiring along with the switch and time delay relay.
Since your year Pilot has trim levels which include heated mirrors, you have that option. You can do some research to determine if your trim level already has the wire harnesses for the heated mirrors (sometimes it's easier for the manufacturer to stock just one wire harness and not utilize certain connections as opposed to having multiple versions for each trim level). If you're lucky all you would have to do it swap out mirror assemblies and install the OEM switch / time delay relay module.
Since your year Pilot has trim levels which include heated mirrors, you have that option. You can do some research to determine if your trim level already has the wire harnesses for the heated mirrors (sometimes it's easier for the manufacturer to stock just one wire harness and not utilize certain connections as opposed to having multiple versions for each trim level). If you're lucky all you would have to do it swap out mirror assemblies and install the OEM switch / time delay relay module.
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Thanks for suggestion. 20 hours sound like a lot. Does that include talking to parts department about what I a talking about or phone trees?
The 20 hours was only labor time. Part of that time included bench testing components prior to installation. Yeah, it sounds like a lot until you get into the project. I’m also the kind of person who takes my time and doesn’t cut corners so that added time to the project. I’m sure someone could have hacked it up in 10 hours, but who knows what it would have looked like.
My parts department was the web . . . had I called a Toyota dealership they would have told me it wasn’t possible on a 2nd gen Tacoma. Wolstentech is where I purchased the time delay relay module from in case you need to purchase one.
If OEM heated mirrors were available, that would have shaved 5 hours off the labor time. If the wire harnesses were already part of the vehicle that would have saved another 6-8 hours. So you might be looking at closer to a 5 hour job if everything aligns for your Pilot.
My parts department was the web . . . had I called a Toyota dealership they would have told me it wasn’t possible on a 2nd gen Tacoma. Wolstentech is where I purchased the time delay relay module from in case you need to purchase one.
If OEM heated mirrors were available, that would have shaved 5 hours off the labor time. If the wire harnesses were already part of the vehicle that would have saved another 6-8 hours. So you might be looking at closer to a 5 hour job if everything aligns for your Pilot.
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Thanks. Will see how this winter goes.
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I see a lot of people do that around here on icy days (well, just before, of course).
Unfortunately, IIRC, Honda does not have a reputation for being very accommodating in providing harnesses ready for an easy upgrade, I believe I've read in the past on this forum. Definitely verify if your harnesses allows for that, or if you have to rewire. Otherwise, it seems it would just be too easy to bolt in (just three easy bolts) a replacement heated mirror and plug it in for forty or fifty bucks a pop (oh, and wire in a switch).
2006 HONDA PILOT 3.5L V6 Outside Mirror & Glass Assembly | RockAuto
RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.
www.rockauto.com
w/ heat =
| Plug Configuration | 8 hole 5 prong |
w/o heat=
| CONNECTOR | 8 Heads 3 Pins |
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That would depend upon how much you use each time.
You wouldn't need to use very much to defrost just the sideview mirrors.
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Good idea. Maybe with global warming won't be a big problem this winter.
Well I have a can that is 6 or 7 year old and it is still almost full. But then our cars are in the garage every night.
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