My '89 came with the digital dash, trip computer, and motorized auto-dimming rearview mirror on the inside. By the time I got the rig, the mirror no longer would dim. I eventually opened it up, lubed the tiny motor, reassembed it and it worked OK for about six months. Opened it up again, same problem, the little motor was pretty cheap and more or less worn out.

I went looking for a replacement, bought one a 'yard but it had the same problem. Then, on a '90 Aerostar in a 'yard, I found one that auto-dims but not mechanically. It's an electrochromic mirror like these:

Donnelly
[link:www.donnellye.com/_private/prod01.htm|http://www.donnellye.com/_private/prod01.htm]

Mito/Gentex
[link:www.mitocorp.com/nvsmirro.htm|http://www.mitocorp.com/nvsmirro.htm]

I bought it (for $5 !), retrofitted the older-style Ford "shoe" mounting, and have been using it for a year -- I really like it, and the stock power harness plugged right in (Hot, Ground, plus a Reverse light feed to disable dimming when you're backing up) with no modification.

The one I got from the '90 Aero doesn't appear to be either of those brands above, it has no temperature indicator nor compass. It looks OEM, or a very good aftermarket part.

I've looked for over a year, but have never found another one of these. I've been looking in junkyards at Aeros and Lincolns, with no success. I'm wondering if one of you knows any more about these mirrors. Maybe one of you has an Aero that came with one? It'd be nice to at least confirm that the ECT-style mirror was an OEM option. My goal is to pick up another one for my other car -- without spending over $200.

Regards,
Al S.

 

I have one of those ECT style rearview mirror in my 90 aerostar.It has n on-off switch and a sensitivity adjustment switch with a scale 1 to 9. When at night, if it senses bright light from behind, the green LED will light up. The mirror dims in such a way that I don't really notice it. I really like this rearview mirror. I think it is OEM.

 

Hmmm.
The motorized mirror that was a stock option in my '89 had both a ON/OFF toggle switch (round stem?) and a horizontal sensitivity thumbwheel pot (1..9) and green indicator LED (that lit up when it was in "dimming" mode), but the ECT one I got from a '90 has only a slide switch with three positions: OFF/LOW/HIGH.

I could never hear the motorized one run when the engine was running, but I could catch it moving occasionally. It was pretty fast, when headlights hit from the back.

Both styles use dual photocells: one facing the windshield, so it has a baseline light level to compare with (ie, it won't dim the mirror if it's fairly light outside), and one facing rearward to measure light from the rear window. If you put your thumb or a piece of black tape over the forward-facing photocell, you can use a flashlight at the rear photocell to toggle the dimming feature. I used to do this to test out the "repaired" motorized one, since you had to basically reglue the housing together after each repair, a real pain to take apart.

Maybe I'll take a pic of mine and post it, but it doesn't sound like yours is quite like my "new" ECT mirror that I pulled from the '90; it sounds more like the older motorized one. Even the motorized version is fairly hard to find in junkyards around here these days. I think I threw mine away (both of them), but if I still have them, they're in storage 300 miles north of me. When the motorized one worked, it worked pretty well. I wish they'd put a more robust motor in it. The rubber-band drive isn't all that impressive, either, especially when you consider how hot a black-housing mirror can get.

Tell me this: is there a color shift in dim mode? My motorized one didn't, but the ECT one is noticeably blue in dim mode.

Regards,
Al S.

 

According to your description, I think mine is the motorized one. But I always think that it is dimmed electronically because I never hear any noise at all. Maybe during driving, it is not noticeable. I really want to know how the motorized one works. Why it has sensitivity setting. Isn't it either on or off just like the manual reverview mirror? How can it dim more or less?

 

The motorized one actually moves the complete mirror housing slightly, when it dims, just like a manual mirror.

The sensitivity **** adjusts the light level threshold before the motor moves the housing to the dimmed position. I always had mine at "9", to dim soonest. It does not change the level of "dimness"

Regards,
Al S.

 

Have a look for one in a newer Crown Vic or Grand Marquis. I retro fitted one from a 2001 to my 89 Escort without much trouble. I had to splice into the car's harness. The color of the wiring I got with the mirror matched the car's overhead consol so that wasn't much of a problem.