Heated mirrors question

captainzombie · November 28, 2018

How does the heated mirrors work in our trucks? I have a 2018 Z71 Crew. From my understanding is if you press the rear defrost button that they should start working correct?

If I use remote start from the key fob or my apple app, will that engage the heated mirrors?

I bought Phil’s mod kit back in September to go from the DL8 to DL3 mirrors. Everything worked fine but I never tested the heated mirrors since it wasn’t winter at that time. Now that we have had snow and ice I don’t think the heated mirrors are working.

Phil and I have been messaging back and forth since last night about this, we can’t quite figure out what’s going on. I just wanted to see if I am using the heated mirrors properly.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

btj_z71 · November 28, 2018

How does the heated mirrors work in our trucks? I have a 2018 Z71 Crew. From my understanding is if you press the rear defrost button that they should start working correct?

If I use remote start from the key fob or my apple app, will that engage the heated mirrors?

I bought Phil’s mod kit back in September to go from the DL8 to DL3 mirrors. Everything worked fine but I never tested the heated mirrors since it wasn’t winter at that time. Now that we have had snow and ice I don’t think the heated mirrors are working.

Phil and I have been messaging back and forth since last night about this, we can’t quite figure out what’s going on. I just wanted to see if I am using the heated mirrors properly.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Yes, the rear defroster turns them on. You can have them come on with the remote start as well by changing your vehicle settings. Go to settings and then follow the menu from there.

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captainzombie · November 28, 2018

1 minute ago, btj_z71 said:

Yes, the rear defroster turns them on. You can have them come on with the remote start as well by changing your vehicle settings. Go to settings and then follow the menu from there.

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By default then, is the heated mirrors not meant to activate with the remote start until I make that change in the infotainment menu? Thanks!

kickass audio · November 28, 2018

I believe the default setting is to have heated accessories disabled. If you turn it on it will kick on your rear defrost grid, defrost your mirrors and turn on your heated seat if you have those items which being a z71 you more than likely have all 3. It will only turn them on once it's below like 40 or something like that. I don't remember the exact temp they kick on at when you remote start the truck. The fastest way to know is if it's below like 35 out, remote start the truck and wait a minute then put your key in the ignition and turn it to the on position. If your feature is enabled in the infotainment menu you will notice the rear defrost light will be turned on when you perform the key takeover.

btj_z71 · November 28, 2018

I'm fairly certain they are disabled by default. And like the other guy mentioned, there is some outside temp that is required for them to turn on, around 40°F I think.

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captainzombie · November 28, 2018

1 hour ago, kickass audio said:

I believe the default setting is to have heated accessories disabled. If you turn it on it will kick on your rear defrost grid, defrost your mirrors and turn on your heated seat if you have those items which being a z71 you more than likely have all 3. It will only turn them on once it's below like 40 or something like that. I don't remember the exact temp they kick on at when you remote start the truck. The fastest way to know is if it's below like 35 out, remote start the truck and wait a minute then put your key in the ignition and turn it to the on position. If your feature is enabled in the infotainment menu you will notice the rear defrost light will be turned on when you perform the key takeover.

Yup, I do have all 3 of those. When I place the key in the ignition, the rear defrost light is always turned on. When I get a chance I'll check my infotainment to see if anything is turned off.

As for the heat element, does the glass mirror get warm or is on the assembly itself for these trucks?

Thanks again guys!

kickass audio · November 28, 2018

It's only the mirror itself. Warming up the body of the mirror will accomplish nothing for you to see people behind you lol. If you were to put a thermometer up to it, the glass gets to like 70 some odd degrees once it is warm.

Also being you have a 2018, you may also be able to roll down your windows if you hold the unlock button. I don't have that feature in my 14 LT but it is one of the many little secrets to the truck.

captainzombie · November 28, 2018

1 hour ago, kickass audio said:

It's only the mirror itself. Warming up the body of the mirror will accomplish nothing for you to see people behind you lol. If you were to put a thermometer up to it, the glass gets to like 70 some odd degrees once it is warm.

Also being you have a 2018, you may also be able to roll down your windows if you hold the unlock button. I don't have that feature in my 14 LT but it is one of the many little secrets to the truck.

Yeah, true LOL! Phil and I were trying to figure out how the heating element works and it was one idea that we had come up with.

I checked my infotainment and my heated seats for remote start up was checked.

I did see the auto roll down features for the windows while I was in there, that has always been a cool little feature.

I am in IL so the temps yest were 30 degrees and today we are in the teens.

I would think if the glass gets to 70 degrees, upon touching the glass, it should feel warm and it doesn't on either side.

kickass audio · November 29, 2018

The mirrors should definitely be warm to the touch. You won't feel it with gloves on but if you have your bare hand on them you should feel it near the center of the mirror. Do you happen to have an infrared temperature gun? I used mine on the mirrors to detect what temperature they were warming up at as well as where the hot spot is (it's pretty much straight in the middle). When I hooked up my aftermarket remote start I tied into the defrost wire to have my glass (useless to heat up since I have a cap on the truck) and mirrors heated up when it's cold out.

Take a look at the RPO codes in the glovebox or maybe yours are in the door jamb. I know GM was going to switch the location for the codes instead of having them in the glovebox. You should have DL8 at the very least. You could have DL3 mirrors if it has the turn signal and puddle lamp feature as well as power fold in mirrors. If you have DL8 like I do it's heated and power adjustment but manual fold.

When you checked the mirror was it after awhile of running? The defrost will turn off after you have been driving for awhile. Mine take like 2 minutes to get up to temperature when it's really cold out. Was your back window warm at all?

raiderjoe40 · February 23, 2019

Ive just had to take my 1500 to the dealer. I was up in the Sierra's 2 weeks ago and the Truck got buried in snow. Just when warming it up for the drive home, getting it all thawed out I guess the heated mirrors kick on at a low temp outside....My Drivers side mirror cracked right in front of my eyes....18 degrees out. GMC is going to replace it as a warrantee item, which I was going to be very unhappy otherwise..