old gentex auto dimming mirror wiring

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Mobile Video, GPS, and Navigation
Forum Discription: Mobile Video Head Units, DVD Players, LCD and TFT Monitors, Navigation, GPS, PS2, PS3, XBox, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=121713
Printed Date: June 22, 2025 at 11:27 PM

Topic: old gentex auto dimming mirror wiring

Posted By: patomlin
Subject: old gentex auto dimming mirror wiring
Date Posted: May 06, 2010 at 3:15 PM

Hi
Completely new to these forums and hoping someone can help me decipher this 16-pin Gentex wiring block.

A bit of background - I bought this off ebay to retrofit my VW, and know that I only need two wires to make it work - ground, and 12v switched live.

Whilst I have no problem in wiring the mirror in, I need some help finding out which wire is the 12v and which is the ground. A quick search on the net leads me to believe the GROUND wire is the BLACK/ GREY wire.

Would there be any harm in moving through the others, connecting them to a power source until I find the right one? The mirror in question came with ONSTAR, which is useless in the UK, so a lot of wires will be redundant.

Thanks for your help!

posted_image

Replies:

Posted By: Mark Mizenko
Date Posted: May 07, 2010 at 12:15 PM

Yes! Randomly connecting power to the wires could damage it. I dont have a diagram handy for that mirror, but I'd be glad to look. Someone else here may be familliar with it even.

Posted By: Chris Luongo
Date Posted: May 09, 2010 at 7:04 AM

Do you know what kind of car it's from? Looks like GM wiring to me but I'm not sure.

It might be helpful to list the color of each wire you see in the plug, if you can.

Posted By: Mark Mizenko
Date Posted: May 09, 2010 at 2:45 PM

Chris, in case you dont get on Directtechs, interested in coming to the installer BBQ/PowWow at my shop this august?