<rant>

well now that we're all thinking about it... that's part of the Great American Turn Signal debate as well. Proponents of red turn signals (whether the turn signal bulb IS the brake bulb also, is separate but is on for Parking lights too, or is a single filament bulb) say "using all red lowers production costs" with the occasional "orange is ugly". Opponents of red signals state the obvious "amber is an easier color to spot out of the corner of your eye, not to mention differentiating colors eliminates ambiguity of tapping-brakes versus turning. plus if the brake/signal bulb are one in the same.. in that one bulb burns out you lose two functions" on top of the statement "USA is the only country that still allows red signals. ALL OTHER countries require amber, enough so that if you take a Corvette to England, you have to get the taillights changed to comform to their DOT standards. For this reason, it is MORE cost effective to make amber signals, so that carmakers can make one unified taillight system for all countries, rather than developing a separate red-signalled system just for the USDM."

case in point, V35 Skyline/Infiniti G35. Euro tails have amber, US tails have all red.
V35 Skyline

Or the 3rd gen altima. 2 separate bulb lenses. Was the red plastic cheaper to make than the amber? Besides on that particular car the orange really did look better. On the corvette, however, it looks a BIT weird...
C5
C6

</rant> yeah I'm an amber-signal ****. i know. aaaaanyhow.....

So that makes sense then that maybe the British 89 Maxima had heated mirrors but ours didn't until 92, but they did the harnesses as one unit ahead of time.

 

I happen to agree that all cars should have amber signals.

it is however cheaper to make a solid red lens than to make a red and amber lens whether it be a 1 piece setup or not.

 

even on the 02-06 altima? also what about like on a 3rd gen. they can just make 2 clear pockets like that and use an amber bulb. true this is not the case on a 3rd gen (it's actually a clear bulb with an amber piece of plastic behind the lens), but for any setup like it (mid 90s avalon, recent 626, recent prelude, etc and so on and so on).. wouldn't it be both amberized and cost effective to do that, with adjacent pockets for rev/turn and just use an amber bulb. Besides, the savings in all-red plastic is negated by having to make circuitry for the blinker control module. In my car, i did the craig brace wiring on my corner bulbs. bumper signal on, sidemarker off. however on any red signalled car, the activation of the blinker actually still blinks the red in unison with the fronts... which means some sort of relays or other electrical controls are used to achieve this. Which costs money.

Same as how it would cost money to make a machine to do a separate harness for each option variation. Not to mention the add-on scenario, which means you'd have to swap the harness again, or add wires where they weren't, to add options later.

 

a solid red lens requires less tooling to make than a multicolor lens or multipiece lens regardless of the vehicle.

 

so can i just get the glass or am i going to need the entire mirror assembly?

 

yeah ok i missed the keyword solid. but as complex as some all-red multi-bulb systems are (for example, Lincoln Navigator, with 2 separate red sections.. on one on gate and one on body) they could just as easily switch the dye color and not spend any more money making it. That's my biggest beef, is that they have setups that are all red, and NOT solid (even the 2000-01 altimas with their lower red section.. is actually red glued on red.. not solid). Chevy S10 designers have some bite to their bark. Altima designers don't.

And yeah i meant to ask about heated mirrors too. I either need new mirrors soon, or to get my glass resurfaced. There's a lot of pitting on my car's glass. Especially the driver side door mirror.

 

you can do just the glass, but doing the entire mirror would be easier.

 

are you asking b/c of the availability of mirror housings in your car's color? find it on an SE and use the black housings unless you really want body-color mirrors.. black goes with anything, right?

 

true and i am going to get the car painted anyways

 

Getting back to the first post of this whole thread, did anyone find out what the problem with that passenger-side mirror was? I am having the same sort of problem. I have not taken anything apart yet as the weather has not been in my favor...

 

If one mirror works and the other doesn't then the problem is probably located somewhere between the door jam and the mirror. If it's both mirrors it's proably a fuse. In either case a Voltmeter or test light is your friend.

The front door panels aren't hard to take off BTW.

 

i bought my max a year ago now and have always wanted the heated mirrors to work... but the little button on the left of the wheel doesnt even light up.... what fuse is it? i belive iv looked for it before and couldnt seem to find it, or maybe missed it.

thanks

 

i think the fuse is in behind the cover by the hood popper or

could it be possible the little light bulb is burnt out?

leave the button at the in position and after having the car running or

the key at least turned,and if they work the mirror glass will feel warm.

maybe someone switched replaced mirrors with older non heated?

i have a 91 se and had to swap some in from a parts car

along with the heated switch

very easy since the plugs were on the doors for the mirrors

and the heated mirror switch plugs right in

 

possible that the mirrors where replaced... but im not sure, ill try and leave them on, but if they arnt heated i would be able to tell if i took the whole mirror of? because there would be a plug that isnt being used?

ill look throught the fuses again

 

i have heat coming to the mirrors... now can i just replace the light or do i need to get a whole new switch?

thanks

 

just replace the bulb in the switch. not sure what size they are, but all switch lights on our cars are the same. should be able to find out what size they are with a search.

 

sounds good.... ill pop the light out and take it to auto store or nissan... i went and replaced the ashtray light a few weeks back and ended up ordering it from nissan dealer... when i got it, it was the wrong bulb, and the bulb needed is discontined. went into a auto zone on my way home and they also didnt carry one....... but the man at the desk just so happend to replace a dash light on a older toyota truck and told me that toyota dealer would be able to get me one, and they sure did.

thought that was odd.
would this be the same little bulb then?

thanks for all the help by the way.