There has been a couple of things on this car that I wasn't sure what it was at first. I'm sure I'm not the only one so I was making a place where people could ask "what is that?"

I just noticed on the back side of my rear view mirror on the drivers side a small white square. Does anybody know what that is?

 

I havent' looked it up but, my guess is that is the light sensor for your Auto Headlights. I say this cause it looks just like the 2 smaller ones on the front that are for your auto-dimmer for your rear view mirror.

 

MaxSleeper the sensor for your headlights are located near the base of your windshield in the bottom corner. One is the temp sensor the other is the headlight sensor. The white thing on the rearview mirror i asked when i had my '02 Maxima. It looks more like you can plug something in it.

 

I can't believe that no one knows

 

Im always getting dirtly looks from g37 drivers, what is that?

 

Maybe it has something to do with the homelink?

 

That is one of the sensors for your auto-dimming rearview mirror. The one on the windshield side of the mirror tells the mirror if it is dark outside or not. The sensor facing the passenger compartment tells the mirror to dim due to bright headlights behind the car.

 

Boone, he said the back side of the mirror. The front of the mirror is where the sensor is located.

 

But they already have a daylight sensor in the dash that they use for the auto lights. Why would they have two?

 

There could be a few different reasons but the first one that comes to mind is the fact that the mirrors in our cars are sold as independent units for use in different vehicles and manufacturers. Since this is the case, it is much easier to not bother with integration. The Homelink buttons are easy because they are just simple buttons.

 

I would agree with that except that a compass comes in the rear view mirror but when you get the navi system they delete that compass so IMO that rules out that theory

 

cause the Maxima is the G37 of all Nissan's!

 

I actually see that as more of a way to save on some costs. Mirrors with a compass cost more than one without a compass.

 

But wouldn't having 1 daylight sensor be a way of saving on cost vs. having two?

 

This is the second time a g37 driver has done this, lol.

 

i have a question regarding the passenger windows. Are you able to roll down the windows all the way?

 

Nope, they go down to like a quarter open.

 

I think Boone is probably correct. The sensor on top of the dash is tied only to the lighting system, while the sensor on the back side (toward the windshield) of the rear view mirror simply tells the adjacent mirror dimming feature not to dim during daylight hours. These little mirror sensors are cheap, so this is much simpler, and much more cost effective than running additional wiring to/from the dash sensor to the rear view mirror.

 

I will start out with saying that Boone is probably correct because I can't think of anything else it could be.

I think your forgetting that the driver side mirror dims as well so the rear view mirror already has those wires running down to the dash to connect to the side view mirror. So the cost effectiveness is not there. It would be more cost effective to let the dash sensor control auto headlights and both mirrors.

 

Well I experimented a bit today. If you cover the sensor on the outside (the white square Flip is refering to) with your finger during daylight driving down the road, you will see the rear view mirror dim start to dim..A night time setting. The one on the mirror side helps with the bright lights at nite diming even more. I didn't notice any difference in the side mirrors though. So, it appears that the non-mirror side is a sensor for ambient lighting and the one on the inside for the headlights behind. So I can say, Boone is right on target.

Can't really comment on the engineering considerations behind this design, but hey, it works!

 

Thanks for the research LtLeary. I had arrived at the same conclusion by looking closely at the sensor with a magnifying mirror, plus there really wasn't any other logical purpose I could think of.

 

Ditto

 

Thanks. Way to prove this out. I had intended to do something similar with a piece of electrical tape but did not have time.

So, what's the next unknown item?

 

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So, what's the next unknown item?[/quote]

What are the two hook underneath the drivers seats? They are plastic hook shaped pieces and sometimes come off and if you clean you car you find them on the floor.

 

Hold the key FOB button down once they start to move and they'll roll completely down.

 

I think we may have a misunderstanding here.

By 'passenger windows', ehyoitzjeffo was meaning the rear door windows, and sgirgiss124 was responding that the rear door windows don't go all the way down.

This is the case whether we roll them down from inside the car or with the remote, and is a function of the lower door shape, which does not leave room for the glass to fit completely inside the lower portion of the door. This is true for many passenger cars.