Technical Wing mirror wires

[Matthague]

Morning.
Someone decided to damage my wing mirror glass so I’m after a replacement. I have a grande punto 58 plate.
I’ve no idea what’s these wires would do as the adjust mechanism makes the middle bit move.
Someone has suggested it’s a heater?
I’ve normally just clipped a new mirror in when it’s happened before.
Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[portland_bill]

The 'orangey' one does appear to have a bit on the end that might have been stuck to the back of the old glass.
If you have any of the old glass left, it will probably have a heating element on it.

Heated mirrors usually operate with the heated rear window, to defrost the mirror glass. Also useful when it mists up on cold days, or to 'boil' the rain off. The orange wire will therefore be live when the heated rear window is on, so if you're not using it, make sure it is insulated.

 

[Matthague]

This is the mirror back.
I’ve never noticed any cables before which is the odd thing but perhaps it’s not been that mirror I’ve had to replace .
I assume just taping over the ends would suffice?

 

[portland_bill]

Yep, that was a heated mirror.
Make sure the end of the live wire is completely covered. If it shorts out, it'll blow the fuse, then your heated rear window will not work. (There may be other stuff on the same circuit too.)

 

[Matthague]

Ah.
Odd they didn’t know about that..
I was in a rush yesterday to make sure it fitted before I left the store and it shut it clipped on so I need to work out how to unfix it and then block off the wires

 

[portland_bill]

Ah.
Odd they didn’t know about that..
I was in a rush yesterday to make sure it fitted before I left the store and it shut it clipped on so I need to work out how to unfix it and then block off the wires

Who are "they"? An accessory shop, or a garage?

Mirror glasses can be very difficult to remove without breaking. If they were easy, they'd fall off easily. Official way is to unclip the cover, and then release the mirror glass clips from behind. But getting the cover off is usually just as difficult, and often results in broken clips.

A more complicated fix, is to remove the wires from the connector inside the door. The mirror inner cover should give access, as the connector needs to be accessible for when the complete mirror needs replacing. Once the inner cover is off, the two wires can be removed from the connector. This involves using a tiny probe to release the metal connector pin from the plastic socket. Very fiddly.

Or you could just leave it and hope.
Check the handbook to find out what else might be on the heated rear window fuse. Then you'll know how important loss of these would be. It is summer now, so don't use the heated rear window. But come winter, there might be a fuse going pop.