legacycentral bbs

OK So after actually finding a late MY94 with a high "outback Style roof" Alpine edition w/cold weather package!!!! I robbed the heated mirrors and the switch along with a couple inches of wiring for the switch. (Also cut out the heated seat elements and switches which ill post later this month). Now I was lucky in finding this car. So the wiring may be different from your doner vehicle, but, from what I've researched most of the heater/movement switches from 90's legacys are all the same.....at least as far as wiring. This is what mine looks like...


Now, You will notice right off the bat that the heated switch have 8 wires and the normal switch has 9. No i did not get that backwards. The basic switch has actually two extra wires that are unused. I'm unsure as to what they are for. There is no info in the diagrams...in fact they are non existant in the diagrams.


They are shown here. Go ahead and cap the white/yellow and yellow/blue which are #5 and 12 on the plug (go to joshes site for the pinout if needed)


Next you'll need to install the mirrors. I won't get into this because its incredibly easy to understand once you get the door cards off. Mine plugged right in and mounted easily, however since I had technicly "first gen" mirrors they worked well. I belive from some small searching 2nd gen mirrors look the part and my mount right up as well as having the same wiring.

Basicly they plug right into the factory plug. The normal movement wiring lines right up and you should have two wires left over that come from the mirror. These are your element wires! Attach some decent guage speaker wire to these wires (doesn't matter which to which) and run them through the boot and into the car.

So next you'll attach one wire from each side of the car to the black with white coming off the new switch. (this is a ground switch). Next youll hook the remaining wires from the mirrors to the green wire to the switch....this also connectes to the green wire coming from the car....this is your 12v source.

At this point you should look like this...


Once done with that wiring your home free. All the rest of the wiring is color coded correct so it's just wire to wire at that point. As for the little light in the switch....I ran into an issue with my bulb being burnt out...but with a new bulb she works great.





oh and just a little seat heater teaser....

Thanks for the info, I picked up the switch and mirrors from an 'MI' a while back. Does the switch have a timer? I'd kind of prefer to have them activate when you press the rear defrost like my Forester S did.

NO timer as i can tell. It's really such a low voltage that it wouldn't hurt to leave on. The 12v feed is acc so it shuts off with the key. If you wish to have them turn on with the rear glass switch you shouldnt need a new switch.

Nice write-up!

I picked up heated mirrors with the button, and heated seats with the buttons but it didn't have the button on the very bottom bellow the heated seats buttons, what is that one for?

SubyFusion wrote:I picked up heated mirrors with the button, and heated seats with the buttons but it didn't have the button on the very bottom bellow the heated seats buttons, what is that one for?

My junkyard switches didn't have that either. On my 98 Limited, that's the windshield wiper-deicer (that doesn't work since the PO replaced the windshield with one that doesn't have the strips )

yeah I didnt get that switch either. I just flushed my usb port for my alpine into the spot.

Bringing this back for further question:

I want a more descriptive idea of what all the wires are and where they go. I can't seem to find a FSM that show's a diagram for the switch featuring heated mirrors. The available FSM's for download are for 1992. The heated mirror option I believe was only available for the 1994 alpine sport. I may need a 1994 FSM if that exists.

In this write up _TT_ says "Basicly they plug right into the factory plug. The normal movement wiring lines right up and you should have two wires left over that come from the mirror".

Not sure but this confuses me. My non-heated switch features 11 pins and wires. I don't want to reference by colors like he does, I want to know what every pin is.
He deletes pin #5 and #12 and doesn't know what they go to. I guess I would like to also know what those are for.

Also, can I get verification that a 2nd gen legacy might have an 8pin connector for the heated switch? I didn't receive a connector with my heated switch and obviously the non-heated 12pin connector does not fit. I checked 1990,91,92,93,94 legacy's and they all have a 12 pin connector (excluding 94 alpine sport).

The driver side heated mirror uses 3 pins of the 6 I believe. The non-heated mirror also uses 3 pins. Should there be an extra pin for the heating element?

In the 1992 FSM USDM & JDM section 6-3 pg. 79:



Switch difference:

I don't have a ton of info except to say that the 92 FSM is the latest full FSM. There is a 93 supplement covering changes and a 94 supplement covering changes. I used to have a full set including both 93 and 94 supplements, so they are out there. Honestly, I wish I had kept them even though I got rid of my first gen. The wiring info you need is likely to be in the 94 supplement.

So does anybody have the 1994 supplement Manual MSA5T9306A available for download?

Does it even have literature regarding the heated mirrors? I don't want to purchase one just to find it doesn't have what I'm looking for.

Really I don't even need the whole thing, if someone could just send a picture of the wiring diagram that's all I need.

I answered one of my questions this morning, I found a 1998 legacy with heated mirrors and does use the connector I need. Its actually a 10pin connector utilizing 8pins.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I can take pictures of my wiring again this weekend.

Honestly, I'm kicking myself for selling my FSM. They were cool enough that I should've kept them around regardless of still owning an SS.

PM "devilzdriver" on this forum. He bought my FSM set so hopefully he can help you out.

Just fyi. When I said that they just plug right in I was referring to the plugs in the door. Not the switch wiring

OK . I have unsolved some mystery's this weekend.
For the first time in 2 years I finally found a 1994 legacy with the Cold Weather Package. I took the heated mirrors, switch, and pig tails of wires.
Some of my previous confusion I found out was because recently had purchased a set of mirrors from another member on here thinking they were heated.
Turns out one of the mirrors was Non-Heated thus confusing me about wiring.
Now that I have the proper 10 pin 8 wire plug for the heated switch I can make more sense of this "how to" write up. I can match wire colors with ease.

For reference:


Heated with 6 wires, two extra wires for the element vs. Non-Heated 4 wires:


It is possible to use a 2gen legacy Heated switch plug(in case you didn't get a plug/wires with your switch) although the wire colors are different. Still the same 10 pin 8 wire plug.

I have a 94 supplement at home. I won't be back home until tomorrow mid-day. If you don't mind sending me an email as a reminder that way I can take a look when I get home before I get distracted with a bunch of other stuff.

Ive moved on to power heated and power folding...now that requires some wiring

My power folding adds two wires. I assumed the heated only adds one as it would use the common ground. Since the plug only has six wires ( I think) I thought I did a power folding how to. If not I can.

Big thanks to Josh(Legacy777) for providing me with wiring diagrams from the 1994 supplement manual! Thank You!

1994 Subaru Legacy with Heated Mirrors wiring schematic :




When I have time to get on a computer I will make up an easy to follow pin out map.