Cargo/Reverse light on tow mirror not working

NeilDaMassTyson · October 14, 2020

Hello, I recently bought a pair of tow mirrors and a wiring harness for the 2016 Silverado LT. I got them both installed and can get all the lights to work except the vanity light on the side of the mirror which is supposed to turn on when the door opens, when the cargo light is turned on when the vehicle is in reverse. The wiring harness had me insert 3 pins into the connector which plugs into the door jamb. I looked at previous postings on the forums to ensure that I inserted the pins into the correct slots i.e. (blue into #11, Red into #41 and White into #9) and this agreed with the instructions I received for the install. All the lights on the mirrors work except for the reverse/cargo lights. Does anyone have any idea where I went wrong or what I could do to fix it? Would inserting a pin upside down cause the lights to work incorrectly? The instructions stated that they must be inserted a certain way. Any help would be great, thanks!

rav3 · October 14, 2020

You ask a good question. My '17 LTZ is equipped with the MAX towing package that includes the heated & folding mirrors with the LED lights on the outer edge. I assume these are the LED's you are asking about, I guess they are called the Vanity lights. Mine do NOT come on when I open the door or when I put in reverse WITHOUT the LED Bed lights turned on from the dash switch. If it's turned on, these vanity light come on BUT not when the bed light switch is in the OFF position. Do you have a source that tells you they should come on when the door(s) are open? and when put in reverse. I'll look in the owner manual to see if I can find it. I did read the the section on Towing Mirrors, page 47 & 48. On page 147 & 148 says that they will come on IF the bed light is on AND in Park, Neutral or Reverse. Nothing said about when opening the doors.

Let me know if you find other information on this.

I just found this video on youtube that goes through the functions, which is the way mine works. Hope this helps.

https://youtu.be/cH1kdhPwmtA

Edited October 14, 2020 by rav3

NeilDaMassTyson · October 14, 2020

The seller has a video for installation and I called to talk with him before purchasing to ensure that these mirrors would work on my truck and that I had the correct wiring harness to ensure that everything worked. He also provided a video for the installation of these same mirrors and when it was done he showed the door opening and the vanity lights on the side coming on. I guess I had just assumed that this was how the lights worked but I have been wrong before. i found a video of a guy splicing in some wires under the steering wheel provided below. Per the creator of this video it worked.

rav3 · October 14, 2020

10 hours ago, NeilDaMassTyson said:

The seller has a video for installation and I called to talk with him before purchasing to ensure that these mirrors would work on my truck and that I had the correct wiring harness to ensure that everything worked. He also provided a video for the installation of these same mirrors and when it was done he showed the door opening and the vanity lights on the side coming on. I guess I had just assumed that this was how the lights worked but I have been wrong before. i found a video of a guy splicing in some wires under the steering wheel provided below. Per the creator of this video it worked.

Thanks for the added info. It's a nice modification that I might try, so these vanity lights will work as the video shows. However, I'm not sure they will work when opening the door except as shown with the unlock feature. I wonder if you set the comfort setting for the headlights to delay turn off, if these came on? I'll have to look at my reverse lights to see if they come on with that setting.

EDITTED: I just checked my truck and with the delayed exit vehicle setting for the lights to stay on for 30 sec., the back-up lights DO come on when I exit, so I would assume that the LED vanity lights would stay on for the time set, along with my upper cargo light & (2) bed LED's. That might be a nice modification. Thanks for the video & source.

Edited October 14, 2020 by rav3