Hi Scotti
My neighbor recently had his garage broken into. The thieves broke the window on his Camry and used the button on his rear view mirror to operate his electric garage door. I have two Kia's. A 2021 I bought new and a 2019 I inherited. Both are equipped with HOMELINK rear view mirrors which open my garage door. I decided to test them with the car off and locked. I left the drivers side window open so I could reach in. The 2021 opener did not work with the car shut off but the 2019 opened the garage door. I waited an hour and still the 2019 functioned and opened the door. Both mirrors look identical. I called the dealer and was told it was a software issue with the cars BCM module but there were no fixes available.
I noticed these Gentex homelink mirrors are on a bunch of different brands of cars so I suspect I am not alone. Right now we are parking my wife's car in the garage. Ever heard of a fix for this?
The fix involves moving the wire supplying voltage to the mirror from a circuit that has 12 volts all the time to a circuit that goes off when the car is shut off. The wire in question is labeled "MEMORY" on the mirror wiring diagram. I got a wiring diagram and figured a good fix for my car. It was just a matter of moving a wire on a connector under the dash board from one pin to another. I did it and now the homelink mirror works the way I prefer. If the car is off the garage door opener is disabled.
There are a bunch of different models of mirror with home link. They all seem to be made by gentex. Just about every automaker offers one as an option. The fix would be different for every model of mirror and car. Don't attempt this unless you know what your doing. Disconnect the battery while making any wiring changes.
So far the only feedback I have gotten is the 2022 Nissan Rogue disables their HomeLink when the car is off.
To test your car do the following:
1. Open a window that will allow you to get to the garage door opener button on the mirror.
2. Close all the doors and lock the car
3. Reach in and push the button. The garage or gate should not open. If it does you are vulnerable to having someone getting in using your car's homelink mirror. Would be thief's can simply break a window on your car and reach in.
I don't think Kia understands the significance of the issue. In Korea they don't have a lot of single family homes with garages filled with stuff worth stealing. It takes on added significance with the notices on certain Kia models recommending not to park them inside garages over night. I hate to add fuel to the notion "KIA's are crap" but they sure have some flaws.
Well, if this is the case, I would not use the homlink on my car at all. Instead use the fob that comes with your garage opener to have a peace of mind.
I found a fix. I am going to try it tonight. It's a matter of moving a wire that goes to the mirror on the IGPM module from pin 15 to pin 26. If it works I will let you know. If not I am going to reset the mirror and do without the garage door function.
I agree with yaser. You may want to delete the garage door from the 2019's Homelink and carry the garage door opener with you. It's a pita but would work until you get the Homelink figured out.
I noticed on a Kia Teluride forum they complained about the same thing.