R33: Electric Side Mirror Repair (s2)

[Fry_33]

Hi Guys,

It was annoying me that my LH side mirror wouldn't angle in when the button was pressed. Rather than go straight out and pay bout $90 for a replacement one and replace the inside of mine I thought I'd try and fix it.

I needed to take the door trim off to disconnect the mirror plug and remove the flat triangle trim cover from the back of the mirror.

After a quick look, the plug to it was getting power so I undid the 3 bolts holding the mirror on and after dismantling the mirror the majority of the circuitry was getting power too.. found it was pushing the mirror out fine but not in.

So I pulled it apart a little more and found that underneath the small circuit board there are two small contacts which push up against the bottom tracks of it. The one which is part of the 'pull in' circuit was just loose in there.. ie no circuit.

I just cleaned the area with contact cleaner and then areldited it back in place. waited over night then put it back together and re installed it.

It's now working like new.

I've added some pictures which may help but they're not great. Just keep undoing the screws til you can carefully pull the wiring through to give you more working room.

My friend had some trouble with his mirror as well which we fixed. We think it was from squirting water into the mirror when he was cleaning it. We opened up his mirror and the gears inside were a little rusty. So we saved as much of the yellow grease as we could then started to use contact cleaner to clean it all up then put the grease back in. We also used contact cleaner on the motor an hooked it up to power on it's own to test it. Put it back together and now his is all fine too.

SWITCH LIGHT FIX

I have also fixed my hazard and demister switch lights in the dash (I thought I'd seen a post on this before but couldn't find it). If they don't light up when you turn your lights on then they've blown. Parts places want to sting you a bit for these sometimes and it costs peanuts to fix.

I didn't take any pics of this so you'll have to wing it a bit. Just remove your gauge/dash surround and unscrew your demister and hazard switch (if not working) and Very carfully prize them apartwith a fine flathead screwdriver. it will take a bit of stuffing around, once you get it then it's not too bad. Just go slowly and pay attention to where everthing goes, do the demister switch first as its more straight forward, the hazard switch has a few small parts inside. Good luck.

Once apart take the small globe out of its rubber sheath, take note of what it looks like to redo, and replace with one from Dick Smith, Part no P8130 i think about $1 (Radio Parts or Jaycar will prob have similar), they're 3mm 12V. The heat shrink needs to be carefully cut off the globe and the wire stripped back. I used clear globes and put the little coloured condoms back on, alternatively you can get red and blue globes as well (probably diff coloured ones one ebay?). There'sprobably some better globes than these out there so post up a part number if possible.

Anyway Good Luck, this obviously won't solve all problems but may help some of you out there.

I just came across this thread that is very similar but has pics

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/upload/showthre...ighlight=hazard

Edited April 18, 2006 by Fry_33

[lastlineofdefence]

Good read. might try it tomorrow

[teng]

May i ask how did you remove the mirror piece from the frame? Just pry it open. I'm afraid i might break it I did see 2-3 screws behind the mirror piece but can't get to them though.

Edited March 8, 2008 by teng

[NA_Goodness]

^^^ I agree. I took mine apart, but couldnt get the mechanism out of the body! I'll have another look some time, but it is really annoying that only one works and the other doesnt.

[Jmaac]

Just ply out the glass with a screwdriver, its actually held on by a circlip. From there you can access the screws to remove the motor etc.

It will pop back on the same way

[Marko R1]

i did the same today & removed my passenger mirror - the gears were seized so i free'd them up & now they are good - only problem is the actual electric motor which pulls the mirror in/out...the motor only operates when i spin the pinion with my fingers - where can i get the actual electric motor from? i tried jaycar & they dont have it in 12v (3v only).

if i cant the motor i will need to buy the entire electric mirror assembly which i can get for $85

[Edge]

What is contact cleaner, could I get a brand name/product name and where can I buy it please?

[Fry_33]

Ok, my LHS mirror fix worked fine but it stopped being able to flip back out this time without having to manually force it to. So I bought a back up mirror just in case I needed to swap the internals over. This time I took a few more photos of how to get into the mirror and swap internals so thought it may help someone out there.

You'll have to remove the interior door panel and the plastic cover for the mirror mounting bolts.

Unplug the mirror plug and the three bolts which hold the mirror to the door. The mirror will probably stay on the door even after you've removed the bolts and require a small amount of force to dislodge it. Just in case it does fall though be ready to catch it. It will then be free.

Push the mirror so it would pointing as high as possible and put a flat head screw driver in the below spot and twist to pop the mirror out. You'll then have to swing it up to remove.

Now use a knife and put some cuts in the foam to expose some screws. The centre one actually holds in a clear plastic brace that keeps the wire in place. Remove it too. Start to keep a track of where the different screws go as some are similar sizes and can get mixed up.

Now on the underside remove the three screws.

Once thats done pull the two sections apart and remove the screw below.

Now remove the screws from underneath the mirror section shown.

You'll have to move the mirror actuator out of the way to expose the next screw.

Now from the underside remove this screw.

You're just about there, the whole thing should be looking something like this now.

Flip the small section on the back of the plug up.

Use a small pin and shove it up the top of the hole as per below and once it is at the end press down and pull the wire at the same time. I think it's push down but can't remember exactly. There is a small tab which you need to move push out of the way to allow the metal connector to be pulled out. It can be tricky but once you get the hang of it becomes easy. Remove all of the wires but keep a track of where they go or use these photos as a guide.

You can now pull the wires through and replace the internal section with a replacement. You can always try the original fix I did and lift the black plastic cover to expose the motor and gears. Just take it slowly and keep track of where thigns go. I decided to swap the internals as it didn't cost much.

If you do this then you don't have to repaint the mirror to match the car. Do everything in reverse to get it all back together.

Good Luck.

Edited November 14, 2008 by Fry_33

[Astro Bear]

Fantastic write up. I will attempt this on my day off as one of my windows is not working either.

Thanks again.

[Fritzo]

Thanks a heap Fry_33 Great explanation and pictures made it heaps easier I pulled mine all the way down to the little motor and gears, Fixed 1 connection motor now retracts but doesnt return so new internals for me but at least will be able to do it myself. Much appreciated Fry

[R338OY]

"areldited" it.

haha top write up

[stefan-w]

Mad props for posting this, I've already taken apart to see why my mirrors wouldn't fold (both electric motors appear to have died, as it's getting 12v at the plug in the door, and the plastic internals inside are in perfect condition).

What I was really happy to read about, was the part about the lights in both rear window defroster and the hazard light switches... I was already trying to find a pair of second hand switches

Maybe you could make it it's own topic?

[Fry_33]

I just tried to have a look for some photos of the switches but didn't have any luck unfortunately. I am sure that there is a how to somewhere on the net. I stumbled on it a while after I had sorted out mine. It had really good pics and an explanation of how to do it. The plastic of the switches is pretty thick so as long as you're careful you should be fine. Just use a small screw driver to gently release all of the tabs holding the cover on. just undo it slowly so that nothing flys apart and you end up with a jesus spring Once it's opened just take note of how the current light is installed (take photos as they're always a good reference) and reinstall new ones the same way. If you take photos during the process you can always write your own how to. I honestly can't be stuffed taknig my dash apart at the moment. Do your best not to touch the globe as you put it in as otherwise you may need to replace it a little while afterwards, I did. Can't be sure that that was the reason but I used a microfiber cloth to hold it the second time and it's been fine for over a year now (hazard light that is).

[SilverECR33]

Hi 'Fry_33' Really good Tutorial, It fixed My issue, It turned out to be the Terminal Controller underneath the Chip board on the motor assembly Just as yours was.

Although this has now lead me to a new issue, That when i use that mirror, in the inward direction, it continues to run although being already moved all the way in, leading to this clicking noise as though its jumping the tracks or something, it only does it going inward. When it goes outward however the Motor runs, till it goes all the way then the motor stops fine. But the other way, the motor just keeps on trying to move it in. .

Any Ideas?

Edited October 25, 2009 by silverbulletR33

[SilverECR33]

Was unable to Edit or Delete my Intial Post:

Addition: Problem Solved. Turned out the Glue I used didnt stick to well to the Terminals or the plastic, The Aradite worked alot better, tested and working now .

[89CAL]

So i pulled my mirror apart today cause when i press the button to fold the mirror in the motor makes a noise but it doesnt fold in all the time, if i pull it a bit it will start to come...

anyway... pulled it apart, opened the part where the gears are and checked it all out, pulled them out, put them bak in and it all looks sweet, but now its even worse, the motor still makes a noise but now it wont fold in at all and its really tight..... lol

anyone got any advice? I must be missing something

[Spring&WateR]

thanks for this gonna try it 2morrow

[weSky]

Hi Guys,

I'm sorry to big up an old thread, but figured it was more appropriate.

The problem isn't so much removing everything, but it's putting it all back together.

While my story is a little different, the concept is the same. I have received a new mirror peice only. I have clipped it on to the mounting plate (below):

But now I have a floppy mirror. The motors work fine; the two push and pull as the mirror in as they should, however, the mirror is not stiff/firm, ie. not holding its position.

It's as though the 2 shafts that connect to the tiny motors are not staying connected.

I can't help but think I'm doing something wrong, but it worries me that the 2 little shafts are not permently grabbing on to the 2 little motors.

Any ideas?

Steve

[sasha021]

great stuff

[MrBurns]

Just adding to all of this, a few years ago my driver side mirror stopped folding in & out. So, I pulled it all apart and found that the little motor was dead. I spent days scouring the net trying to find a replacement motor as I didn't want to pay $100+ for a whole new mirror when only the motor was the problem. Eventually I gave up on finding one and thought I'd tackle trying to fix the dead motor. Seeing as it was already dead I figured even if I stuffed up I couldn't make it any more dead.

To do this I:

1. Removed the motor from the disassembled mirror (held on by a small screw).
   
2. Pried off the metal surround/casing from the motor (there's no trick to this, just gotta hack at it with a screwdriver or razor blade to slide it off the motor). This gives you access to the guts of the motor, where I could see that the coils of copper wire were all frayed, preventing them from magnetising the motor and making it spin.
   
3. Completely unwound and removed the two frayed coils of wire.
   
4. Went and bought some new 2mm copper winding wire (at the time from dick smith for about $4, but I can't find it on his site anymore. But, there's some here also).
   
5. Using this wire, I then rebuilt the two coils in the motor by tightly winding it around and around the points where the old coils were until they resembled roughly the same size of the old coils. From memory, I think I soldered or mayb glued the ends of the wires to something to prevent the coils from coming undone.
   
6. Put the motors metal surround/casing back on and tested it to ensure it spins.
   
7. Put the motor back in the mirror assembly and put it all back together.
   

Not only did this fix the mirrors motor but it actually made it more powerful as the mirror now folds in/out slightly faster than the passenger side mirror. My mirror was now good as new all for a few $'s on some wire and a bit of time to fix it. It's been about 5 years since I did this and its still going strong.

Edited December 9, 2010 by MrBurns