chicane, i have the same prob with my passanger side mirror which made a bad noise when folding out once then never folded out again... but still folds in, i just pull it out by hand, drivers side perfect. I've also tryed pulling it apart and got to the point where u are, ive been meaning to ask nissan for a look at the photos of it, also just curious about the mirror defogging, do you have a switch to turn this on ?
cheers...lenno