R33: Electric Side Mirror Repair (s2)

[Roffy92]

rave from the grave, however i don't think its worth starting a new topic on as it directly relates to this one so if anyone still watching this :

Firstly great tut just done my LHS mirror works like a charm

i now have the question of my driver side mirror...

wondering how the controller is supposed to function

it seems as though the L/R selection works work the mirror adjustment (just mirror)

however no matter what side i have the L/R toggle switch the bottom toggle switch controls the LHS mirror?

im thinking my driver mirror motor is dead but seems odd that the L/R selector dosnt control the motor on the appropriate side?

can anyone with a functional system help me with this one... ie. how is it supposed to opperate

bit hard to problem solve if i don't know the problem lol

thanks to those who view the old threads every once in a while

[Ph@t-G]

Sorry to back this up, but I too have a problematic driver mirror.

The thing is that it actually folds in, but it doesn't fold out? And when it folds in, there is a loud 'click' before it swivels in. After that, since it doesn't fold outwards, I have to force it back out into the correct position.

Would it be something to do with the gears getting stuck? Anyone else have had this folding in/not folding out problem?

Cheers

[MrBurns]

@Roffy92, I don't know much about the controller as mine has never failed so sorry, but i cant help u much on that one. Although, sounds like the L/R switch isn't contacting properly when you flick, making it think its always on L. Perhaps get at those electronics and take a look at it to see if there's anything wonky looking with it.

@Ph@t-G, this happened to me a few years back and it was caused by the little metal tracks inside the mirror's gear mechanism not contacting properly:

These two copper tracks (pointed to by the arrow) complete the circuit to the mirrors motor. One of them controls the folding in and the other the folding out. They attach onto these little knobbly bits (shown right at the arrow head above) on that light blue plastic thingy, but on mine one of them was'n't attached to its knobbly bit properly preventing it from completing the circuit with the motor when the mirror was folded in. So, I opened the mirror up and super-glued it back onto its knobbly bit which fixed it and has been ok for ~7 years now.

[Ph@t-G]

Thanks for that Mr Burns... I'm going to have a crack at it this weekend.

[Roffy92]

alrighty will rip it appart again and check out whats going on, though from your working mirrors your saying that the L/R switch does in fact select the Left or Right mirror to FOLD aswell as angle the mirror?

just to add to the fix ^above i think (correct me if im wrong) that the little mettel bits need to be put on to the knobbly bit with their middle hole as this sets the limits of the motor

(e.g. i put mine in the first hole and now my mirror works fine but folds out past the stop point and i have to pull it back to get it to the "click point")

hard to explain but im refering to the point where the mirror feel natural then you can push it further till it is fully out (i think its a saftey thing if you clip your mirror on something)

[MrBurns]

alrighty will rip it appart again and check out whats going on, though from your working mirrors your saying that the L/R switch does in fact select the Left or Right mirror to FOLD aswell as angle the mirror?

Yep.

just to add to the fix ^above i think (correct me if im wrong) that the little mettel bits need to be put on to the knobbly bit with their middle hole as this sets the limits of the motor

(e.g. i put mine in the first hole and now my mirror works fine but folds out past the stop point and i have to pull it back to get it to the "click point")

Yeah, i think so. I can't remember what I did with mine but that would make sense and that's how it is in the pic above. And yes, if you put these metal tracks in the wrong spot it will likely make the mirror either not fold enough or fold too far like you're seeing.

[Ph@t-G]

Did this over the weekend and at first it wasn't working, but after pulling it apart again to clean up the tracks, it's all sweet now.

One tip, make sure you let the super glue dry completely out in the opening, before putting the whole plastic ring back onto the PCB. This is so that the glue vapour does not settle on the tracks, making the contacts not conducting properly.

Also if you find that after putting all together the mirror is still not folding in/out, try changing the folding action mid way by pressing the in/out button without the mirror folding in/out completely. This might reset the contact points with the tracks so that it re-calibrates the positions of the contact points on the PCB.

[SkudR33]

Just repaired my mirror - awesome tutorial!

[kingtube69]

Many years later and this thread is still proving useful. I just reglued the contact in my mirror controller and it fixed it.

Thanks OP and everyone else who provided help/info in this tread!!!!

[shubby0901]

My passenger mirror's closing motor thing isnt working right. When closing the mirror using the button, I can hear the motor turning but the mirror doesnt move...i will pull it apart and see whats up sometime, any itinial ideas though?

[Stephen Thorpe]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry to revisit an old post but I was hoping if anyone can offer an opinion if they have had the same problem !!

I have a Series 2 mirror that will fold out but not in. Any Ideas...???? Could it be the circuitry on the actually limit Switch Circuit Board, Resistor etc

There was a Contact Tab loose on both mirrors on the Car, so I repositioned them and glued them in respectively with 100% success on the Passenger Side but unfortunately, on the Drivers side the Mirror only works one way. This was the opposite of what the Drivers Mirror was actually doing before I pulled it apart (I think) and the Passenger Mirror wouldn't move at all either way.

On a Series 1 I did it was a little different though and the main problems was the Motor was seized and had to be prised apart, and the inside of the case was cleaned up with some emery paper and lots of WD40. It was effective but a slightly different problem then this one here. From my memory you could get to the motor as an individual part but on the Series 2 I can't seem to get the Motor out of the case as the Driveshaft doesn't come out of the slot in the plastic case.

[shubby0901]

Finally got mine working. My contacts were fine, the issue in my case was the worm gear mounted onto the motor shaft for left hand mirror had broken and therefore the shaft was turning without turning the gear itself. I ended up pulling the whole gear system apart, down to the final spring and roller ball bearings underneath the spring and re-lubricating everything, using Araldite to stick the gear onto the shaft and upon re-installation, all is working!

[Coullsy]

This is something i need to get around to doing