Infamous Door Mirror
Discussion
Hi all,
First post, had my 99 Chim for a couple of weeks now and very pleased i am!
Now, i've read through past posts and searched high and low, but it seems to no avail on how to fix my drivers door mirror.
The problem is that it will rotate through 360 degrees (cables unplugged first..) and neither tightens nor slackens off. It just sort of goes round and round.. I've looked for the grub screw (to no avail) it seems that the whole collar moves round and nothing is actually "fixed" if that makes sense.
Any help or ideas would be much appreciated, it's currently being held in place by some rag and is doing nothing for the look!
First post, had my 99 Chim for a couple of weeks now and very pleased i am!
Now, i've read through past posts and searched high and low, but it seems to no avail on how to fix my drivers door mirror.
The problem is that it will rotate through 360 degrees (cables unplugged first..) and neither tightens nor slackens off. It just sort of goes round and round.. I've looked for the grub screw (to no avail) it seems that the whole collar moves round and nothing is actually "fixed" if that makes sense.
Any help or ideas would be much appreciated, it's currently being held in place by some rag and is doing nothing for the look!
That's about the worst possible scenario. I've read on here that you can reach the grub screw with the mirror in place, but it wasn't possible in my car. Here's a photo showing the salient component parts:
The top picture shows the brass nut bonded into the door. Beneath it is the boss that screws into the brass nut. The boss also has a collar over which the tripod or turret (bottom of picture) sits. The grub screw is mounted in the base of the turret and tightens up against the collar. It's this part that's loose on your car.
The entire mirror assembly is put together on the bench and then screwed into the door. Unless you can somehow reach the grub screw you will somehow have to get some purchase on the collar to unscrew it from the door. When I had a similar problem I ended up breaking the mirror frame. A new one cost me £30, but it meant I could get to the other parts to remove them.
It's a bloody stupid design. Good luck!
The top picture shows the brass nut bonded into the door. Beneath it is the boss that screws into the brass nut. The boss also has a collar over which the tripod or turret (bottom of picture) sits. The grub screw is mounted in the base of the turret and tightens up against the collar. It's this part that's loose on your car.
The entire mirror assembly is put together on the bench and then screwed into the door. Unless you can somehow reach the grub screw you will somehow have to get some purchase on the collar to unscrew it from the door. When I had a similar problem I ended up breaking the mirror frame. A new one cost me £30, but it meant I could get to the other parts to remove them.
It's a bloody stupid design. Good luck!
Sorry guys, its not possible to get at the grub screw with the assembly still on the door.
I have repaired two of these recently (my offside and someones nearside),
Heres how I do it.
Using 2inch masking tape,mask off all around the mirror mount to prevent scratching the paint work.
Remove the speaker,find the mirror plug and disconnect it.
Remove the glass: either pull it off or angle it up and look for the litte release tab which has to be rotated,releasing the glass.
Behind where the mirror sits there are 3/4 little self tappers which hold the back of the mirror body in place.
Remove these and let the rear loose.
This will allow you to ease up the black plastic trim around the mount,then you will be able to see the problem.
The grubscrew is not tight enough,allowing the turret to rotate independantly from the actually door mount.
Using some angled cir-clip pliers you can just get in and get a grip in the slots of the door part and loosen it.
This should then allow the whole mirror to be unscrewed normally.
Right, with the mirror off,undo the grubscrew and screw the door mount part back into the door.
Tighten it quite tight.
Then offer the mirror to it at the angle it would normally sit.
As you pull the mirror back away,mark on the door part where the grub screw should sit.
Assemble the turret back to the door mount at the marked position.
Screw the mirror back in and check the position.
It may take a few attempts to get the position perfect.
Re-connect the power plug and check its working ok.
Re-fit the little self tappers and put the glass back on.
Of course , there may be another way to do it, but this worked for me!!!
Ant
I have repaired two of these recently (my offside and someones nearside),
Heres how I do it.
Using 2inch masking tape,mask off all around the mirror mount to prevent scratching the paint work.
Remove the speaker,find the mirror plug and disconnect it.
Remove the glass: either pull it off or angle it up and look for the litte release tab which has to be rotated,releasing the glass.
Behind where the mirror sits there are 3/4 little self tappers which hold the back of the mirror body in place.
Remove these and let the rear loose.
This will allow you to ease up the black plastic trim around the mount,then you will be able to see the problem.
The grubscrew is not tight enough,allowing the turret to rotate independantly from the actually door mount.
Using some angled cir-clip pliers you can just get in and get a grip in the slots of the door part and loosen it.
This should then allow the whole mirror to be unscrewed normally.
Right, with the mirror off,undo the grubscrew and screw the door mount part back into the door.
Tighten it quite tight.
Then offer the mirror to it at the angle it would normally sit.
As you pull the mirror back away,mark on the door part where the grub screw should sit.
Assemble the turret back to the door mount at the marked position.
Screw the mirror back in and check the position.
It may take a few attempts to get the position perfect.
Re-connect the power plug and check its working ok.
Re-fit the little self tappers and put the glass back on.
Of course , there may be another way to do it, but this worked for me!!!
Ant
Cider Andy/AntonyJ - thank you for the info - off to the garage in the morning to have a play and see what i can do, pics are most useful, i'm sure that between your helpings i should be able to fix this.
If not i shall be back!
Spend - out of curiousity, what do you propose as a replacement? Is it easy to get the paint matched - mine is the Halycon blue, which looks a barsteward to match up.
Thanks
Mark
If not i shall be back!
Spend - out of curiousity, what do you propose as a replacement? Is it easy to get the paint matched - mine is the Halycon blue, which looks a barsteward to match up.
Thanks
Mark
Well.........after 3 hours of trying to remove the mirror it finally came off (however designed that unit needs to be shot!).
I have managed to clean it all up, replace it and it works! The only "mod" i have made, in order for the grub screw not to move again was to drill a small pilot hole in the retaining collar for the grub screw to "sit" in when tightened up, that and some loctight - shouldn't come loose again now!
Once again thanks to all thiose that helped with the advice - much appreciated.
Thanks
Mark
I have managed to clean it all up, replace it and it works! The only "mod" i have made, in order for the grub screw not to move again was to drill a small pilot hole in the retaining collar for the grub screw to "sit" in when tightened up, that and some loctight - shouldn't come loose again now!
Once again thanks to all thiose that helped with the advice - much appreciated.
Thanks
Mark
Had to change my drivers door mirror today. To get the wires through the boss I had to seperate the wires in the connector and I ment to write down the colour arrangement in the connector before doing so, but forgot Dohh! I think I have reassembled in the right order. To check, does anyone have the wire combination in the door mirror connector?? There are 5 wires (2 and 3).
Many thanks in advance
Many thanks in advance
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