Question about electric mirrors

Question about electric mirrors

Author
Discussion

Prunus

Original Poster:

135 posts

244 months

Sunday 29th February 2004
quotequote all
Stupid question maybe, but I need to adjust my wing mirrors beyond their current setting.
(Due to my wife deciding that she can't see a thing in the drivers mirror, due to her insistance that she has to sit bolt upright when driving, á la Mister Magoo).

I'm sure any old idiot can work out how to get off the trim and then adjust the position of the mirror by hand.
I can't........................

Heliox

450 posts

261 months

Sunday 29th February 2004
quotequote all
Prunus,

the simple solution to this would be to tell her that if she cant see out the mirrors then she's not allowed to drive it on safety issues.!!

alternatively you should be able to adjust the mirror body inwards by hand(not the electrical adjuster inside)there are normally 3 set positions for the mirror,to adjust it physically move the mirror in or out, you will feel it "click" into the set positions, just as most cars do if you need to fold in the mirrors for narrow street parking etc.

hope this helps Mrs Magoo out!!

h

Prunus

Original Poster:

135 posts

244 months

Sunday 29th February 2004
quotequote all
The saftey issue is nearer to the truth than you think!

I've had the car for a month and it was only today that she mentioned that all she could see in the driver's mirror was dark green paint.

Luckily her urge to overtake only really kicks in when approaching a milkfloat on its way uphill back to its depot.

I've tried to move the mirror body outwards by hand but there is not resistance and clicking as you get on a 'real' car.

It just seems to unscrew the body of the mirror from the door(I stopped after one and a half turns as I was worried that the wiring inside may well be getting mangled).

Heliox

450 posts

261 months

Sunday 29th February 2004
quotequote all
Ok I see,

well you seem to have met the worst job on a TIV first,once you've done this its all down hill.

It seems that the mirror base has come loose and this needs to be tightened before you can adjust the body in or out.

To tighten the base you will find a plastic shroud where the mirror joins the door in a recess, lift this plastic shroud up and you'll see the round base. Somewhere around this is a grub screw,you need to get a allen key to tighten it.You may need to butcher said allen key to make it fit as space is very tight,get the mirror aligned before eventually tightening the grub screw. You should now find that the mirror will adjust.

Be warned though, the driverside is not too difficult but the passenger side grub screw is really hard to get at and paint damage normally occurs as fatigue sets in.

To be honest you might want to leave it to your dealer because if they damage your paint its up to them to repair it and after my last experience with this I ended up ditching the grub screws and made up some stainless bolts which could be adjusted in seconds.

hope this helps

h

h

GreenV8S

30,152 posts

283 months

Sunday 29th February 2004
quotequote all
Adjust the mirror to its 'fully up' position, this will leave a gap between the bottom of the glass and the housing. Slide a credit card or similar into the gap and you'll feel a catch in the middle, slide this sideways and the glass and its mounting frame will be released from the motor assembly. Make sure you catch the glass as it falls out. The glass is stuck to a plastic frame with double-sided sticky tape, I reckon you could put a couple of extra layers on one side to angle the mirror relative to the frame. In effect this would give you more adjustment in one direction and less in the other.

Prunus

Original Poster:

135 posts

244 months

Sunday 29th February 2004
quotequote all
Heliox said:


Be warned though, the driverside is not too difficult but the passenger side grub screw is really hard to get at and paint damage normally occurs as fatigue sets in.




Funny you should mention the paint damage, the only paint damage on the whole car is around the drivers mirror.
I'll have a go at finding the grubscrew when it's light. Many thanks for the suggestion, sounds like you've shed some light on the problem.


Next question, how do I stop Mrs. Prunus sitting up at the wheel like Mr. Magoo? It's a bit like sitting next to a meercat.

Bear in mind that her favourite vehicle to drive was a red 2cv we had 15 years ago.