floppy driver's mirror - help?
Discussion
I've done a search and read the FAQ but can some one help me please? Whilst washing my Griff yesterday the mirror just rotated down and hung limp! If I pull it up I can jam it back in place as though there is a nut or something inside that needs tightening. Now the FAQ says there is a grub screw that is a bugger to reach on the outside of the mirror stalk, well it must be a bugger because I cant even see it. 
Apparently its underneath the black plastic collar but where? Anyone else had this? Or is it a case of reaching up inside the door through the speaker hole and tightening a ring nut? 
Rich...
Apparently its underneath the black plastic collar but where? Anyone else had this? Or is it a case of reaching up inside the door through the speaker hole and tightening a ring nut? Rich...There is a threaded tube secured to the outer skin of the door. The wires for the motor assembly go down the middle of the tube. There is a sleeve screwed into the outside of the tube. There is a 'tripod' metal frame slipped over the outside of the sleeve and clamped to it by a grubscrew. The other end of the metal frame is bolted to the mirror housing.
Any of these bits can come loose, or the frame itself can break (it's designed to break off in an accident, but it doesn't always wait for the accident).
If you're lucky the sleeve has just come unscrewed. Grab the outside of the mirror housing and turn it clockwise as if you were screwing it into the doorway. If you're lucky, this will tighten the sleeve up again and it will end up in almost the same position as before. Don't overdo it because it's easy to break the metal frame which means you will have to strip the whole thing apart.
If you're less lucky the problem is that the grub screw has come loose. You will need a cut down allen key to tighten up the grub screw. This is hidden under the plastic collar and a pig to get at.
If you're really really unlucky the frame has broken and you need to dismantle the whole thing.
Any of these bits can come loose, or the frame itself can break (it's designed to break off in an accident, but it doesn't always wait for the accident).
If you're lucky the sleeve has just come unscrewed. Grab the outside of the mirror housing and turn it clockwise as if you were screwing it into the doorway. If you're lucky, this will tighten the sleeve up again and it will end up in almost the same position as before. Don't overdo it because it's easy to break the metal frame which means you will have to strip the whole thing apart.
If you're less lucky the problem is that the grub screw has come loose. You will need a cut down allen key to tighten up the grub screw. This is hidden under the plastic collar and a pig to get at.
If you're really really unlucky the frame has broken and you need to dismantle the whole thing.
[quote=richb]I've done a search and read the FAQ but can some one help me please? Whilst washing my Griff yesterday the mirror just rotated down and hung limp! If I pull it up I can jam it back in place as though there is a nut or something inside that needs tightening. Now the FAQ says there is a grub screw that is a bugger to reach on the outside of the mirror stalk, well it must be a bugger because I cant even see it. Apparently its underneath the black plastic collar but where? Anyone else had this? Or is it a case of reaching up inside the door through the speaker hole and tightening a ring nut? Rich...[/quote
Rich,it must have been the shockwave from my new exhaust system!,be carfull doing up the grubscrew because I broke mine,it won't take much torque as the thing is designed to snap off!
Apparently its underneath the black plastic collar but where? Anyone else had this? Or is it a case of reaching up inside the door through the speaker hole and tightening a ring nut? Rich...[/quote Rich,it must have been the shockwave from my new exhaust system!,be carfull doing up the grubscrew because I broke mine,it won't take much torque as the thing is designed to snap off!
Happened to me last year. Horrid. But after investigating and repairing it felt great.
Cut down an allen key, just as GV8 says. Get it tightened up. I couldnt tighten Bluey's so I undid it completely, lifted the mirror off the stalk far enough as the wiring allows, then araldited the collar into place. Solid fix ensued. Mirror still hits three positions; turns in when parked and in garage; turns out for vision as required. I still have the cut down key for if & when the other goes west. Or south.
Failing that; are they not Citroen Xsara or summat mirrors? May be worth asking one of their indies if there's one near you. All the best.
Cut down an allen key, just as GV8 says. Get it tightened up. I couldnt tighten Bluey's so I undid it completely, lifted the mirror off the stalk far enough as the wiring allows, then araldited the collar into place. Solid fix ensued. Mirror still hits three positions; turns in when parked and in garage; turns out for vision as required. I still have the cut down key for if & when the other goes west. Or south.
Failing that; are they not Citroen Xsara or summat mirrors? May be worth asking one of their indies if there's one near you. All the best.
g-boy said:
citroen cx mirror, but as i found out they are slightly different. the three balck 'stripes' are different and dont have colour in between them as on a griff. i'm hoping to use bits of my broken side mirrow with bits of my citroen mirror to hopefully sort the problem
The three black stripes are actually rubber "O" rings in the grooves, the citroen mirror is just missing the "o" rings. take them off the old mirror and put them on the new one after you have painted it.
They're a horrible horrible design. Or a horrible adoption of an unsuitable design for the application. Be careful of messing with the grub screw...it's very easy to damage door paint trying to access it and on some cars (due to varying tolerances), I'd say it's simply impossible (ie mine). When you have the thing apart and off the car, you'll see an indent on the collar where the grub screw is supposed to locate and by tightening it here the mirror is supposed to end up in the 'correct' position when installed on the car. This pre-supposes the captive nut is bonded in the correct orientation, that the right thickness washers are used and that any number of other variables come together properly. Can be a stinker of a job and an upgrade to the later VW type mirrors is the best way forward (if not quite as suited to the lines of the car)... definite market opportunity for someone who can come up with a simpler/more sturdy 'replica' of the original ('though I guess the inbuilt fragility is needed to satisfy construction and use regs etc).
bluebottle said:
g-boy said:
citroen cx mirror, but as i found out they are slightly different. the three balck 'stripes' are different and dont have colour in between them as on a griff. i'm hoping to use bits of my broken side mirrow with bits of my citroen mirror to hopefully sort the problem
The three black stripes are actually rubber "O" rings in the grooves, the citroen mirror is just missing the "o" rings. take them off the old mirror and put them on the new one after you have painted it.
excellent thanks
Broke mine wheeling the wheely bin past it. Bummer. Couldn't find another it had cracked around the grubscrew. built the area up with plastic metal and filled in the cracked threads and put 2 grubscrews in either side instead to spread the load. much stronger now. as for the collapsing design will still colapse if a large fly hits it!
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