Busted Door Mirror

Mike8675309

Registered User
Well, the fine boys doing construction set one of their plastic barriers on the wrong side of the white line and my passenger mirror clipped it this morning.

The mirror housing just has a scratch on it (I hit it going about 40mph) but the Mirror itself appears loose in it's mount. It's still attached by something as it isn't coming out. But it's not fixed in place anymore.


Does anyone have a picture or a description of how the mirror is attached to the assembly? Could some nylon part have broken?
 
Yeah Mike I have one in that same condition after the deer hit it. There is 2 little plastic nylon gear racks in there that control the mirror movement, one of those is broke.
Unfortunatly you have to get an entire side mirror assembly to fix it. When mine got broke the housing was fine also and after looking at it real good I discovered 2 torx bit screws in the bottom of the housing. I thought alright I can get the guts new and put them in the housing, but noooo........you cant buy just the guts. Its really gonna piss you off because the part thats broken could'nt cost more than $0.50 its twice the width of a toothpick and as long as one.
I got another mirror assembly from a junkyard that is flat black and thought I'd just change the guts out but again noooo....... I broke 2 heat treated torx bits off trying to remove those screws and they never even acted like they were going to come loose.
Good luck!:)
 
Thanks for the info. I've got to get something machined this winter so maybe I can get the broken part machined as well. Of course it's my car as well so I could just get the mirror fixed in place.
 
The torx screws do come out. I've changed the guts after I hit one of the traffic barrells also. Unfortunately, I haven't had any luck replace those little rack gears that break, need the whole motor assembly.

I've written a technical article with pics at TCCOA.com. It's still a work in progress, but I don't know how much more finished it will get. Here is the link if you want to check it out. Couldn't hurt to become familiar with the insides!
 
Wow Rusty nice writeup! So you mean to tell me Ford does sell a replacement motor for these mirrors? That sounds about right, I checked with local dealer about that part when I was told they did'nt and I did'nt know Dan Newman at the time so I just forgot about it.
Rusty what material are those screws going into? Is it plastic or metal? I want to get the guts out of the housings so I can paint them good.
I cannot figure out why they are so damn hard to get out.:mad:
 
cool writeup. I'll archive that and it'll give me something to add to my list this winter.

The dash, door panels, seats are all coming out to clean up and take care of some little electrical and mechanical issues I'm having.
 
Those Torx screws go through the outer plastic shell and into the aluminum structure that supports the shell. Mine had a bit of corrosion on them (bimetalic electrolisis from steel screws into aluminum frame without anti-seize) and they were a little tough to get out. If your motor is trash anyway....spray the inside of the mirror with penetrating oil (aerocroil is what I use...WD40 is better than nothing) and let the mirror sit a day or so. That should do the trick.

The motor is not available, as far as I know, from Ford. I used a mirror from a junkyard car to disassemble and used that motor to fix my mirror. Honestly, I don't know where that part number came from. Let me know if you can (or can't) get one...I want to make sure the article is correct.

Thanks for the compliments guys.
 
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Thanks Rusty! I'll start soaking in Aerokroil tonight. I love Aerokroil! That stuff has saved my *** many a time. I keep 3 cans of it on my shelf. You know.....youre the only other person on this board I've ever heard mention the stuff besides myself. WD40 cant hold a light to Aerokroil.:)
 
I'll have to check out that stuff.. Around here, I'm always using 3M™ Penetrant 08876. That's most common in the auto parts I see.

Comparing the two MSDS, the products appear similar, but they have some different components for sure.
 
Dan Newman just Emailed me saying the part # you gave for the mirror motor is correct and they are available. Price is $33.00 and some change each. :)
 
Good Deal! Sounds like a bargain for a working mirror! I have a few mirror parts available Mike if you need them. Just about everything but a motor that works, but just for the passenger side. Let me know...no charge except shipping cost.
 
I'm really glad this subject came up, I got a replacement mirror from a salvage yard and never was too happy with it. Now I'll get 2 new motors and fix my broken one and keep a spare motor on hand.:D
 
Thanks for all the help. I'll dig into the mirror when the snow starts to fly. For now, it'll stay in place, just the wrong place.

RustyUL, I'll look you up when I figure out what I need.

Thanks.
 
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