07 LTD Passenger exterior mirror binding, broken

[pjw73nh]

Wife took my 07 LTD last week. When I got back in this week I couldn't adjust the right side exterior mirror very well. It would start to click/strip before it reached end of travel. The mirror appears to be firmly attached to the motor (no play), but the entire inner assembly appears to be "un-centered" within the housing, thus when it travels to one side it binds against the case.

I broke out the shop manual for it and made a cursory examination this morning. The manual is really not that good. At least images are not that good. It says to check to be sure the dampening springs are in the dampening spring track. The right side only has one and yes, it appeared to be in the track.

I was able to get a peek inside with a flashlight, and it looks like there are two or perhaps 3 very wide aluminum "rivets/grommets" holding the motor on. I know from the diagram there are 3 screws for the motor. But I think that THIS piece I am talking about is what those motor screws screw into. These "rivets/grommets" appear to hold this "mount" to the back of the case/housing. One of them is loose. There is definitely broken plastic in there somewhere. I just need to get the mirror glass off for further inspection.

The manual gives a procedure for "unhooking/un-clicking" the mirror glass from the motor, but it is not very clear. I tried it this morning and had no success. I didn't want to put too much force on it for fear of cracking it.

Does anyone have a DIY or vid, or any advice in getting the glass off so I can inspect the innerds ? Sometimes one JPG can be worth a thousand TXTs.....

Thanks.

Paul.../NH

 

[Lukas2009]

Maybe you have a better view if you remove the black cover and take a look through the holes at the top.

 

[pjw73nh]

Thanks for the picture Lukas2009. That helps. I was confused about the "black cover" Mine is chrome. I think it is glues on.

Do you see the two "dimples" on the back of your case? The "rivets/grommets" I am talking about fasten on to the other side of those dimples (whatever is over there)....

Looks like I am looking at AT LEAST a new case.
Tnx

 

[Lukas2009]

I don't think that your "chrome cover" is glued on and different than mine.
Have a look at the back of my "black cover".

 

[pjw73nh]

I think yours might be a bit different from mine. Not sure if it makes a difference, but I have electric, heated and puddle lights in mine. I am at work now. I'll see if I can get some pix and post them when I get home.

Tnx

 

[pjw73nh]

OK,I got the mirror off today. The shop manual wasn't even close.

There are plastic "hooks/clips" all the way around the mirror, not just on the side or bottom. You need one person to hold a light, a couple of pieces of cardboard to put between the mirror and the mirror mount on the motor to keep the clips from reattaching to the mirror mount.

It appears that my mirror was hit. Probably by a person trying to squeeze between my car and another in a parking lot. Or perhaps vandals. Because of the way it is deformed, it looks like it may have had some heavy weight (been hung on by a person) on it. I don't know. What I do know is that when I got it back into alignment I had to use a fair amount of force to do it.

The space is still in the top mount. I may drill a hole and put a bolt in it (and use a lot of some real strong glue). The head of the bolt will be hidden by the chrome cover on the top/back. The bottom one, I think I am just going to use a lot of glue on. If I bolt or screw it, the screw would be visible on the back of the mirror housing.

The housing is not available separately. So WCS (worst case scenario) I have to buy a replacement mirror. I'm no worse off then when I started... You can see my pictures here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/103956...authkey=Gv1sRgCKDFp8muiveSpwE&feat=directlink

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Paul.../NH

 

[Lukas2009]

Hi Paul,

thanks for the pictures.
Are there also pictures where I can see the hooks/clips that hold the mirror glass?
Or the back of the mirror glass itself?
I want to take mine off to glue my broken mirror housing.

Lukas

 

[pjw73nh]

Lukas2009, They are mounted (molded into) the back of the mirror. I'll take a pic or two tonight and post them for you (and others).

 

[pjw73nh]

Lukas, I added the pix. Have another look-see. Hope it helps.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103956...authkey=Gv1sRgCKDFp8muiveSpwE&feat=directlink

 

[Lukas2009]

Thanks a lot.
Wow, looks complicated to remove!

 

[pjw73nh]

The mirror itself wasn't too bad. You just have to get enough of the "latch" clips off of one side to move the mirror enough so they won't "re-latch".

By the way my repair is complete. I've add a few more photos to the lineup if you're interested.

Best.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103956146819641847893/PassengerMirror?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKDFp8muiveSpwE&feat=directlink#