I damaged my door mirror, any advice? | Ford Explorer Forums

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I damaged my door mirror, any advice?

johnmcgowan

Member
Joined
June 17, 2014
Messages
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City, State
Alabama
Year, Model & Trim Level
2003 sport trac
Well I certainly goofed up this morning backing out of the garage :eek:. As I was backing out and my drivers side mirror was even with the inside metal rail of the garage door, I didnt realize I was too close to it and the outside edge of the mirror scraped against the rail.Thats the first time Ive done this and I bought the truck new back in late 2002. The mirror housing did not fold out or give way and the mirror glass did not break. However, once I pulled out of the garage after cursing myself for a dumb act, the mirror lens was loose but still would work somewhat via the switch. Have I screwed the pooch and will I have to replace the whole unit or is there a simple fix for the mirror? Its almost as if some part of the gearing on the inside part that makes the mirror move has stripped a gear or some teeth because as I was driving to work the mirror would not stay in position and wanted to flop around a little bit :(
How bad of a fix am I looking at? Its a 2003 sport trac,
I appreciate any advice!
John
 



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I got one of these off of Amazon a while back for my passenger side and it was a perfect match. Takes 10-15 min to replace. http://goo.gl/ZGx6Qw
 






Thats awesome jmmorgan82 !! I appreciate you heading me in the right direction and the price looks good too. Thanks again!!
 






You can also go to the junkyard and get one from a '95-01 Explorer (try to get one without the puddle lights, the wiring pigtail will be different), '01-03 Explorer Sport or 2001-2005 Sport Trac. I have one from a '98 Explorer on my driver side.
 






Ok, forgive my ignorance, but what are "puddle lights" that Ive seen mentioned on this forum? Are we talking about the driving/fog lights but just with a different name?
 












The only differences between the Explorer and ST mirrors are the trim line on the outer edge of the base plate and the wiring pigtails if it has puddle lights. Here's mine from a '99 Explorer, you can see the line that the Explorer mirror has where the ST mirror base is flat and smooth. Not a big deal for me.

IMG_4286.jpg


DSC04614.jpg
 






Thanks for the pic Jerry. From reading past threads, the fit sounded MUCH worse. How are your body mounts coming along? ;)
 






Still in the box waiting to be installed. I started another round of PT yesterday. I just want all the legal b.s. to get over with so I can start doing everyday things to help the muscles and soft tissue get better as well as my neck and back.

The only thing fitment wise was trimming the weatherstripping off a little from the mirror. As you can see in my picture I trimmed about a 1/4" too short but the inside foam gaskets behind the mirror makes up for that.
 






I got one of these off of Amazon a while back for my passenger side and it was a perfect match. Takes 10-15 min to replace. http://goo.gl/ZGx6Qw

Got it ordered just now.
Another quick question...just how bad is it to pull the door panel off to replace the mirror ? Will I need to replace any of the plastic housing screws that snap in and out if this door panel has any? Thanks again everyone!!!!!!!!!!
 






You might try pushing the mirror glass with your thumb all the way one way or the other until it feels like the gears mesh correctly. They can get misaligned.
 






Got it ordered just now.
Another quick question...just how bad is it to pull the door panel off to replace the mirror ? Will I need to replace any of the plastic housing screws that snap in and out if this door panel has any? Thanks again everyone!!!!!!!!!!
"Christmas Tree" clips should be reuseable if it's the first time removing the panel. Can't emphasize enough the need to lift UP before pulling on the panel. I believe many doing this the first time have broken the "hook". Once they break, the upper front panel will always be loose with no reliable fix. Inner trim panels have long been discontinued, and most salvage yards will only sell them with the door.

Use care when removing the door panel or you'll break off the top mounting hook.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2928267&postcount=8

http://www.clipsandfasteners.com/Door_Panel_Retainers_Clips_Ford_p/pas1558-25.htm
 






Like how I broke mines off, which I think was pre explorer forum member (I hope at least) or else there would be no excuse. I don't even know if I have the piece that broke, if I did I would try to j b weld it back on now that you mention it. When I 1st pulled my panel some trees were shot, so I decided to buy the dorman pack and replace all, since I would know where they are after that 1st time
 






Nothing held for me, I tried everything including ABS cement. How are your new brakes? Excellent job. Shocks and body mounts next?
 






Nothing held for me, I tried everything including ABS cement. How are your new brakes? Excellent job. Shocks and body mounts next?

Brakes seem great, still taking it easy on them. With only 1-2 miles a day to and from work on top of bumper to bumper traffic because of spring break, it's not the best time to go cruise. Yes, I have the body mounts but honestly Not looking forward to the rust during removal. Still need to at least get new bolts and hope the sleeves/hardware are useable. I Returned the harbour freight impact because it couldn't even take off my lugs. Still need to save/buy shocks but that I would want to tackle 1st for being less painless.

Although, I did hop out the truck today when I got home and noticed another big piece of foam mount (mount b drivers side) right by the wheel
 






Ok folks, I got my mirror mounted, thanks for everyone's advice on here.
I have a small issue with the new mirror though, everything works fine EXCEPT it will not retract inward when using the switch. Up, down, and out works fine and to make sure I didnt have a bad switch, I plugged in my old mirror while the new one was mounted and it retracted inward. I purchased the mirror from the link above that jmmorgan82 provided from amazon. Should I let amazon know and how many stars
( out of 5) would yall give on the rating since the mirror will not retract inward? There was no mention of the mirror not working in all directions when I read the sellers description either. :(
Thanks again!!!
John
 






Try using the switch to have it go all the way out until it starts clicking, than use your hand and gently push inward to where the glass is centered. You'll hear clicking from the gears being pushed without the motors moving, it's fine. the glass part mine not be centered in the motor gears so it won't move all the way that it's supposed to. If this doesn't work than I would contact Amazon ad the seller to get your money back or a replacement. They should pay for shipping back for the old one.
 






Thanks Midnightrebel07 , I'll give it a go on what you said tonight and rteport back with my findings.
 






Well no joy on this one. I moved the lens all the way via the switch out then tried to maually move the mirror in and it makes no difference. There are no teeth or gears on the replacement as there are on the factory mirror. I do know what your saying because on the factory mirror I could always hear the teeth of the gears moving when I had to adjust it, but not so on this one.
I emailed AutoHalo thru Amazon yesterday and the first reply I got from them was this:
" Hello, the mirror that you ordered is actually a power mirror < no kidding there Einstein ! >, but with manual folding so it won't retract the way you're saying the old one does. Did you want return the item for a refund? Thank you."
I never mentioned to them that I was trying to fold the whole assembly housing in, just the mirror lens itself would not move in while trying to operate it via the power switch. I am assuming that the person who replied to my email just doesnt have a great deal of knowledge when it comes to automotive stuff, ya think ? :)
Anyhoo, they emailed me a return authorization for the mirror but I dint think Im going to fool with it and just let it ride.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year or try it out for $5 a month.

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