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Squeaky folding exterior mirror

cwescapexlt4x4

Explorin' the Desert SW
Elite Explorer
Joined
May 3, 2005
Messages
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City, State
Litchfield Park, AZ area...
Year, Model & Trim Level
2021 King Ranch 4wd 3.0T
As the title states, my driverside power folding mirror assembly is starting to make some noise ... especially when returning to the driving position. Anyone else have/had this or what lube have you used? I will address with dealer if need be but I'd rather do it myself. I'm thinking a little squirt of white lithium grease should take care of it.

Thoughts?
 



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My drivers side mirror just started squealing, maybe 3 or 4 days ago. I'm think like you a little dab of
lithium grease should take care of it. This is much easier and quicker than waiting at the dealer to do the same thing.
 






Hi there, I've had this issue with the driver side mirror. It is worse when it's hot out I find. I been to the dealership where they're tried grease and resetting the module ( so they say) to no avail. I don't visit the same ford dealership where I purchased the vehicle as I find them very untrustworthy. Sorry my answer won't help you very much other then expect to get a run around.
 






Yes, the heat certainly seems to increase the "squeal" and no shortage here in AZ. Of course I forgot to do this yesterday but will today when I get home.
 






I see this thread is a bit old, and honestly, I've meant to ask about this exact same issue myself for some time. Both of my outside mirrors squeal/squeak horribly (also in the 115+ degrees of Phoenix!) and it is just getting worse (and like nails on a chalkboard). I didn't equate it with the heat - which makes sense, as the parts change size/shape a bit. My other issue with the mirrors - and this one I've had an ongoing but only occasional hassle with - is that often times, when I remote start the car, since the mirrors don't...um..."un-retract" (detract? Open? Whatever) until a door is open, and I'm assuming that this is how it's supposed to be (although, since the lights under the mirrors are called "puddle lights", they don't really do any good lighting any puddles while the mirrors are retracted and the light is shining on the doors, not the ground, and if they don't "un-retract" until I open the front door, I'd already be standing in a puddle if one was there - right? Yes, that's petty - yet true, eh?). So getting back, my other issue is, often (but not always) a mirror will "get stuck" as it's trying to "un-retract" (that's my new word, I like it!), it's usually the passenger mirror, very occasionally the driver mirror (never both at once), so it just stays retracted, but it is TRYING to open yet just "clack, clack, clack, clack" it will just barely move out/clack-pop-closed/repeat until I can get in the car and start it up (actual start, not the remote start), even then, I will sometimes have to hit the mirror retract switch to stop it, then push it again - and it opens just fine. As much as I love this car, I will say, it definitely has it's quirks - a lot of them! Such is ever-evolving technology.

Anyway, I'm not really looking for an answer with this, as my car needs to get in for regular maintenance and it's still under full warranty, so I'll have them look it over. Of course, this will be one of those "unable to duplicate" gremlins. I'm just SO happy that I purchased the ESP on the vehicle. I just wanted to share my issues with everyone else, I'll try and post what Ford's service guys do - if they'll tell me.
 






Wow, thankfully not experiencing the bigger issues you have with your mirrors, but I also do not have them retract every-time (setting you can change) as I only use like at work or smaller spots/longer parking term vs. running in for a coffee etc. I'd get yours into the dealer and take a quick video of yours as well.
 






Wow, thankfully not experiencing the bigger issues you have with your mirrors, but I also do not have them retract every-time (setting you can change) as I only use like at work or smaller spots/longer parking term vs. running in for a coffee etc. I'd get yours into the dealer and take a quick video of yours as well.
Honestly, the only reason I like them to retract is so all I have to do is glance at it from a window, etc and I know if it's locked or not, since the mirrors won't retract until it's locked. I do have the Auto-lock setting to ON but it doesn't seem to do anything. Or perhaps I've just not taken the time to read it properly. But seeing the mirrors retracted is a great way to know for sure it's locked, I have some fairly valuable electronics in the console.
 






Honestly, the only reason I like them to retract is so all I have to do is glance at it from a window, etc and I know if it's locked or not, since the mirrors won't retract until it's locked. I do have the Auto-lock setting to ON but it doesn't seem to do anything. Or perhaps I've just not taken the time to read it properly. But seeing the mirrors retracted is a great way to know for sure it's locked, I have some fairly valuable electronics in the console.
I think you may be incorrectly interpreting how the feature works.
Autolock (if equipped)
Autolock locks all the doors when all of the
following occur:
• All doors are closed.
• The ignition is on.
• You shift into any gear putting your
vehicle in motion.
• Your vehicle attains a speed greater
than 4 mph (7 km/h).

Peter
 












I think you may be incorrectly interpreting how the feature works.
Autolock (if equipped)
Autolock locks all the doors when all of the
following occur:
• All doors are closed.
• The ignition is on.
• You shift into any gear putting your
vehicle in motion.
• Your vehicle attains a speed greater
than 4 mph (7 km/h).

Peter
Yes, you're right. I don't know what I'm thinking (really, I don't, I have so many things going on and too many changes to my meds - it sucks getting old and so many doctors love playing "let's switch this to this" and I'm zombie-fied! It will be easier to work on the car when they let me out of this padded room.). Isn't there a way to have the doors auto-lock after a configurable amount of time when the ignition is turned off and doors shut? I can swear I've had this in a recent car - and my last 5 recent cars have been Fords. Or maybe I just imagined it. Actually, I think it was a feature of enhanced security systems I had installed. I still haven't installed my RMU (too damn hot in PHX and my garage is packed with non-car stuff), obviously I'll be able to lock the car with my phone - but I can also lock my car with the FOB - it's just remembering to do so, is all.
 






I know this post is pretty old now - even my last reply was 9 months ago, but I wanted to give a follow-up to my "squeaky retractable mirror" issue (both mirrors were squeaking horribly, especially when hot) and also how the passenger mirror would "get stuck" while trying to move to it's assigned placement, it would stick and "clack, clack, clack" as if a cog on a gear was broken or something.

I DID have my car in for warranty work early last fall and specifically mentioned the mirrors. The techs were, of course, able to hear the squeaking but, as is usual in these circumstances, the "clacking mirror" worked perfectly while checking in. I was actually surprised when the dealer called the next day and said they were ordering/replacing both outside mirrors. I've had absolutely no issues with squeaks or clacks since then.

One unrelated, frustration, also warranty-wise, is that my chrome strips at the bottom of the doors and on the hatch are covered in, what look like, small rusty water marks that nothing will remove - all the other chrome on the outside is fine. The dealer refused to replace them (it was like that when I bought it at one year old, it was 2 years old when taken in), saying it was "environmental damage" probably caused by the previous owner (it was a previous rental) or dealership doing an "acid wash" (which sounds like complete BS - if that was so, ALL the chrome would look like that) and said they were actually very expensive for me to purchase (maybe why THEY made up BS?). It's not incredibly noticeable (except by me, since I know it's there), but I believe warranty should have covered that, as well. At least they replaced the mirrors. I'm usually pretty happy with the work San Tan Ford does, in Gilbert, AZ.
 






Acid baths shouldn't cause that as some sort of permanent damage. Ford usually does that when they're feeling cheap about paint defects--the car looks like hell immediately after the wash, but once cleaned up everything should come back to normal.

I've only had one failure on the mirrors, on a very cold day they forgot where their stop positions were and went from closed to full against the a-pillar. I had to force them into place on the way home.

Next day, like nothing happened.
 






OK,
So, my driver's side mirror has made a heck of noise while moving into place pretty much since I bought the vehicle. It sounded like something was rubbing. It didn't do this every time, but sounded pretty bad when it did. Some times it would go into a ratchet mode while trying to get into place (like it was missing a gear). I never understood this because the mirror only has to move horizontally to get back into place and the ratchet mode was in the vertical position. Anyway, since my new car warranty was about to expire, I took my EX into the dealer so they could look at my driver's side mirror. Much to my surprise, they have replaced my mirror. I'm a happy guy and have had no issues since.
With ~ 35K miles I've really had no issues with this vehicle. It's the best I've had, and I've owned Honda's, Lincoln's, GM's and other Ford's.
 






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