Wing Mirrors - Auto Tilt

is200 Newbie · August 15, 2015

Finally got around to looking at these.- the tilt function when reversing worked well when I bought the car but over time it has reduced to the point where it just twitched when moving into reverse.

I planned to have a look at it months ago but just never got round to doing it.

I done it today and took pictures of each step. It took half an hour for the first mirror and 20 minutes for the second so not a time consuming job. I needed to replace two worn plastic motor worm gear cogs which had partly stripped and I gave the mirrors a very good clean inside and out. Re-greased and oiled. They had accumulated a lot of dirt over the years and I don't think anyone had been in them since it rolled off the production line so it was a well worthwhile job.

They are now working spot on and are holding their memory positions when starting the car. I could not get them to stop working after testing them for about 10 minutes so am happy and confident they are now fixed.

I think the winter has a big effect on them when they are frozen up - they will automatically try to set themselves to the user position and also will try to move when reversing which puts a strain on the motors making them skip and strip teeth.

Anyway - what I have done below worked for me - I have two good motor units left spare which I sourced which you can use the plastic work gear from or the units themselves if anyone does this and finds they need them.

Pictures below are in sequence marked from picture 1 to 14. I have never managed to fit them into a post with instructions against them so the instruction is on the picture itself.

Shahpor · August 16, 2015

Wow, that is an excellent guide. Really like the way you have marked what to do on the pictures.

Thanks very much for doing this.

normski2 · April 4, 2016

Noobie ...may I suggest you copy and paste this into the How to guides for the is250.

Excellent piece of work...deserves not to be buried in subsequent posts ...but kept for others to follow..

is200 Newbie · April 4, 2016

Pasted into "How to " section but spelling error on title "Mirros" my keyboard not to good these days ...

Can a moderator correct it or remove it so I can paste it up again - cheers

IS200D · April 5, 2016

Just stumbled across this guide reading another thread.....and to concur with Normski and Shahpor, this is brilliant!

I'm hopeless with verbal explanations, slightly better with written guides, but only really competent with visual and written....so this is ideal for helping me get to the damaged glass bit in my offside mirror housing!

Thanks!

normski2 · April 5, 2016

You need to pull quite forcefully ( in a radially upward fashion) to get the mirror away from its fixings. Slip your fingers under the bottom of the mirror edge and place thumbs centrally on the mirror face ... that gives a bit more confidence in not cracking the mirror in half!!

Once you've done it you'll get the knack. Likewise the reattachment.

Get in there and go for it. Or if you're ever Bournemouth way I'll do it for you.

IS200D · April 5, 2016

Thanks Normski, I'll give it a go once I find the little glass part that I need to replace...mind you I'm so useless with cars I may well take up on your offer and do the 100 odd miles down to beautiful Bournemouth!!

Cheers!

normski2 · April 5, 2016

What's damaged then....I thought it was the mirror itself. Is it the puddle light lens?

IS200D · April 5, 2016

It's the indicator lense, on the outside of the mirror housing. It's got a small hole in it (since I bought the car), which isn't urgent as it's a mot advisory, but it irritates me.

ahmedali44 · April 5, 2016

It's kind of strange why they didn't put auto tilt mirrors on my 2009 is250 se-i, thought it had it but was surprised when they didn't tilt,had it on is220d se-l 2006, they are very handy as u can see kerb when parking, I was quite used to having them, do miss em,got camera but it's not same. Or can I change from settings by visiting lexus.

is200 Newbie · April 6, 2016

19 hours ago, ahmedali44 said:

It's kind of strange why they didn't put auto tilt mirrors on my 2009 is250 se-i, thought it had it but was surprised when they didn't tilt,had it on is220d se-l 2006, they are very handy as u can see kerb when parking, I was quite used to having them, do miss em,got camera but it's not same. Or can I change from settings by visiting lexus.

Maybe you have and they are stuck? - I don't think theres an easy way of telling

ahmedali44 · April 6, 2016

If they were stuck motor would make noise, I don't think it's got function to tilt as no noise from motor.

normski2 · April 6, 2016

Is your mirror selector button pressed down into either Left or Right?

If it's in the mid position the mirrors won't tilt when you select reverse. It's worth checking.

As far as I am aware the mirror tilt is not set within those personalised functions that only Lexus can do.

I would have expected your car to have the mirror tilt.....it's the same as mine,year wise.

IS200D · April 6, 2016

Also, if they weren't working, you wouldn't be able to tilt them manually either, as I have to do on my car!

It is odd you don't have them though, as the is300h premier I had while mine was serviced had them.

is200 Newbie · April 6, 2016

With the ignition on...

Move the selector on the door to the left mirror position.

Using the up/down/left/right toggle, move the mirror to the extremes of each plane until you hear it clicking then move it back until you hear it clicking. Do this to all the selections (up/down/left/right) then do it for the drivers side mirror.

Set your mirrors in your normal driving position and then save the setting using the memory buttons on the drivers door.

Turn the ignition off. Make sure the selection button is set to the right mirrors Turn the ignition back on, open the drivers window, then select reverse. Listen for a motor whine (low hum) or a clicking or watch to see if there's any twitching on the mirror

In moving it to the extremes of each plane it may release any muck holding it back. I done this on mine and it did clear it a bit but not enough so I dismantled it

ahmedali44 · April 6, 2016

Thanks did try pressing mirrors selecter l and r nothing will try tomorrow, maybe they are not set.

normski2 · December 7, 2018

Matt aka bigbullhead ...... read this post from the start.

zeczec · August 19, 2021

Excellent guide. Where can I get the replacement cogs from? Are there model numbers for them?

Thelongterm · August 19, 2021

Super helpful guide.

When I searched for my IS I noticed that all the SE-L plus F Sport up to 2010 had this' pointing downward when putting in reverse' party trick.

I also noticed some SE had this though my example is basic enough not to have this or the other party trick of the 'erecting' stirring wheel on start-up.

My question is: was these two provided as an option in the lower tier models?

J Henderson · August 19, 2021

Not sure if memory seats were an option on SE models, but the mirror-tilting function is directly tied to the memory seat package.

You can't have one without the other.

Thelongterm · August 20, 2021

21 hours ago, J Henderson said:

Not sure if memory seats were an option on SE models, but the mirror-tilting function is directly tied to the memory seat package.

You can't have one without the other.

Strange, I looked at a couple of early SE's (my55) last year and although not having memory seats, the side mirrors did the auto-tilt upon pushing to R, I agree that otherwise only saw this function on SE-L's. Maybe it was a retrofit of some sort as both had some yobish mods that saw me walking away.

zeczec · September 28, 2021

I did this, and it fixed the problem. But 6 weeks later, the problem is back. What gives? No idea. Maybe I need new motors? Anyone know where I can get them?

Andrii · August 4, 2023

Thank you @is200 Newbie for the guide! I cleaned and regreased the gears. It never stacked to me when I used buttons on the door, but auto-tilting didnt work time to time. I used WD-40 with PTFE since didn't find good consistent grease suitable for plastic (white lithium grease is not good for plastic). Hope it will last for long, if no - will repeat with something consistent.

Andrii · March 22

As it appeared for me - the problem returned back so I googled what else I can do. There was a suggestion to clean the motors inside - especially the commutator and brushes. But the motors were different from what I have, so needed to figure out how to get inside.

The pieces are connected mechanically, creating a lock to keep them together:

It appeared to be easy to pop up the upper part with a small screwdriver put into a hole between the plastic part and the main body:

Im my case there wasn't any rust, just oil mixed with graphite from the brushes, making the commutator non-working:

I used WD40 contact cleaner with paper and Fiberglass Scratch Brush Pencil to clean the commutator and brushes:

Be careful and don't lose the white plastic ring - it keeps the lamels together and the motor cannot be used without it:

Then I assembled all parts using some superglue on one of the motorts (the one where I damaged the locking parts on a metal body, while tried to figure out how to disassemble it).

The second motor where I used a screwdriver from the beginning to pop it up - the parts are attached securely.

In the end I cleaned all the plastic gears and applied a silicone grease for plastics rubber seals:

It's been a few days already and all work smooth and fast.

The only issue I had from my very first attempt - I have auto dimming mirrors, so after the reinstalling them into the mirror body I have non-working spots where I pushed the mirrors to fasten them.

zoricib · March 24

On 3/22/2024 at 12:49 PM, Andrii said:

On 3/22/2024 at 12:49 PM, Andrii said:

Be careful and don't lose the white plastic ring - it keeps the lamels together and the motor cannot be used without it:

Thanks for posting the fix! I just took both my mirrors off ( one wasn't heating, the connector came loose). Cleaned one of the motors as it wasn't working great, felt like it was grinding. Managed to lose the plastic circle bit (despite really trying not to!!) So pushed the 2 lamels closer together and all seems to be working (for now).

Anyone found replacement motors yet? Would want to keep 2 for spares