Fixing a Folding Door Mirror

[normski2]

A couple of weeks back I noticed that the passenger mirror was a little sluggish in folding back to the car. Then a few days later it would only fold half way. Then the driver’s door mirror started doing the same! There are a couple of narrowish points on my way to work each day so I always retract the mirrors at this point to avoid any unwanted impact with other vehicles going the other way. The fairly regular sight of bits of mirror backings strewn on the road is a bit of a warning at these pinch points. Lexus mirrors are not cheap to replace!

I could hear that the drivers door motor was struggling a little to perform the ‘close’ movement but was absolutely fine to ‘open’.

I’ve taken the mirrors off before to maintain the interior and to change the piddle lights to LED bulbs, so that part I was comfortable with. Over the course of two evenings after work I sorted both mirrors. They are both now working perfectly.

I started with the passenger mirror which taught me the process and figured I’d take photos to share when doing the driver’s door. All started well with 2 photos safely stored and then I felt a few drops of rain. Mild panic set in and all thoughts of photos were abandoned in the haste to complete the work needed. Apologies to all and my thanks and credit to Shaun (Newbie) for, hopefully, not minding me use a couple of his photos to explain the process.

There is a really good guide to removing the mirror plate and servicing the mirror angle/tilt motors here…. all credit to Newbie. This will show you how to get it all apart with great photos.

 

So, I removed the mirror plate as shown below. This exposes the 4 screws that need to be removed to separate the front and rear mirror covers. Careful with the front section as there are small grip tags that hold the front in place.

In the second photo the back has been removed and you can see 2 small grip tags that locate the front part of the cover onto the internal body plate. So, front and back covers were removed. The mirror plate was taped to a sheet positioned in the window opening. You have to take the front housing out over the mirror plate. It just makes everything so much easier not to have any delicate pieces dangling around that distract from the job in hand. The puddle light was unplugged and put to one side. The indicator bulb was disconnected and the wire teased away from the foam glue pad holding it to the inside of the back cover.

This leaves you with just the guts of the mechanism and the main body plate to which all is attached.

I’ve borrowed one of Newbies very excellent photos to show the body plate and the position of the motor I worked on.

The motor is indicated by the RED ARROW. There are 3 screws to remove that fasten the motor casing over the motor. On my 2010 model you need to give a bit of slack to the wiring loom or you won’t be able to lift the casing. Gently ease the casing upwards…it pushes down onto a rubber ringed water seal that grips a little. Now you need to be careful as underneath the round section of the casing is a small electric motor mounted vertically. The motor has 2 push in connectors on the top that locate into the underside of the upper casing. You will see the two feed wires that supply the motor. The drive shaft points straight down at the bottom of the motor and is about 20mm long with a locator drive cog up near the main body. The casing may well come up with the motor still attached … not a bad thing! If it does not you need to note where the tabs plug in to the upper casing and push them gently when you relocate the motor. First time I did this I inadvertently bent both pins flat!! If this happens just carefully pinch them straight with a pair of long-nose pliers.

This is type of motor but the shaft is quite long and the 2 contacts are solid metal (there are no solder points)

I put a tiny (and I mean tiny) squirt of WD40 onto the bearing point of the drive shaft (gave it a twiddle too to work it in) and a tiny bit of vaseline (with a blunted cocktail stick) onto the shaft location point and surrounding drive points. Carefully reassemble the casing over the motor and refit the 3 screws. I thought I could test the mirror action at this point as the motor wires are connected. NOT SO!! Nothing happens until all the wiring is re-connected when the mirror is back together! At least that’s what I found on my version.

Whilst at this point I gave everything a thorough cleaning, including the mirror casing and puddle light closing flanges. Amazing how much crap gets in there! I also removed the plastic plate behind the mirror and lubed (tiny bit of Vaseline) the drive shafts of the tilt/angle drives. I also cleaned thoroughly and squirted a little WD40 onto the turntable point where the mirror body sits on its little stand attached to the door.

The final bit is refitting the mirror plate. I put a weeny bit of Vaseline onto all four clipping points (the red circles) … just to help encourage the plastic faces to slide over each other that little bit. There is a bit of a knack to removing and refitting the mirror but when you've done it once it becomes easier. Remember to push with both thumbs against the mirror right where the lower clip in point is after you've located the upper clip in points correctly. This picture below from Newbies guide explains it all perfectly.....press thumbs where the 2 circles are.

Fired it all up ................. and job’s a good’un 

There was an immediate difference with mirrors closing fully without any hesitation, albeit not quite as quick and not quite in unison. After 3 days they were working back to normal again in perfect timing. Two weeks later and all is still good.

Happy Days!!

 

 

[Ishaq]

@normski2 funny you did this write up as I just logged in to ask if anyone else is noticing the sluggish close on the passenger side folding mirrors and saw your post.

I noticed my passenger side mirror making a struggling noise when folding up and thought maybe some one has pushed or played with my mirrors. I have the P40 auto fold up on locking so thought maybe that was on its way out and was not looking forward to redoing the job again.

Your post will come handy so will attempt to WD40 the motors this weekend if the weather is good.

Thank you.