Tried to clean/repair my wing mirror motor using the guide .... oh boy

[mk_lon]

Hey Guys, 

Im a big fan of this forum, it has helped me on many occassions over the years - A big thank you to all who have contributed 😁. 

My passanger side wing mirror on my is250 sel auto stopped moving left to right about two years ago as did the auto tilt function but did go up and down. Recently it started tiliting again when put into R so I thought there must be some dirt in it as I have read on this forum.

Im pretty useless when it comes to DIY so after a year of putting off this task for 2 years I finally decided to attempt it. I saw the guide from is200 Newbie which was written as a step by step guide with pictures. What could go wrong I thought .... 

I printed it out and began by popping out the glass as written. I noticed it was super stiff so I applied more force gently .....(so i thought). Then the mirror popped out with a loud click followed by the two motors flying out landing on my driveway.......after a couple of swearwords i looked and found the plastic back plate edge (with the poppers) had snapped off....

As it was open I thought I might as well clean the inside up given it had dead spiders and flys, I then swapped the two motors around turned on the ignition and found one of them was dead. Also a cable which had popped out refused to go back in. 

I have attached the pictures too. My neighbour who used to be a mechanic said I could probable use silicone and it could repare it and managed to push it back in with one motor.

Do you think I need to get a 2nd hand wing mirror from eBay or get a new motor, use silicone and repair it. All opinions and answers welcomed.

Kindest regards,

Mo

 

 

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Mo. I feel your pain so to speak. Personally speaking I'd say replace your mirror. There are a few on eBay. Just last weekend I replaced my driver side mirror as it hadn't worked since I got it. The one I bought was rough But I replaced the coloured plastic shrouds with the ones that were on the car. Don't try a silicone type repair as it'll fail quicker than you think. 

A pointer for you in putting a 'new' mirror back on your car. The nut top right ( top left for you I think but you'll see for yourself which one looks a sod to get at) is a proper B***h of a job. How I did it was to hold the mirror with one hand, have the nut in the socket wrench next to the hole ,hold the mirror at an angle so the nut goes onto the mirror stud. Youll see what I mean as on mine anyway there is a piece of bodywork which is just in the way of the nut.

 

[mk_lon]

Hey Vlad, 

Thank you for the advice and tip regarding the nut. 

I will have to buy a wing mirror off eBay and try to fit it. 

It looks like I need transplant the inner plate and motors of the mirror to get it back to former glory. 

Am I right in thinking the inner motor and plate is the same on either side of the mirror? 

 

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Mo. The motors and inners are possibly the same But to get them out is a nightmare. I bought a pair of eBay as they were really cheap. I thought about swapping the inner bits but for the life of me I couldn't suss out how to strip them completely. I sent them back and bought a black one same price as the pair but hey ho you live and learn but the price of the mirror was very fair at £50. Mine was driver side I had a problem with. 

[mk_lon]

Hi Vlad, 

Sounds like a major pain in the arse, hats off to you for trying. I literally just bought a red passenger wing mirror for an is250 /is220d for £30.

I will play with it when I get it, but after reading what you wrote, I fear I may have bitten off more than I can chew... 

[mk_lon]

So I took apart the wing mirror today to understand how the plastic plate snapped and I found the answer.... It turned out that the previous owner had glued the plate to the the mirror glass.... DOH! 

awaiting the 2nd mirror for an attempted transplant. The back is ridiculously fiddly to take off... 

[Mr Vlad]

Yes I found silicone in the mirror I bought. Wondered why the glass didn't clamp into that frame. It did after I cleaned all the silicone off. Mmmmm a red mirror of eBay for £30. I bet its one I had and sent back.

[mk_lon]

Ha ha small world, I reckon it probably is. I will keep posted on this adventure 😆

[mk_lon]

Quick update here, I managed to transplant the motor and the plastic housing from the 2nd hand eBay mirror to my car. However I faced following the challenges;

1. The wing mirror casing is an absolute **** to get back on. Even after 1hour it wasn't flush and still has a small gap to the side of if... I gave up

2. All these videos on YouTube make it look easy to put the glass back on the plate...just click into place.... That took almost an hour and even then its loose on the bottom right corner right now. 

The good news is that the mirror now tilts and slides again and is moving in all directions... 

Worth mentioning that the mirror I got from eBay was missing the black plastic socket which connects wiring to it (see image). 

Also I noticed that the mirror glass was aftermarket and missing some wiring too. 

Minus the gap, loose corner and the best part of 3 hours getting wound up, it's working again.....Now I remember why I have been avoiding this for the last 2 years... 

 

 

 

 

[mk_lon]

On 3/20/2021 at 11:01 PM, Mr Vlad said:

Hi Mo. The motors and inners are possibly the same But to get them out is a nightmare. I bought a pair of ebay as they were really cheap. I thought about swapping the inner bits but for the life of me I couldn't suss out how to strip them completely. I sent them back and bought a black one same price as the pair but hey ho you live and learn but the price of the mirror was very fair at £50. Mine was driver side I had a problem with. 

I finally figured out how to get it open. I had to use a hammer and a thin screwdriver and snap the side clips off... But it worked 

[nicnac]

I feel the pain as well ................I have repaired my Sc430 mirrors which in essence are the same . I think you got off to a bad start because someone had done a bodge before you . There is a run through on you tube to follow . At this stage I think you are probably better getting another unit . The small motors can be repaired as well , but you need to be deft to take them apart and clean the commutator and retention the wiper brushes. 

[Mr Vlad]

Blimey Mo. One reason the mirror isn't seating right is there's probably still some silicone sealant there. That's what was stopping my mirror seating right. I can't believe you had a problem with the mirror casing. I found it dead easy and even when on the car.

Well done however on transplanting the motors. You wiped the floor with me there m8.

[mk_lon]

1 hour ago, nicnac said:

I feel the pain as well ................I have repaired my Sc430 mirrors which in essence are the same . I think you got off to a bad start because someone had done a bodge before you . There is a run through on you tube to follow . At this stage I think you are probably better getting another unit . The small motors can be repaired as well , but you need to be deft to take them apart and clean the commutator and retention the wiper brushes. 

Hi Nicnac, thankfully everything is working smoothly now minus the bloody loose mirror plate and gaps in casing (pictures attached). I'll see how it goes for a bit and if it drives me mad I'll cough up for a new unit with my ego in tatters 

[mk_lon]

1 hour ago, Mr Vlad said:

Blimey Mo. One reason the mirror isn't seating right is there's probably still some silicone sealant there. That's what was stopping my mirror seating right. I can't believe you had a problem with the mirror casing. I found it dead easy and even when on the car.

Well done however on transplanting the motors. You wiped the floor with me there m8.

Bless you Vlad, 

That casing drives me mad, I literally spent 1 hour on the bloody thing, still not flush... I have attached some pictures of it in its current state. 

I've seen like 9 videos on YouTube they make it look so easy... If only 😞

[Texas]

That definitely looks like something must be hindering the precision Japanese parts from going together like they should!

[mk_lon]

I agree but I can't figure out what it is for the life of me... I took it a part and put it back together again 5 times... 

[Mr Vlad]

Don't worry about that little gap Mo. I've got the same gap after swapping the covers from my old one to the one I got on eBay. There must be a small difference in different manufacturing times.

[mk_lon]

reassuring to know I am not the only one 🤞

[Las Palmas]

Hope you got it fixed. If you want something to be permanently fixed silicone is not really the best. Araldite on any surface that is first cleaned with something like acetone will last forever.