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Both my visors didn't work anymore so I first took out the visors and used a piece of wire to test to see if the light still turned on. They did so I knew it was a problem with the visors itself.
I first cut out a thin gift card and extended it out about 1/2 of a centimeter. I taped it on and put everything back but it didn't work. So I ended up putting spare velcro that i got from my fastrak and taped it on the top, just like in post #11. I also widened the metal clip on the OP's youtube video and put everything back together. It worked the first time so I went ahead and fixed the other visor the same way. They both now work and am thankful for the instructions.
Thanks OP and vtxmask (post #15). I made an account specifically to reply here after fixing my problem through google. The passenger side light wasn't working, and it wasn't a faulty bulb.
Basically I followed the steps from post #15. (Sorry no pics)
First, I'd recommend hooking up your multi meter in resistance mode to your visor terminals and seeing if any change happens when you open your mirror.
Took out my visor, pushing the cap off and unscrewing it from the ceiling, then disconnecting the wire socket.
Took out the mirror. I used a card to get under the side of the mirror lip, this worked very nicely.
Hooked up my visor terminals to a multi meter set to measure resistance
Took a stick/skewer and pressed inside (on the far side) and saw that the resistance increased when the switch was depressed enough. Like others, use your phone with a light in video mode to help you see.
Cut out a 2cm square (rough) piece of plastic from an old card, and stuck that to the top ridge of the mirror slider extender with some normal sticky tape. This protruded about 0.5cm from the edge of the plastic. Much like in post #11 but not velcro.
Put it back in, and tested it with the resistance once again. This time the resistance increased when the mirror was fully revealed.
Installed it back in my IS250, and my happiness with the car is now complete.
So I've been having the same problem with both my visors and decided to give this a try. It worked for my drivers side but when I went to fix my passenger side it didn't work. Strangely I decided to make sure the light was plugged in correctly so I took it out and turned it around to switch the polarity and now the light won't go off... when the mirror is both open and closed the light stays on, and the weird part is when i take the mirror out the light still stays on. Does anybody know how to fix this?
Both of my vanity mirror lights don't turn on for a while now and finally follow these posts and videos to fix it.
I used 2 layers of duct tape on the top corner with the inner one folded a little bit to give it a little more thickness. In the end it extends about 3mm out. When I put the mirror back in, the light flickers and turns off. But after I push the switch harder the light comes on, and later it works fine without pushing it with any force.
Originally Posted by 2010ISF
So I've been having the same problem with both my visors and decided to give this a try. It worked for my drivers side but when I went to fix my passenger side it didn't work. Strangely I decided to make sure the light was plugged in correctly so I took it out and turned it around to switch the polarity and now the light won't go off... when the mirror is both open and closed the light stays on, and the weird part is when i take the mirror out the light still stays on. Does anybody know how to fix this?
Does the the light go off when you flip the mirror back up? If it does, then it's likely the switch inside the mirror is stuck.
From the picture of the switch shown in the first few posts, I would try to use some kind of hook, made out of a wire, to pull the copper contacts towards the mirror.
CCJ22, thanks for the videos! This happened on my IS350 and started to bug the crap out of me. I fixed it without bending anything.
The culprit is the gold contact at the end of shaft of the visor. This is physically located on the top left corner if looking at the passenger visor at it hangs normally. The problem is that the plastic slider doesn't make proper contact with it over time. I assume it gets bent in over time.
Gold contact switch.
The fix:
Take apart the visor as instructed above and place something to extend the reach of the plastic visor. Do this on the top left end (in reference to the passenger side visor). I attached a little piece of the velcro to that end of the plastic slider. I also super glued it down for protection so it does not come off from sliding back and forth. Pictured below:
Extending the reach of the visor. This will allow it to push further.
IMPORTANT: Ignore the middle piece of velcro, I later removed it. Only the top left is necessary.
Velcro piece that I used.
Hope it work for you too!
The steps helped,the only thing I did different was instead on using Velcro on the end of the plastic slide plate that goes into the visor,I used tape and alluminum foil...when I initially put the visor back on,didn't come right on when u slid the plastic piece but after feeling around on the outside of the visor and made connection and now works great...thanks
I think I have made a mistake by using duct tape. The lights in my car still work, but I should have used industrial strength tape to withstand the summer heat.
So I've been having the same problem with both my visors and decided to give this a try. It worked for my drivers side but when I went to fix my passenger side it didn't work. Strangely I decided to make sure the light was plugged in correctly so I took it out and turned it around to switch the polarity and now the light won't go off... when the mirror is both open and closed the light stays on, and the weird part is when i take the mirror out the light still stays on. Does anybody know how to fix this?
I used to have the problem with the sun visor vanity light stopped working (not turning on), I fixed by glued a piece of the cloth material to the upper corner as mentioned in the previous posts. This worked for a while, than it started acting like your issue, when the visor is up the light is off, but when the visor is down the light turned on regardless of the mirror door in close or open position, I took off the entire mirror assembly and the vanity light was still on. I used a wooden barbecue stick long enough and started poking on the switch inside the mirror, I can see the light flickering when I poke on certain area of the switch, by poking it for a while, I got the switch unstuck and to light went off.
I think my problem was that I had glued too much material to the upper corner of the mirror slider and this eventually cause the switch weaken and stuck. I shaved off some material which I glued/added way back when I try to fix the no light on issue. Anyway, my passenger side sun visor is working again as designed.
I just created a DIY video of getting to this and fixing the contacts.
I first tried the spacing of the slider but it only worked for one side, the other side ended up jamming the electrical contact closed. So that side stayed on all the time unless you flap it up and down (theres a off mechanism for when you close the visor).
Ended up sticking a clothes hangar to dislodge the closed contacts.
Just fixed this issue in my '10, the passenger side was stubborn but came back to life by moving the slider back and forth a bunch of times. After it started working, I wasn't quite satisfied that the contact was clean enough but I also didn't want to burn out the bulb from turning it on and off constantly so I moved the visor back to where it doesn't light up and kept on moving the mirror slider back and forth some more. Seems solid now.
If they ever go out completely, the DIY vids will help.