Folding mirrors not working
10-20-11 | 04:14 PM
#1
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From: TX
Folding mirrors not working
2004 LS430 fold out mirror passenger side is not working (folding out). Drivers side works fine. I cleaned all 3 switch with CRC Electric Cleaner (parking sensor; mirror adjustment; and the fold in/out mirrors) . I've did some research on the forum, but no luck. Any suggestion(s) before I take it to the Stealership? Thanks fellas.
10-20-11 | 04:28 PM
#2
There are lots of threads on this subject. This seems to be a pretty common problem with these cars. Do a little more research before taking it to the dealer. Depending on your mechanical skill you can open up the mirror itself to get to the folding mechanism and check there.
10-20-11 | 06:26 PM
#3
My car is the same way, driver's folds no problem, passenger folds maybe 1/2" I just disable the auto fold. Would be cool if it worked but it doesn't matter really because it doesn't effect day-to-day operations.
10-20-11 | 06:44 PM
#4
Lead Lap
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,810
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From: MI
I don't blame the OP for wanting to get them fixed. I have the auto-fold disabled, but fold them at times. When my wife's caregivers were driving the Subaru, they were leery about pulling it way over the to side of the garage like I did, leaving a narrower walkway between the cars. I made sure to fold the mirrors then.
10-20-11 | 11:06 PM
#5
10-21-11 | 02:55 AM
#6
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From: TX
10-21-11 | 03:12 AM
#7
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From: TX
Last service for oil change, the dealership told me I needed a new battery. Car starts fine with no hesitation. I will put in a new battery and see if my mirror folds in/out. Fingers crossed.. will report back with the outcome.
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10-22-11 | 06:58 AM
#10
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From: TX
Read the last post on this. Like I said, I went through extensive research. Thanks for your input.
10-22-11 | 05:15 PM
#11
Lead Lap
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 436
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From: nj
Last year, while traveling, I noticed my auto-mirrors didn't always work when I got to Kansas City. A few days later, the steering wheel wouldn't go into position when I started the car (I could adjust it manually after the car started, though).
By the time I got to Oklahoma City the battery was dead when I went to start the car in the AM. I mentioned the mirror/steering wheel troubles that I had been having to the mechanic, who said that type of problem frequently indicates a battery problem. He tested the battery and found one bad cell.
He replaced my battery, and everything (mirrors & steering wheel) worked fine immediately. I drove on to Dallas, New Orleans, and back to Jersey and never had those problems again - even to this day.
I can say, from personal experience, that it could be the battery - not that is IS the battery, but that it COULD BE the battery.
Walt
By the time I got to Oklahoma City the battery was dead when I went to start the car in the AM. I mentioned the mirror/steering wheel troubles that I had been having to the mechanic, who said that type of problem frequently indicates a battery problem. He tested the battery and found one bad cell.
He replaced my battery, and everything (mirrors & steering wheel) worked fine immediately. I drove on to Dallas, New Orleans, and back to Jersey and never had those problems again - even to this day.
I can say, from personal experience, that it could be the battery - not that is IS the battery, but that it COULD BE the battery.
Walt
10-25-11 | 03:01 AM
#12
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From: TX
Yay! Bought a new Duralast Gold battery at Autozone ($115.64 total with tax), installed it, cranked up the engine, VOILA! I've been driving with the passenger mirrror folded in(not safe) and now its works like a charm. It was my car battery the whole time.
10-27-11 | 10:20 AM
#13
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 27
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From: Minnesota
I had a new battery in my vehicle put in back in May 11 and they still had problems opening and closing. I sprayed clear silicon into the housing area around the motor and now they have not failed since I've done that.
11-13-11 | 11:06 PM
#14
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 23
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From: CA
I had a new battery put in a few months ago and had the automatic folding mirror problem recently where the mirror only goes a portion of the way and requires some manual help or repeated rocking of the switch to fully move the mirror out. On hotter days, things were fine but after it rained or got wet from a car wash, the mirrors wouldn't work as well. It also seemed that once it got working again it had the full range of motion for a while.
Turns out that it was the plastic housing that was rubbing a bit more than allowable against the plastic piece that mounts to the door that the mirror rotates against. There may be less friction when dry than when damp. In order to figure this out, I took apart the entire mirror until it was just the frame and it rotated just fine without the plastic pieces. Cleaned the space in between those plastic pieces and put some silicone lubricant on it. The motor for the mirror is logically located the mirror housing btw, just in case anybody thought they were going to do this from inside the door panel.
Quick directions to disassemble the mirror:
- Dislodge the reflective mirror panel from the housing first with a flathead screwdriver. Turn the mirror to face upwards as much as possible and pry aft-ward from the bottom part of the lens with decent effort. Two tabs hold it in place from the bottom and the top two keep its position.
- The white plastic panel also comes off when you unscrew the middle screw. It has a rubber stop that holds it in place and the top and left attaches in grommet-style so just pull it off slowly. May require some small force, just use hands.
- There are four phillips screws that hold the housing together. Disassembles clamshell style. The forward-facing/bow-direction side comes off with 3-4 white tabs that you can push in with needle nose pliers. May suggest holding that panel with one hand so it doesn't drop when removing it. Both plastic parts snap back together later when reassembling.
- The motor is a bit hard to reach and is in the clear-enclosed case. From the back side there's a piece of metal with two screws. From the front side you may require some more disassembly.
I also took some time to take out the switch panel to clean the contacts with connector cleaner. Cleaned it out, plugged it back in, and no change. Took the panel out, took the switch out of that panel, and disassembled it. That was what did the trick to getting the adjustable mirror motors functional again. It was the actual switch assembly that needed to be cleaned.
Turns out that it was the plastic housing that was rubbing a bit more than allowable against the plastic piece that mounts to the door that the mirror rotates against. There may be less friction when dry than when damp. In order to figure this out, I took apart the entire mirror until it was just the frame and it rotated just fine without the plastic pieces. Cleaned the space in between those plastic pieces and put some silicone lubricant on it. The motor for the mirror is logically located the mirror housing btw, just in case anybody thought they were going to do this from inside the door panel.
Quick directions to disassemble the mirror:
- Dislodge the reflective mirror panel from the housing first with a flathead screwdriver. Turn the mirror to face upwards as much as possible and pry aft-ward from the bottom part of the lens with decent effort. Two tabs hold it in place from the bottom and the top two keep its position.
- The white plastic panel also comes off when you unscrew the middle screw. It has a rubber stop that holds it in place and the top and left attaches in grommet-style so just pull it off slowly. May require some small force, just use hands.
- There are four phillips screws that hold the housing together. Disassembles clamshell style. The forward-facing/bow-direction side comes off with 3-4 white tabs that you can push in with needle nose pliers. May suggest holding that panel with one hand so it doesn't drop when removing it. Both plastic parts snap back together later when reassembling.
- The motor is a bit hard to reach and is in the clear-enclosed case. From the back side there's a piece of metal with two screws. From the front side you may require some more disassembly.
I also took some time to take out the switch panel to clean the contacts with connector cleaner. Cleaned it out, plugged it back in, and no change. Took the panel out, took the switch out of that panel, and disassembled it. That was what did the trick to getting the adjustable mirror motors functional again. It was the actual switch assembly that needed to be cleaned.
11-14-11 | 07:05 AM
#15
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 58
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From: TX
I had a new battery put in a few months ago and had the automatic folding mirror problem recently where the mirror only goes a portion of the way and requires some manual help or repeated rocking of the switch to fully move the mirror out. On hotter days, things were fine but after it rained or got wet from a car wash, the mirrors wouldn't work as well. It also seemed that once it got working again it had the full range of motion for a while.
Turns out that it was the plastic housing that was rubbing a bit more than allowable against the plastic piece that mounts to the door that the mirror rotates against. There may be less friction when dry than when damp. In order to figure this out, I took apart the entire mirror until it was just the frame and it rotated just fine without the plastic pieces. Cleaned the space in between those plastic pieces and put some silicone lubricant on it. The motor for the mirror is logically located the mirror housing btw, just in case anybody thought they were going to do this from inside the door panel.
Quick directions to disassemble the mirror:
- Dislodge the reflective mirror panel from the housing first with a flathead screwdriver. Turn the mirror to face upwards as much as possible and pry aft-ward from the bottom part of the lens with decent effort. Two tabs hold it in place from the bottom and the top two keep its position.
- The white plastic panel also comes off when you unscrew the middle screw. It has a rubber stop that holds it in place and the top and left attaches in grommet-style so just pull it off slowly. May require some small force, just use hands.
- There are four phillips screws that hold the housing together. Disassembles clamshell style. The forward-facing/bow-direction side comes off with 3-4 white tabs that you can push in with needle nose pliers. May suggest holding that panel with one hand so it doesn't drop when removing it. Both plastic parts snap back together later when reassembling.
- The motor is a bit hard to reach and is in the clear-enclosed case. From the back side there's a piece of metal with two screws. From the front side you may require some more disassembly.
I also took some time to take out the switch panel to clean the contacts with connector cleaner. Cleaned it out, plugged it back in, and no change. Took the panel out, took the switch out of that panel, and disassembled it. That was what did the trick to getting the adjustable mirror motors functional again. It was the actual switch assembly that needed to be cleaned.
Turns out that it was the plastic housing that was rubbing a bit more than allowable against the plastic piece that mounts to the door that the mirror rotates against. There may be less friction when dry than when damp. In order to figure this out, I took apart the entire mirror until it was just the frame and it rotated just fine without the plastic pieces. Cleaned the space in between those plastic pieces and put some silicone lubricant on it. The motor for the mirror is logically located the mirror housing btw, just in case anybody thought they were going to do this from inside the door panel.
Quick directions to disassemble the mirror:
- Dislodge the reflective mirror panel from the housing first with a flathead screwdriver. Turn the mirror to face upwards as much as possible and pry aft-ward from the bottom part of the lens with decent effort. Two tabs hold it in place from the bottom and the top two keep its position.
- The white plastic panel also comes off when you unscrew the middle screw. It has a rubber stop that holds it in place and the top and left attaches in grommet-style so just pull it off slowly. May require some small force, just use hands.
- There are four phillips screws that hold the housing together. Disassembles clamshell style. The forward-facing/bow-direction side comes off with 3-4 white tabs that you can push in with needle nose pliers. May suggest holding that panel with one hand so it doesn't drop when removing it. Both plastic parts snap back together later when reassembling.
- The motor is a bit hard to reach and is in the clear-enclosed case. From the back side there's a piece of metal with two screws. From the front side you may require some more disassembly.
I also took some time to take out the switch panel to clean the contacts with connector cleaner. Cleaned it out, plugged it back in, and no change. Took the panel out, took the switch out of that panel, and disassembled it. That was what did the trick to getting the adjustable mirror motors functional again. It was the actual switch assembly that needed to be cleaned.