Door Mirror Glass Ball Pivot Broken - Fix/Repair
Hey,
...... the mirror is still in there, it is just really loose. If I could get it apart, I could fix it up with some crazy glue or epoxy. I've got it off and all the visible screws out of it, I'm just at a loss as to how to get the stupid glass mirror out
I pulled the glass off the motor housing screwed inside the mirror cover and I found the loose part was due to the central pivot for the mirror being broken off.
It was gone so couldn't be fastened back. The mirror glass was just held on by the two small adjustment balls. It was annoying in that the mirror flashed in the sun or with headlights of cars following and wouldn't stay in position when underway.
To replace the ball pivot, after a look in the auto recycling yards without finding anything easily and not wishing to part with 100 dollars for a recycled one off the web, I kludged the reattachment.
Basically my fix was using a piece of rubber to sort of reverse the ball and socket arrangement.
Click here to see the composite picture. I had considered screwing a small bolt into the mirror motor housing and filling the socket with rubber cement, but I still wanted full adjustability from flex in the rubber and wasn't sure how it would set up and what it would be like in winter.
An old coil wire plug boot [Bosch] slipped over the outside of the mirror pivot's socket to grip tight. I trimmed it to form some tabs or 'feet' with a pair of small curved scissors and an exacto blade.
I experimented with turning the cut ring and tabs inside out so the 'feet' gripped better once stuffed into the holes in front of the mirror motor. It was necessary to jam them in using a metal probe which made the fit all the more secure. "Cut-&-Fit" a few times to get the depth correct as seen in the picture.
Only three tabs can be had: one slot is occluded by the actual mirror motor attached to the black plastic assembly. The rubber was trimmed down in stages with the curved scissors and exacto blade via deepening the grooves cut as seen in the image. Keep a good flush edge on to grip the socket.
I drew a pattern with pen onto the boot beforehand which helped with the cutting of the compound curved rubber surface for better accuracy.
After the rubber was well seated [maybe I should have used a bit of silicone to help bind where the 'feet' went, but i didn't] ...re-attachement of the glass mirror back was a somewhat blind matter of centering the socket part of the mirror over the rubber hose already firmly in place on the mirror motor assembly, and then pushing and wiggling the mirror downwards at the center [wet it first, it works better to slide over the rim].
Basically, after a bit of effort and circular motion it pops in. seats down with pressure, and will be suspended on it's own, that is ...the outer part of the socket is grabbed by the rubber.
Then next is lining up the two small balls that move in and out with the motor and pressing the sockets home. I did top first then the one lower down as it's harder to see. Get them aligned first:
When you press on the balls they will ratchet to their lower position, exactly like adjusting the mirror without using the electric motor. To help find the proper spot and guide them down gently before pressing on, you may want to raise the balls electrically to the top to find the spot, then do the "pushing gently but firmly downward" part until they snap into the tiny sockets on the back of the mirror. I did this with some trepidation but nothing broke. I removed the steel rings of the sockets before attempting this for easier fit; and the balls haven't popped out of the sockets yet.
No more jiggly passenger mirror so it can be seen out of for safer lane changes and less irritation with no more 'strobe light effect' from following traffic at night.
You could likely use any flexible hose of the proper inside diameter to tightly grip the pivot ball socket at the back of the mirror, or even cobble in a ball from another recycled mirror; make one out of a large headed bolt; or ???? likely a few ways to do it but the old Bosch spark plug boot worked for me.
