DIY side mirror housing repair

Message xopek1982 »04 Sep 2012, 20:27

Here's a story. I say right away, not mine.

In general, I had a trouble in the spring! In the morning I leave the entrance (front door) and see the following picture:

Another angle

Some drunken brute (presumably), passing by my car, decided to show off strength and courage in front of drinking companions. And the object of using this fucking power, like evil, was my mirror.
Total: The body is split, cracked all over, a piece is missing. I couldn't find a mirror cover. Probably, the night hero considered it a trophy and took it home so that many years later he would proudly show it to his grandchildren.
Until this Friday I drove like this, and each time, looking into the remains of the mirror, I remembered my "Knight" and all his family up to the ninth generation.
But on Friday my patience snapped and I decided to move on to real action.
I will omit the process of searching for a BEUShny mirror, except for a Euro-car, there is nowhere, and there it costs 8,000 rubles. Verdict - our hands are not for boredom.

Sealed the cracks and filled in the mold. After removing the lid, the film did not allow the epoxy to stick to the lid:

Due to the fluidity of the resin, it filled all the cavities, creating an analogue of the native edging, into which the lid is inserted:

And then it started: I apply a glass fiber putty, skin, apply again, skin again. Fucked up displaying the form! As a result, erasing his fingers along the phalanx, brought it out.

Here is such a miracle

Then, again sanding, putty with finishing putty, again sanding and again putty and sanding in water. When a mountain of used skin began to block the view from the window, I decided to stop.
I went up the stairs and primed, to the delight of my neighbors, the body of my mirror!
Together with him, I also primed a new cover:

This was followed by drying, grinding and painting of the elements. After assembly, the mirror looked like this:

Another perspective:

Satisfied with myself and a little fucking from the smell of paint, I went to drink beer with my friends!
In the morning, the mirror, from my hungover hand, took its rightful place on the car:

I drove to work and figured out the budget: paint + primer 800 rubles. Epoxy 130 rubles. I had the skin, putty, varnish and spatulas too. The mirror cover hit my pocket for another 1,500 rubles. In total, the repair cost me 2,450 rubles including VAT and sales tax.
8000 rubles for a BEUShnoe mirror, which, by the way, most likely also needs to be painted, minus 2430, it turns out 5570 rubles of net savings!
I was pleased and drove to work hard with a pleasant feeling of victory! Victories over cattle, victories over Chinese goods that have swept our insatiable and unsophisticated market, victory over ourselves, in the end.
In honor of this, with the money saved, the same evening I fucked up shockingly and went to break mirrors on cars! We must support the new generation!

In general, the story is old… I inherited from the old owner a broken side mirror case.
For a long time my hands were itching, but everything was somehow not very good over time.
Here on the weekend I sorted out the STE case and let's drag it up.
I plowed the entire Internet, but I never found a suitable option for myself. I decided to do it my own way:
And so the old Soviet string for curtains, drill 1 (one), a piece of fiberglass, epoxy and mega super glue (ala moment) was taken from the mezzanine.

drilled around the perimeter with a single drill (1.3 cm deep)

painstaking work - not for the faint of heart It turned out super, not a single miss through the body.

By adjusting each element along the length and measuring along the outline of the body, a frame was built that absolutely did not require gluing, the wire was literally inserted with pliers, there is no doubt about the strength of the structure.
I poured glass cloth on the weekend with epoxy resin (to create a base) today for sanding and I plan to apply a primer - BUMPER FIX (price 150 rubles).

The question of how primitive or boring it is is, of course, interesting.
The financial component turned out to be a priority for me.
The case is not sold separately, but as a rule with a fastening element and other priblud, in the price range of 2800 rupees.
During the showdown, the plot scenario is the same, but slightly less expensive from 2000 rupees.
But in either case it will have to be painted.
The probability of finding a corpus with a hit in color is sooooo small.

As a result, buy a mirror for 3 rubles + painting from 1.5 thousand = 4.5
4500 for a shard - I'm not ready to pay.

and so there is little to do - to prime and paint.

Almost every car owner at least once in his life faced breakdowns of side rear-view mirrors. This is a fairly common problem, because this part of the car is quite vulnerable due to its location on the body, it is easy to touch it when parking or driving on narrow roads. Of course, such a device can be replaced, but here you will find not very good news - for modern cars it is quite expensive to buy a new rear-view mirror, and it is very difficult to find a suitable one for those models that are no longer produced. We therefore recommend that you carry out repairs.

So, why is it better to repair a broken side mirror instead of buying a new one:

Side mirror mounting diagram

1. Genuine parts are very expensive. Of course, if your car is a product of the domestic auto industry, then there is no need to worry, but the owners of foreign cars will have a little shock. In addition, mirrors are often sold in two, that is, the amount will also double.
2. If your car was produced abroad or is simply considered a rare model, then you can wait for the delivery of a new side mirror for months. The fact is that these parts are not the most popular, therefore they are usually sold by order.
3. If you decide to buy a new part, then you will need to spend a lot of time on this. First, you go shopping in search of a mirror, then you need to contact a service station for a replacement. To this may be added the selection of a suitable tone of paint, the search for a place where it will be painted correctly for you.

There are also breakdowns that occur inside the mechanism of the mirror itself, which is why it may not fold or be adjusted. Repair of such breakdowns can be done on your own, for which you need to remove it from the car and follow the following instructions:

• To remove the rear side view device from the door, you must carefully snap off or unscrew the triangle-shaped headset from the back of the door. Usually it is kept on small bolts, in new cars on one or two latches.
• Next, you need to unscrew the bolts that fix the connector for connecting the side mirror.
• Disconnect the contacts that connected the mirror engine to the car's on-board system and carefully remove the block.
• Wash the removed part and wipe dry.

Rinse and dry all parts. It is quite natural that a lot of dirt and dust collected on them during the ride. Next, you have to check all connections by dialing and repair the damage. The contacts could burn out, it often also happens that during the movement of the planes or their adoption of the final position (folded or unfolded), the contacts moved away from each other, and the reverse movement could no longer be performed. Pay attention to fuses, since there are usually two of them in such devices, each is responsible for a specific action.

Repair of the motor of the side mirrors is carried out according to the nature of the breakdown, but usually it is limited to soldering or replacing the fuses. Next, it is important to assemble the block:

1. Install the working engine in the block and fix it with bolts.
2. Next, fix the mechanism for the movement of the plane of the mirrors.

If the heating was not previously installed, then it is at this stage that it can be installed.Please note that if installing heating, be sure to use silicone sealant for fixing, which is more resistant to high temperatures and will not melt from heat.

1. Cover everything with a plastic plate, tighten the central bolt.
2. Glue a mirror sheet onto the sealant.

After completing the repair, we return to the iron horse and return to the place, the repaired side rear-view mirror. Do not forget to check the performance of the part during the assembly process, also check this moment after installing the mirrors on the car.

Almost any modern vehicle has basic comfort features that make it easy for the driver to drive the vehicle. In the event of a malfunction, including the failure of the electric drive of the side mirrors, it is, of course, better to show the car under warranty to the specialists faster. If the car has already "left" its warranty period, you can try to cope with the problem yourself.

This article was originally taken from vento-club.com

In different planes, the side mirrors are adjusted by two small DC electric motors using a worm wheel and set screws. Usually, the control buttons for the electric drive are located in cars on the driver's doors. But, depending on the car model, there may be other variations.

Damage to the electric drive of side mirrors can be electrical and mechanical.

You need to start diagnosing a malfunction by checking for electrical faults. First of all, you need to turn on the ignition, but do not start the car, then lower the glass, press the buttons for adjusting the position of the mirrors. If you do not hear the characteristic hum of the electric motor under the casing, then there is a problem in the drive electrical circuit. The first thing that needs to be done is to check the fuse, the purpose and location of which is always indicated in the manual for each car. If this is the case, i.e. it has burned out, it is necessary to replace it with a new one of the appropriate rating, after which it is imperative to check the condition of the connectors in the device, make sure that power is supplied to the electric motors and the control panel. A multimeter (as a last resort, a test lamp) will help to do this.

After making sure that the electrical networks are in good working order, it is necessary to diagnose mechanical damage. First, it is recommended to make sure that they are securely attached to the elements fixing on the drive mechanism. At the same time, it is worth checking the integrity of the plastic parts and all the latches, which, after the mirror element is removed, become accessible.

A defect in the mechanism is easy to identify when power is applied to it. Eliminate the detected defect, you need to slowly and very carefully. Special care is required for a mirror, which can be easily damaged at the time of dismantling.

The mirror is disassembled without removing it from the car: two latches (red) need to be pushed back with a little effort, then, using a flat screwdriver, slide the guides (marked in yellow). Such actions are carried out from four sides until the mirror "hangs" on the heating wires.

Now you need to remove the decorative cover and unscrew the three screws. After that, very carefully, slightly shaking so that the latch does not break, the mirror is removed.

You can start troubleshooting the problem.

To remove the drive from the housing, it is enough to unscrew three screws.

Next comes the turn of the boot and back cover, which must be removed. Unfasten the connector.

We also remove the white part, relative to which the element holding the mirror rotates.

Now, in order to push out as much as possible, we move the drive to the side (shown by the arrow), connecting it to the connector on the door and again to the body.

One of the reasons may be that part of the groove broke off.

To eliminate such a breakdown, it is enough to use a dropper tube "hardened" from petroleum products (gasoline).

The tube, with the glue previously applied to it, is put on the broken groove and cut in place. For a more reliable connection with the ball joint, blow on the tube with a hairdryer - under the influence of hot air, its upper part will narrow.

Now it remains to collect everything neatly in the reverse order. The drive is running.

It may well be that the worm gear motor itself, which controls the folding of the mirror (similar to those installed in Chinese children's toys), or the board responsible for changing the power off when the load increases at the end of the stroke, has failed.

The mirror may buzz, but not fold, if the gear on the shaft with the worm is worn out. Such a repair of the side mirror with an electric drive can be done independently.

The left and right folding and adjusting mechanisms of the mirrors are exactly the same. They differ only in setting and connection. After the mirror is assembled, but the colored cover has not yet been installed, you need to check the correct control of the mirror: if the mirror is adjusted horizontally when adjusting the vertical position, you need square plugs.

This is how the governing body of the folding mechanism of the left mirror (top) and right (bottom) looks like. Sazu can see the difference in setting: the right mirror is assembled in the “disassembled” position, and the left one is “assembled”.

Before the mirror is removed from the car, it must be set to the “disassembled” position in order to assemble it in the same disassembled position (otherwise, it must be assembled in the “assembled” position).

Disassembly of the left folding mirror mechanism.

It can now be applied to the corresponding part of the body, with which the mirror is attached to the body pillar.

Having turned the mechanism to the “disassembled” position, we assemble it in the reverse order. It is impossible to make a mistake with the angle of rotation, since the mechanism rotates through a certain angle. It just needs to be turned from one extreme position to another.

The rear-view mirror is one of the essential elements of every car. The main function of this part is to ensure safety during the operation of the machine. It is the mirrors that provide the driver with information about what is happening on the road in the sector behind the rear fenders and rear bumper.

The most common reason for replacing rear-view mirrors is the appearance of cracks as a result of impacts. First of all, this concerns the external elements of the view, since it is they who most often interfere with the movement of other road users. In most cases, both external and internal damage to the side mirrors can be avoided by installing a special decorative film. However, this method will not always be able to help out. Especially when it comes to hitting hard. Another reason for replacing outside mirrors is cable deformation. To install new cables, you will have to completely disassemble the part.

Interior mirrors are also damaged. In most cases, breakage is the result of frequent adjustments to the part. At the same time, re-adjusting the element, the driver is not even aware of the damage.

In fact, you need to start repairing the mirror and try to disassemble it even when the part has deviated at least slightly from the previously set position. If this happens, it means that the mounting legs have shifted. They often come off completely and the driver can only notice this by looking closely at the windshield outside the car.