So my Wife had to swerve right drastically to avoid some idiot that slid sideways on a snowy street. She avoided being hit by the other car, but in the process our right hand outside mirror smacked a metal post. The mirror folded inward as it should and it did not break the glass or even scratch the housing much. However, the mirror glass now shakes and doesn't seem completely attached to whatever is behind it. The electrics still move the mirror left-right and up-down, but it vibrates and shakes making it useless.

My question is if there is a way to take the mirror apart and possibly fix this problem, do I have to buy an entire mirror assembly, can I buy just certain parts, etc.????

I just don't know much about what the internals of these mirrors are comprised of. I was actually hoping to remove the mirror, dismantle the thing, and possibly J-B Weld the mirror glass back onto whatever it attaches to.


BTW...I also noticed before this happened that neither the left or right mirror's heating elements have been working this winter. I already checked the fuses that are related to heated mirrors, but they check out OK. Is there anything else that stops heated mirrors from heating?

 

the cover on the front of the mirror comes off and you can take a look at what is breakable. I recomment a prying the cover carefully, at the bottom toward the door end of the mirror.

I think there must be a particualr way to pop the cover off without damage. For sure you dont wnat to pry on it where you can see the screwdriver marks after

 

Gotcha...and thanks a million for that. I'll have to take a look inside to see if it's repairable.

That would also mean that I could pick up a used mirror assembly and change-out the painted cover without worrying about matching.

Now, I hope maybe someone can answer the part about the heated mirror no longer heating!

 

once the cover is off, you can put a test light on the heater wires and see if they are powered (with the rear defroster on) the heater wires are the ones that attach directly to the glass

 

Thanks again!! Now I know what to attach my multimeter to.

So if they aren't showing any current, but the fuse is OK, can you think of what might be the cause? I couldn't find any relay that seems to be associated with the mirror heating element in the Owner's Manual. I guess the two elements could go bad, but I'd be a bit surprised if they BOTH stopped working at the same time.

 

The JTIS shows how to remove the glass and the cover. Look under Service/ Body and Paint/ Rear View Mirrors

 

F98 is specifically for the door mirror heating - in the central junction fuse box

this fuse box is up under the dash, not the fuse box under the hood. bottom row, second from the right.

 

Now I'm confused!?

The fuse box under the dash on my 2004 goes only as high as F56 and the higher numbered ones are on the top row.

Second from the right on the bottom row is fuse F2.

My Owner's Manual says that F15 (10 AMP) is the only one for heated door mirrors.

 

here is where I got that info.. for an '02 maybe that is why it is different...



and this

 

I took a look at the JTIS about removing the mirror glass and found it to be next to worthless. It has illustrations showing arrows where you're to apply pressure, but you can't tell if it means sideways in inward. It also has procedures to remove the mirror glass and then removing the exterior mirror glass???