My drivers side mirror is loose. I can hear the electric motor humming away, but the back of the mirror doesn't seem to be connected to anything. These units do not appear to have any access to the inside. Any help or advise?

 

There are 3 plastic ball and socket connections on the back of the mirror. 2 go to the 2 motors and one is a pivot in the middle. Sounds like one or both of the motors have come disconnected.

To fix, you can pull on the mirror and it will pop off. The hard part is getting it back on all 3 connections because when you apply the pressure to put it back on, the motors turn and it won't work. So I think the best way would be to remove the mirror from the plastic holder, attach it to the motors, then re-attach the mirror.
The mirror is stuck on to its holder with a very hard (after all the years) double sided tape. You can get a thin metal object like a spatula and try to carefully cut at the tape. You can't pry it or it will break. You will most likely break it, so just save yourself the frustration just break it off and ordering a new one. They're cheap.

I'm out of town right now, but I have one at home that is apart. I can some pictures when I get back.

Good luck.

 

I just messed with this very thing when I replaced a mirror body but wanted to keep the pristine glass I already had.

Derek's description of the innards of the mirror assembly is right on. Two ***** are at the ends of little arms pushed and pulled by a pair of motors to operate the mirror's left/right and up/down functions; the third ball is a fixed central pivot. Unless all three ***** are snapped into their sockets, the glass feels loose and at least one of the directions won't work, as you've probably discovered.

It's tedious and frustrating to get all the ***** snapped into their sockets, because whenever you put pressure on one of the motor arms, its motor simply gives and lets the arm retract into the mirror without the ball snapping into place.

After trying to snap all the ***** into place for a patience-robbing eternity, I finally figured out that if you push the bottom one on first, at an angle so the glass is "looking" at the ground, the little motor arm doesn't retract as easily. Then the other ball is much easier to line up, and the middle fixed ball is easiest of all.

Give it a few tries; it can be done! Good luck.

Andrew.

 

the mirror will crack when you try to unstick it from the double sided tape, use a 3" thin spatula or putty knife that will support the entire rear of the mirror starting from the left side, then slowly push it under the mirror until it separates. use a hair dryer to heat the tape as you go.

 

Thanks all: Dereks approach is spot on. Simply give the glass mirror (not the "outside frame) a gentle tug holding all 4 edges with your fingers. It will snap out of its three sockets that are molded into the rear of the glass mirror. I added a small amount of lithium grease to each socket. All you have to do now is hold the rear of the glass up to the 3 knobs (that snap into the 3 sockets) and align by moving the inside toggle switch till all 3 line up w the correspond sockets. When satisfied that they all line up properly, gently push inward until you hear a satisfying "click" Done.