Hello good people.

I'm about to embark on my first real little DIY project, namely, fixing the flapping plastic cover for the vanity mirror in the sun visor. I plan to proceed as per Reverend Sam's video instructions, i.e., removing the whole visor assembly and dealing with the repair at the kitchen table.

Collective wisdom would seem to indicate disconnecting the car battery before any task remotely involving electrics. Would that be overkill in this particular case? There is no electrical harness involved as far as I can see.

Thanks for your input.

PS: in anticipation of any witticisms, I do not actually use the mirror, but the flapping cover is right in my line of sight when the visor is "open"

 

If you are unsure then disconnect it. If you do you will need to reset the windows and the radio code and any other memory functions you may have.

 

Wow, talk about a fast response!
I'm comfortable with the window position reset and I even think I have the radio code, uh, somewhere.
Will disconnect. Merci :-)

 

For doing virtually anything on the car, absolute "proper" protocol (at least per the official JTIS instructions) always starts with "disconnect battery". I am surprised that you are not asked to disconnect the battery for even just checking the air in your tires!

I have done a few things on this and other cars where I did NOT bother disconnecting the battery (most recent was replacing one of the instrument cluster bulbs). Maybe I was foolish but did not have any problem by omitting the disconnect. I think if you are reasonably careful you would have nothing to fear.

Doug

 

The vanity lights connect to the main wiring loom under the main interior light panel in the headliner, above the dashboard. If you pop that panel off, you can disconnect the vanity lights without needing to disconnect the battery.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes, Colin

 

Just fyi, where the visor latches in the clip (the opposite side of the hinge) there are the 2 electrical connectors, which are easily shorted with a screw driver when trying to pry the screw cover off. That's where you need to be careful. To positively avoid potential BPM damage, you would be safest to pull the battery. It only takes a minute.

 

The sunvisor mirror light power source is where the sunvisor snaps into place (the clip) closes to the rearview mirror. This link will help you make the repairs to the stays for the mirror flaps. You can if you wish disconnect the battery but once the mirror is repositioned from the clip the power will be out of the picture.

Link JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource

 

Many thanks for all your advice. I'll be disconnecting the battery for this job - I'm sure it won't be the last time and I need to get familiar with the reset procedure in any case.

 

Not a problem! Glad you are thinking in the right direction.

 

Quick comment about Gus's instruction:
Just repaired my passenger side mirror and on my 03 the mirror does have the clip in on the back but it's also held on each side by tabs that fit inside the sun visor. The two back clips did not appear to hold anything. To remove it just flex the sun visor, hold on each end and bend in the middle with the mirror side up. The side tabs will disengage.

Thanks Gus for the instructions

 

Jandreu, nice tip on the flexing.
I'll remember that when I do the passenger side (driver side is done).
My tabs look the same as yours.