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The drivers side outside mirror started vibrating. I thought the mechanical drive was broken. A few days later the whole mirror falls off! Only the defroster wires kept it from hitting the ground.
It looks like it was stuck on with some kind of RTV.
Any ideas what to put it back with? I've seen RTV eat the silver off the back of mirrors before so I don't want to make a mess.
if I'm reading this right -- the mirror is held on with two nuts through a steel sub-structure within the door. not to be a bearer of bad news, but the steel sub-structure may have rusted through. IF that's the case, and worse case, a door replacement is in order. best case, all you need to do is replace the hardware. the "looks like it was stuck on with some kind of RTV" doesn't sound good. when I redid the door panels on my 85, my drivers side door had significant rust, but I 'm fairly confident I got to it in time for repair. my RH or passenger side door did not have this rust issue.
you will have to pull the door panel for inspection and repair. note the two indents in the structure- this is where the mirror mounts. good luck - hopefully it's an easy fix -
here's a link to my door repair/upgrade. there might be some useful info.
As mentioned, the mirrors are bolted to the doors.
Hopefully, the nuts just came off.
My drivers side mirror was lose, and I was able to get in there and tighten the nuts down again.
You will have to remove the inner door panel to get to them.
The mirror (glass) & plate is attached to the motor drive with a trunnion at it's center point and two studs that control vertical and horizontal adjustment. All of these on yours I'd say have failed if the mirror is hanging and a "black hard plastic" backing plate is still attached. You haven't mentioned the year so it's difficult to comment further. A snapshot would likely clarify your situation but I doubt that the mirror as an assembly has fallen off.
It's also possible that the mirror glass itself has fallen loose from the backing plate and could be reattached with an adhesive. This is maybe the more likely situation.
I just re-read the OP's original post - should have read it more carefully in the first place - did the whole mirror assembly fall off, or just the glass mirror part within the door mounted housing-assembly? if the latter is the case, the mirror glass snaps into place with the "tee" or "cross" trunnion between the plastic backing of the mirror glass and the power mirror motor. on my 85, I had to purchased later NOS C4, glass assembly. don't know what the difference was with my 85, but the thing installed without issue. not sure what you have or how you want to make this repair.
I just re-read the OP's original post - should have read it more carefully in the first place - did the whole mirror assembly fall off, or just the glass mirror part within the door mounted housing-assembly?
Yeah, I might be guilty of misunderstanding what happened also.
Thanks for the comments,
Just the mirror glass fell off.
The housings and mechanism are all in place. For now I have it taped on with scotch tape.
I can tell you all this mirror was fastened to the mechanism with something looking like RTV.
If that's now how it came it was done over 20 years ago.
I need an adhesive that won't eat the silver off the back of the mirror.
Thanks for the comments,
Just the mirror glass fell off.
The housings and mechanism are all in place. For now I have it taped on with scotch tape.
I can tell you all this mirror was fastened to the mechanism with something looking like RTV.
If that's now how it came it was done over 20 years ago.
I need an adhesive that won't eat the silver off the back of the mirror.
JS
Clean it up and get some 3m double sided tape. or just buy a new one off ebay for $10 comes with the sticky.
Last edited by antfarmer2; Jul 2, 2015 at 07:36 PM.
Outside Rear View Mirror Fell off!
or just buy a new one off ebay for $10 comes with the sticky.
