my drivers side mirror was loose so i tightened it up using the screw on the inside no problem. but i must of did something wrong cause the mirror won't move out away from car. it is stuck faceing in. so i tried forceing outwards and broke the damn glass. moron... so my question is what can i do to get mirror to move outward again. moves up and down but is pushed to far inward won't budge outward. and i suppose i can buy just the glass and not have to replace whole mirror.

 

 

Are you talking about the glass moving inside the housing, or the whole housing will not swivel?
If just the glass will not move, the adjusting motor may be jammed or locked up.
Tightening the mounting screw in the base should not affect the spring loaded top part of the housing. Usually, they fall off instead of just hanging up.

 

do you mean the mirror housing is folded in and won't move out?

or was it just the mirror itself that would not adjust within the housing?

what year is this from, a 99? i have my old heated, non-EC mirrors if you need it.

also, since you've gotta replace the actual mirror anyway, you can always upgrade to signal mirrors.

 

i to have the same problem only with the passenger side , i have sent a pm to et and he is the guru of the vette so when i hear back from him i will let you know.

oak

 

 

the whole houseing is pushed in and seems like it is locked now. won't go out. when i sit in drivers seat all i see is the side of car. mirror will not move out . moves up and down and in but no out. glass is cracked and needs replaced also.

 

you are talking about the mirror not the whole case correct that is what i have also just ordered the glass from gene culley $58.00 + shipping

oak

 

yeah i need the glass also. but whats the sense in getting new glass. if i cant fix the bigger problem. mirror moves up and down but is locked in position moving in and out.it is currently facing in as far as it can go. will not move out. almost had an accident the other day. never knew how much i used the drivers side mirror till i can no longer use it.

 

You have us all confused because you're not answering the question that is being asked. The mirror sits inside the housing. The mirror moves up, down, left and right. The housing (which is the same color of the car) only moves left and right (or in and out as you're describing it). Now the question is, which one is jammed, the mirror or the housing?

 

sorry for the confusion the mirror will not budge moving in and out. moves up and down. there is nothing wrong with the houseing. is there anyway to release the power mirror so you can move it by hand????

 

Great, now we're getting somewhere. JD will probably be able to answer this question as he's dealt with the glass before.

 

i think what has happened is the socket that the mirror clips into has popped out i removed my glass and they will move , so hopefully when i get the glass back into position it will work , i sent a pm to evil-twin and he is the guru on the vettes , but no answer from him yet

oak

 

This is what is behind your driver's mirror. Sounds to me like the problem is with the Motor Pack spindle circled in yellow in the far left. This drive spindle has a small spring that fits around it before it is inserted into the motor and will click if you manually force the mirror left or right. When you use the power mirror adjustment switch to move the mirror left/right, this is the spindle that moves in and out (in your case it may just be "out" and/or jammed). That motor pack may also be dead in that direction and need to be replaced. Your mirror could also be binding on the orange alignment tabs, but less likely. Also could be a bad position sensor (circled in red on the far right) if you have mirror memory feature, but even then you would be able to manually force the mirror to the left (so that is not likely the problem). Only way I can think of to diagnose this is to remove the broken mirror entirely to see what is up with that spindle on the far left. If your mirror were off the main pivot (in green) the mirror would be flopping and most likely fall out on the ground as soon as you shut the door. I am putting my money on the far left spindle as the like source of your problem.

 

so after we get the glass off what should it do , mine seems to rotate when the power switch is activated , and how do i out the glass back in without breaking it .

thanks oak

 

You can't get much more detailed info. than that!

 

First of all, BE VERY CAREFUL removing the broken mirror! The local Dealership broke my Muth passenger side mirror when trying to reinstall it and two mechanics cut their hands on it just handing me the pieces - VERY SHARP!

I have removed the stock mirrors three times from their housings with no problems and I have re-installed the Muth Signal mirrors in their place (again with no breakage). Last month the dealership shattered one of my Muth Signal mirrors trying to reinstall it , but they were able to reinstall the stock mirror (temporarily until I could get a new replacement Signal mirror shipped in). The Dealership refused to attempt a reinstall of a 3rd party Signal mirror and said that it could not be done without breaking the mirror - so I did it myself (as always) for the third time without any problems. Installing a mirror into the housing is not for the weak-of-heart and there is ALWAYS the chance of breakage (I just have not personally experienced it yet). The Muth mirrors are MUCH more susceptible to breakage than the stock mirrors because they have no outer bezel support. The stock mirrors have a full 100% plastic bezel that completely covers the back and sides of the mirrors, so they should be less prone to breakage during re-installation.

First of all MAKE SURE YOU ARE WEARING HEAVY MECHANICS GLOVES before applying any pressure to the mirror - you have to assume it is going to break and with as much pressure as you have to apply - let's just say it would be REALLY BAD!

These detailed instructions on the Muth site will show you the basic installation procedure - See page 5 of this PDF - http://www.kwmuth.com/techsupport/pdfs/21001070.pdf

One thing their instructions do not show is installing the mirror into the housing while on the car. In order to accomplish that you will need to put gloves on both hands and after MAKING SURE THAT ALL DIRECTIONAL DRIVE PEGS ARE ALIGNED AN LUBRICATED, you will need to place the palm of your left hand behind the housing (cupping it) and position the mirror with your right hand, then carefully slide the base of your right palm to the center of the mirror (so that you will only be applying pressure initially to the very center of the mirror), then slowly and forcefully "squeeze" your two hands together until you hear a "pop" - that will let you know when the main pivot has engaged - this will probably take more force than you think. If you hear one or two small pops and you remove pressure and the mirror starts to fall out, then you know that you applied pressure off-center and the small peripheral pegs engaged -if that happens, remove the mirror and start over. If you are applying UNBELIEVABLE pressure and nothing is happening (no pops) then you most likely do not have the alignment pins perfectly aligned, so remove and start over - those little flares on the pegs must be at exactly 90 & 180 degrees first.

Also, I should mention to make sure that your Heated Mirror and/or Auto/Dimming electrical wires are connected to the back of mirror prior to installation.

If your car has the "mirror memory" feature, you will also need to make sure that the "red pegs" in my photo are also fully engaged as they give feedback to the computer on mirror position. One sure way to know if these did not fully engage is when you use the mirror adjustment switch, the mirror will either not move or most likely move in small increments then stop.

Once you are done, if you manually rotate the mirror left-right and up-down and up hear little "pops" the you know the "yellow" circled drive pins are engaged. If you use the electric mirror adjustment switch and the mirror moves "smoothly" in both directions through its full range, then most likely the "red" pins are fully engaged as well.

The "orange" pegs shown in my photo DO NOT ENGAGE, they are merely stabilization notches to keep the mirror aligned and reduce vibration during left-right travel.

Good luck!

 

John, outstanding post!

Very informative and detailed. Thanks for taking the time to share!

 

Nice job, very detailed.. The amount of nuance in your description give people a real feel for the positions and pressures required. Like I told oaks, without having hands on, it is very hard to estimate the correct amount of pressure.
Choreo took most of the estimation out of the repair.
Very impressed
Bill aka ET

 

...and if you get kudos from ET, consider it a major compliment from a man who knows!