I have searched the web site and not found a thread on this so I thought I would start one. If this has been covered before then I apologize.
We know that the side mirrors on the MKIIs will eventually break and new ones are not available. So the question is can these be repaired. I decided to look into it. I got a set from a salvage yard and of course both were not working. You can hear the motors spinning but the mirror was not moving. I popped of the mirror and took a look and this is what I discovered and how I repaired it.
The mirror has two motors and both function in the same manner.
The motor spins a gear and the gear has an adjustment screw that moves in and out through that gear.
The adjustment screw moves the mirror in the needed direction.
I don't know if the adjustment screw just squeezes on to the mirror or is part of the mirror but it won't matter in this repair method. It is hollow so I think it pops on to the small round part of the back of the mirror.
SO the first thing to do is find the correct bolt size and thread to the inside of the gear. It is an 8 x 1.25. The bolt will need to be made of nylon. I could not find any locally so I bought a large bag off the internet. Not knowing the correct length need I purchased bag of bolts 50mm long. This would allow me to cut them to the correct length. I decided to cut the bolt to 25mm thread length.
The next problem was how to be able to push the mirror to the correct position if it ever gets knocked out of alignment (like it does when you clean the mirrors). I looked at what was left of the original adjuster and noticed that the threads on it were very thin and rounded, almost stripped. Being round and stripped allows you to push on the mirror; the threads slip through the gear.
The noise you hear when you push on the mirror is the adjusting bolt slipping through the gear. To get the stripped bolt I just whittled the threads of the new nylon bolt down to the correct size. The threads will have to be very smooth when finished. I had to do the trial and error method on this. I would trim the bolt threads and then see if it would slip through the gear. If it did not more trimming was need, if it did I had to see if I trimmed too much off. If I trimmed too much off then it would just slip in place and not move when the motors tried to adjust it.
The next problem is how to attach it to the mirror. The attachment point on the back of the mirror is not securely attached but is loose, it moves around a little. I am not an engineer but I had to believe it was designed that way for a reason. Whatever I did would need to be the same. Looking at the back of the mirror I decided I need to remove the small rounded attachment point and put the new bolt in there so I cut the original out.
The bolt head had to be trimmed to the correct size. A few cuts with a hacksaw took care of that. Now how to hold them in place.
The easiest way would be to glue them in place but I wanted them to be loose like the originals. I designed a plate that would be glued to the mirror but also with a hole in it to allow the bolt would go through. This allowed for the bolt to move. This would ease the alignment of the bolts with the motors when finally attaching the mirror. I made the first plate out of aluminum but it proved too weak so I used metal flashing. It is easy to cut and bend but strong enough. I use epoxy to hold them in place but being sure not to get any glue on the bolts. I let the glue dry overnight. It may not be pretty but no one will see it once in place.
Now the moment of truth, time to put it back together. This was a simple process but I was thankful I left the bolts loose. When it was time to push the mirror back on having the bolts move a little allowed for easy alignment with the motors.
I firm push to the middle of the mirror with my palm and it was on. I test revealed the mirror moves in all directions. I will have to wait until I put it on the car to see if I cut the bolts to the correct length. I will get back to you after I find out.
One more thing. If you have to pull the mirror back out and you can't pull the mirror out easily then back it out using the motors. Remove more of the threads and try again. Pulling too hard breaks the mirror.
We know that the side mirrors on the MKIIs will eventually break and new ones are not available. So the question is can these be repaired. I decided to look into it. I got a set from a salvage yard and of course both were not working. You can hear the motors spinning but the mirror was not moving. I popped of the mirror and took a look and this is what I discovered and how I repaired it.
The mirror has two motors and both function in the same manner.
The motor spins a gear and the gear has an adjustment screw that moves in and out through that gear.
The adjustment screw moves the mirror in the needed direction.
I don't know if the adjustment screw just squeezes on to the mirror or is part of the mirror but it won't matter in this repair method. It is hollow so I think it pops on to the small round part of the back of the mirror.
SO the first thing to do is find the correct bolt size and thread to the inside of the gear. It is an 8 x 1.25. The bolt will need to be made of nylon. I could not find any locally so I bought a large bag off the internet. Not knowing the correct length need I purchased bag of bolts 50mm long. This would allow me to cut them to the correct length. I decided to cut the bolt to 25mm thread length.
The next problem was how to be able to push the mirror to the correct position if it ever gets knocked out of alignment (like it does when you clean the mirrors). I looked at what was left of the original adjuster and noticed that the threads on it were very thin and rounded, almost stripped. Being round and stripped allows you to push on the mirror; the threads slip through the gear.
The noise you hear when you push on the mirror is the adjusting bolt slipping through the gear. To get the stripped bolt I just whittled the threads of the new nylon bolt down to the correct size. The threads will have to be very smooth when finished. I had to do the trial and error method on this. I would trim the bolt threads and then see if it would slip through the gear. If it did not more trimming was need, if it did I had to see if I trimmed too much off. If I trimmed too much off then it would just slip in place and not move when the motors tried to adjust it.
The next problem is how to attach it to the mirror. The attachment point on the back of the mirror is not securely attached but is loose, it moves around a little. I am not an engineer but I had to believe it was designed that way for a reason. Whatever I did would need to be the same. Looking at the back of the mirror I decided I need to remove the small rounded attachment point and put the new bolt in there so I cut the original out.
The bolt head had to be trimmed to the correct size. A few cuts with a hacksaw took care of that. Now how to hold them in place.
The easiest way would be to glue them in place but I wanted them to be loose like the originals. I designed a plate that would be glued to the mirror but also with a hole in it to allow the bolt would go through. This allowed for the bolt to move. This would ease the alignment of the bolts with the motors when finally attaching the mirror. I made the first plate out of aluminum but it proved too weak so I used metal flashing. It is easy to cut and bend but strong enough. I use epoxy to hold them in place but being sure not to get any glue on the bolts. I let the glue dry overnight. It may not be pretty but no one will see it once in place.
Now the moment of truth, time to put it back together. This was a simple process but I was thankful I left the bolts loose. When it was time to push the mirror back on having the bolts move a little allowed for easy alignment with the motors.
I firm push to the middle of the mirror with my palm and it was on. I test revealed the mirror moves in all directions. I will have to wait until I put it on the car to see if I cut the bolts to the correct length. I will get back to you after I find out.
One more thing. If you have to pull the mirror back out and you can't pull the mirror out easily then back it out using the motors. Remove more of the threads and try again. Pulling too hard breaks the mirror.