up until yesterday both mirrors worked finr today my passenger side one only works in the up and down derection. you can here the motor running for side to side but no movement. can this be repaired or do i need a new mirror?

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technology is great when it works
and one big pain in the ass when it doesnt.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

If you can hear the motor but no movement that isolates the problem to the mirror. The motors rotate a gear that has a screw thread in the center of it, the screw thread has a plastic threaded rod going into it that connects to the mirror at the other end with a ball and socket joint. If the ball pops out of the socket on the back of the mirror or the thread strips then the mirror won't move.

I've only seen the power mirror already disassembled, so I don't know how to take one apart. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

JazzMan

The motors have these threaded rods that actually move the mirror. They have built in clutches that allow the motor to continue running if someone holds the glass and prevents it from moving.

I imagine that the clutches could be stripped and allowing the motor to move and not the glass. Or it could just be jammed. I would try repositioning the glass. It's just a press fit and can be removed in about 5 seconds if you know what you are doing.

You can get a long thin narrow screw driver and pry off the glass by putting it underneath the bracket, which looks like a little "+". If the glass is just jammed in you should be able to reposition it. If the clutches are stripped you are going to need a new motor. Or maybe the threaded rods are stripped and you would need new glass.

In any case you need to take it apart and tell us what you got, and maybe we can help from there. Good luck.

- Jonathan

ok guys how do you get at the gears? take the mirror out.

------------------
technology is great when it works
and one big pain in the ass when it doesnt.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Bump !

I have the exact problem as you, maybe some one has the answer .

87 Gt

I have fixed the mirrors on 3 vehicles so far.

there are two thread type motors in each unit.

there is also a 1" cross bar which holds the mirror to the motor assembly.

if you tilt the mirror all the way to the bottom and then use a plastic fork you will see the cross bar assembly which holds the mirror to the motor. with a plastic knife, pry the cross bar away from the motor assembly, it is held to the motor at two places.

once this is removed slowly pull the mirror away from the powerhead.

there is then 3 screws that hold the powerhead to the mirror housing.

remove the door assembly panel not forgetting that there are two plastic clips on the very top of the door panel.

you then remove the upper rubber cap which is held in by three screws, don;t forget that they have black washers which tend to fall and get lost.

you can now see the 4 wire cord for the power mirrors, carefully pull it out from behind the front window track pry the tab apart with a small flatblade screwdriver and pull the harness apart.

stick your hand in and pull on the rubber gromet which is inside the mirror housing.

you now have the powerhead in your hands.

look to the bottom of the kick panel and under the carpet pull the connector for the mirror out.

attach the power unit at this point to verify that the wiring is not cut inside the door.

in three of the 6 mirrors I fixed the wiring was cut by the window track squeezing the wiring and breaking the actual wiring in the door. to fix the wiring pull out the electrical conduit on the side of the door and carefully pull out the power mirrir wiring, in all my cases the wiring was clearly visible as broken. I spliced in a short piece and retaped in order to avoid shortening the harness which is in the respective door.

If the motor is actually defective and you have confirmed this by checking the passanger side, you can get a new unit from the auto recycler. I noted that the grand am is the same power unit as the fiero, I used a 2003 head unit. remember that these units are exclusive for right and left sides, although the right side will fit the left side and work the controls will be backward, thus up and down will work left and right and so fourth.

If the switch is broken you can carefully take the whole switch apart with a couple of small flat blade screwdrivers.

you will proably need about three of them and the inside washer on the back of the switch is a pressure fit if carefully removed will go back on.

I then used a small tooth brush and wd-40 to clean the contacts of all the corrosion. Once cleaned, rinse of with alcohol or spray with brake wheel cleaner then re-assemble the switch You can use some 5 minute epoxy to seal the unit however I was lucky and did not have to do this.

for the power switched I soaked them with a good lubricant and then blew them off with compressed air.

Once all was verified as working I lubricated the rubber groumet in the mirror and reassembled everything.

I noted to carefully re-tape the wiring housing with extra tape and put it behind the right window channel slide.

while I had the mirrors apart I took the time to repaint them with a trim-brite paint inside and out so you do not see the varations of colors when looking at your mirrors.

I then reassembled the rubber end cap remembering the little black washers then replaced the door panel starting off with the top and working down to the bottom

the tricky parts were replacing the lock slide which I put the bar through the handle screwed it into place then snapped the sliding lock onto it

as for the arm rest you start all the lower screws first then place the upper screw in, tighen the lower screws completely which then places the upper screw in the perfect place to be tightened. the lower screws mount at about a 30 degree angle and as they tighten the align the top screw which goes in straight.

Once the motor and door panel are assembled there is one last thing to do and that is replacing the mirror itself.

I used palmolive soap as a lubricant and placed it on the steel crossbars and the plastic clips on the motor unit. You then push in the screw type objects into the motor and apply pressure from the bottom of center of the mirror and it will clip in place then about 1 inch above this position apply pressure and the top cross bar will clip into place.

I then verified complete motion of the mirror and checked for proper mounting of the glass by banging on the housing, if the mirror is not clicked into place when you band the mirror housing with your palm you will hear a rattliung sound.

It sounds more complicated then it really is.

I purchased several motor units and ended giving them all away as I fixed my broken wiring and switch by repairing them. the hardest problem is finding mint glass everything else was easy.

tim

quote Originally posted by tharvey: I have fixed the mirrors on 3 vehicles so far. there are two thread type motors in each unit. there is also a 1" cross bar which holds the mirror to the motor assembly. if you tilt the mirror all the way to the bottom and then use a plastic fork you will see the cross bar assembly which holds the mirror to the motor. with a plastic knife, pry the cross bar away from the motor assembly, it is held to the motor at two places. once this is removed slowly pull the mirror away from the powerhead. there is then 3 screws that hold the powerhead to the mirror housing. remove the door assembly panel not forgetting that there are two plastic clips on the very top of the door panel. you then remove the upper rubber cap which is held in by three screws, don;t forget that they have black washers which tend to fall and get lost. you can now see the 4 wire cord for the power mirrors, carefully pull it out from behind the front window track pry the tab apart with a small flatblade screwdriver and pull the harness apart. stick your hand in and pull on the rubber gromet which is inside the mirror housing. you now have the powerhead in your hands. look to the bottom of the kick panel and under the carpet pull the connector for the mirror out. attach the power unit at this point to verify that the wiring is not cut inside the door. in three of the 6 mirrors I fixed the wiring was cut by the window track squeezing the wiring and breaking the actual wiring in the door. to fix the wiring pull out the electrical conduit on the side of the door and carefully pull out the power mirrir wiring, in all my cases the wiring was clearly visible as broken. I spliced in a short piece and retaped in order to avoid shortening the harness which is in the respective door. If the motor is actually defective and you have confirmed this by checking the passanger side, you can get a new unit from the auto recycler. I noted that the grand am is the same power unit as the fiero, I used a 2003 head unit. remember that these units are exclusive for right and left sides, although the right side will fit the left side and work the controls will be backward, thus up and down will work left and right and so fourth. If the switch is broken you can carefully take the whole switch apart with a couple of small flat blade screwdrivers. tim

the wires are not cut the motor is running and moving when i push up and down, and the motor is running when i push side to side but all i here is a clicking noise no movement except for a vibration.

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technology is great when it works
and one big pain in the ass when it doesnt.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

have you checked to see that the mirror is pushed in properly. the metal 1" cross bars does two things. first it holds the mirror to the housing and secondally it allows the mirror to pivot side to side and up and down.

the two motors then push or pull the mirror side to side and up and down.

If you hear the mirror moving side to side and up and down with absolutely no problems then I would remove the glass as described andcheck the threaded bolts that are attached to the back of the glass.

It is quite possible that these bolts have seperated from the glass bracket

the end that attaches to the glass is a ball type fitting with two pins sticking out, you will see your problem immediately if you carefully remove the glass, don't forget the cross bar must be carefully removed first, as the bolt will remain with the motor and not the glass.

If this is the case then simply lubricate the screws pull the bolt out dry it off and reattach it to the mirror housing it should snap into place

once you have attached both or one of the bolts to the rear of the glass housing make sure the cross bar is also attached to the rear of the glass a small amount of palmolive soap to the motor housing where the cross bars will attach then align the bolts into the motor push in all the way then push the bottom cross bar to the motor then the top in, you will hear a click when you do this.

if the threaded bolt has disconnected itself from the back of the mirror glass there is no other way to do this operation other then removing the glass from the mirror. unlike the cross hair assembly which if not installed properly can be immediately fixed the threaded bolts.studs must be attached physically from the rear of the glass itself.

hope this helps

tim