How to replace side mirror retract actuator (at least how I did it) (1 Viewer)

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kcjaz

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Location
Olathe, KS
When I was at LCDC, my passenger side mirror started acting up and would rotate all the way forward when I’d start the truck. I had to have my passenger manually pull the mirror back into place and even then, it wouldn’t really snap or lock into the correct position. When I got home, one day it just magically fixed itself and was fine for a month or so but then one day it happened again. Something inside the retracting actuator failed or wigged out casing this problem. I ordered a preplacement retracting actuator from EB Toyota Parts for about $150 compared to a whole mirror assembly costing about $900. Unfortunately taking these mirrors apart is bit tricky and definitely a PITA. I took it apart and put it back together twice. The first time, I was just trying to see if I could figure out what was wrong thinking that I might be able to see if there was just some slipped gear or indexing device that had slipped or something. What ever was wrong is inside of the actual actuator itself. I took the whole thing apart destroying it in the process and I didn’t see anything wrong with any of the mechanical parts. There is a printed circuit board in the actuator that I just now assume got fried somehow. All I know is that replacing the actuator assembly fixed the problem.

The left and right part numbers are different, and my LC is a 2013. I’m not sure if there is any difference between model years. EB Toyota Parts website is pretty good at figuring out the right part numbers. My kit’s part number (passenger side) was 97946-60J80. The kit comes with whole new retract actuator motor and metal housing plus a new wiring harness and plastic cover plate for the bottom and mounting gasket.

I wanted to document this as I know the mirror issue I had is actually fairly common and this may help someone else with this issue. The hardest part of this is getting the mirror opened up without breaking the plastic retaining clips and replacing the wiring harness.

General tip:
  1. Takes lots of pictures as you disassemble the mirror for reference when you put it back together.
  2. Put the screws you remove into baggies or small dishes with a note as to where they came from or put them back into the holes after you take something apart. I did this over several days and wished I had done a better job of this as I forgot in a few cases what screw went where.

Steps:
  1. Remove inner door panel to access wire harness plug and the 3 mirror mounting bolts. Here is a very good video on how to do this:

mirror 7.jpg


mirror 4.jpg


2. Once you have the mirror off the truck, the next set is to open the mirror up to get to the actuator. The first time I did this, I just carefully pried it apart from the back using a small screw driver. The mirror housing is held together with plastic clips on the inside. I was lucky and didn’t break anything (the first time).

mirror 24.jpg



I then found this video () of a guy disassembling the entire mirror. There is no sound but the video does show the whole process pretty well. After watching the video, it is best to take the mirror glass off first.



mirror 28.jpg


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The mirror has 4 plastic clips. Its scary just prying it up as it sounds like you are breaking something. Mine also had some kind of adhesive (gooey white stuff in photo). This is a 7 year old mirror and the adhesive was still soft. The 4 clips hold it securely and I did not replace the adhesive. It was still pretty sticky when I reassembled the mirror. If you do add more adhesive, do not use any kind of epoxy or you will never get it apart again.
 
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3. Disconnect the 3 wire plugs (4 actual wires) to the mirror defrost heating element. Be sure to note which wire goes to which connector so you remember how to put it back together.

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4. After you get the mirror pulled off you can find the 4 plastic clips that hold the back cover on. I used toothpicks to hold the clips open so I could remove the back cover. This is tricky and there is risk of breaking the plastic clips.

mirror 17.jpg


I broke one of the clips (#$%@!&) but was able to super glue it back on and it held (so far). Note that the mirror position actuator (white thing) can be removed by removing the three screws you can see in the picture. Wires have to be unplugged from the back.

mirror 8.jpg
 
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5. After you get the back cover off, it should look like this:

mirror 36.jpg


6. Unplug the turn signal harness and remove the 3 screws that hold the turn signal light.

7. Next pry off, using a small flat head screw driver or better yet, a plastic trim tool, the bottom cover to access the 3 pivot arm mounting screws. These are Torx head screws. There is also one other small Phillips head screw that will need to be removed.

mirror 38.jpg


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8. The replacement actuator assembly looks like this:
mirror 12.jpg
 
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The actual actuator is the black plastic thing but the kit comes with the metal part too. The kit also comes with a new wiring harness. This is because in order to remove the actuator you have to pull the harness through the hole in the middle of it. To do that, you need to cut the original harness connector off or carefully pull the 19 pins out of it. This is the biggest PITA of the whole thing. I ended up cutting my old connector off because I destroyed several of the wires trying to pull them out of the connector until I figured out how to release the pins from the connector BEFORE pulling the wires.

Old harness connector:

mirror 14.jpg


9. Before you remove the old connector, note which wire goes to what pin location. I took photos and also tagged each wire:

mirror 15.jpg

I called this the “top” of the connector and labeled the left upper pin (pink wire) #1.

mirror 16.jpg

“bottom” of connector

mirror 9.jpg

As I said, I cut mine off the connector, but you can pull the pins out and potentially reuse the old harness. I made a “wire pin map” calling pin #1 the upper left pin location when looking at the connector with the connector locking clip (not the pin lock) up:

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10. To pull the pins out of the connector you must first release the pins by prying the pin clamp open with a small screwdriver:

mirror 21.jpg

Also note the orientation of the pins themselves as they will need to go back in the same way.

mirror 20.jpg


11. Once you get the wire harness connector off, you will be able to pull the harness back up through all of the parts and completely disassemble everything.
mirror 40.jpg

At this point, you may just want to go get the $900 complete mirror...
mirror 10.jpg


You will need to remove and reuse this wire clip:

mirror 19.jpg
 
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12. Replace the actuator assembly and thread the wiring harness back through all of the parts. Wait to connect the harness connector until you have everything all back together. You do not want to reconnect the connector and then find out you missed something and have to take it apart again. Just slowly and methodically install each wire according to the “wire pin map” you made when you took it apart. Make sure the pin retaining clip is open before you push the pins into the hole. You will feel it pop in and it will feel secure even without snapping the retaining clip closed. If you screw one up and put it in the wrong hole, you can gently pull it out again with a needle nose plyers (as long as the pin retaining clip is open).

mirror 22.jpg

mirror 23.jpg


13. After reassembly and pulling the wire harness through, tape up the penetration where the wires come through the hole into the cab of the truck.

Mirror 3.jpg

14. Use the supplied heavy tape to wrap around the last bit of exposed wires near the connector.

mirror 2.jpg


mirror 14.jpg


15. After its all back together, reinstall the mirror on the truck and connect the harness connector and test it out (before you put the door panel back together).
 
Thanks for taking the time to put together this information.
 
Continued:

10. To pull the pins out of the connector you must first release the pins by prying the pin clamp open with a small screwdriver:


Also note the orientation of the pins themselves as they will need to go back in the same way.



11. Once you get the wire harness connector off, you will be able to pull the harness back up through all of the parts and completely disassemble everything.
View attachment 2468886
At this point, you may just want to go get the $900 complete mirror...
View attachment 2468888

I have a 2018 and clipped the mirror the other day on an illegally parked car sticking out in the road. The mirror camera was working until i took the busted clam shell cover off and tried to re-secure the green connector clips. Now no camera workee.


Is it possible to replace just the multi wire male and female clips? I am pretty certain they are the green clips in your pictures. Could it be done w/o cutting the wires? In other words just release them and use new connectors? Mine are busted.


IMG_2100.JPG
 
I have a 2018 and clipped the mirror the other day on an illegally parked car sticking out in the road. The mirror camera was working until i took the busted clam shell cover off and tried to re-secure the green connector clips. Now no camera workee.


Is it possible to replace just the multi wire male and female clips? I am pretty certain they are the green clips in your pictures. Could it be done w/o cutting the wires? In other words just release them and use new connectors? Mine are busted.


View attachment 3230072
In theory, you can “de-pin” any connector. The trick is usually figuring out how to unlock the pins. Even then there is risk of damage to the pins.

If you can get the pins out, yes you can just reinstall them in a new connector. From the picture, your pins may be damaged already. If so, you will need to cut them off and crimp on new ones. This involves finding the correct pins. Toyota doesn’t sell them. What Mr T sells are pig tails with the pin crimped to one end and the other end bare that you butt connect to the OEM wire.

There are several good YouTube videos on de-pinning and re-pinning connectors. Here’s a good one:



There is also a Toyota wire harness repair manual floating around on Mudd and Google.
 
ok. tks. im guessing if i have to clip the wires to re pin/install new connectors, then they will be shorted and not able to connect??

The dealer want 4k for a new mirror install!!
 
Great writeup and tech. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Finding the connector release and sometimes depinning itself can be the tricky bits in my limited experience.

I have a set like this:

1674758088231.png


Mostly useless.

One day I'll buy a decent tool - this one seems to be well liked by some.
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ok. tks. im guessing if i have to clip the wires to re pin/install new connectors, then they will be shorted and not able to connect??

The dealer want 4k for a new mirror install!!
yes, if you cut, they could be too short. it just depends on the specific situation. if your pins are damaged and you have to cut, then just go with the OEM pigtails or make your own pig tails. The OEM pigtails are expensive. IIRC, they are like $10 or $14 each and you have 6 wires. Still, al lot better than $4k. :) You can buy a whole new mirror for around $900 and install your self.
 
The Honeywell connector repair on the video cracked me up. :)
 
yes, if you cut, they could be too short. it just depends on the specific situation. if your pins are damaged and you have to cut, then just go with the OEM pigtails or make your own pig tails. The OEM pigtails are expensive. IIRC, they are like $10 or $14 each and you have 6 wires. Still, al lot better than $4k. :) You can buy a whole new mirror for around $900 and install your self.
Long shot - at parts counter and they need the part number off the down camera green connector. By chance do you have?? Argh….
 
Ok - last try. Can anyone tell me for the green connector, if I remove the male wires, which color goes with what color in the female side?

Sorry - this may go under the stupid question!!

Tks!
 
Long shot - at parts counter and they need the part number off the down camera green connector. By chance do you have?? Argh….
Was it a Toyota dealer part counter? Generally if they can’t find it, it means the part is not sold separately or the person you are talking to isn’t very good.

Part numbers for connectors are a bit hard to find. Several here are pretty good at finding part numbers. I’m told they are in the FSM but my copy doesn’t include them.
 
Ok. Tks. This guy was great. He spent a lot of time looking. Originally told me there is a number on the backside. But nothing. Just something like amp 6 or the like on the side. He pulled electrical wiring stuff up too. But like you said and then him, not sold separately.
 
Ok. Tks. This guy was great. He spent a lot of time looking. Originally told me there is a number on the backside. But nothing. Just something like amp 6 or the like on the side. He pulled electrical wiring stuff up too. But like you said and then him, not sold separately.
I looked through the wiring diagrams too but didn't find this specific plug. Here are some more pics from when I repairs mine that show the plug. Nothing definitive but maybe you can figure it out looking at all the pics and the connector parts you have.

IMG-6543.jpg
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I looked through the wiring diagrams too but didn't find this specific plug. Here are some more pics from when I repairs mine that show the plug. Nothing definitive but maybe you can figure it out looking at all the pics and the connector parts you have.

View attachment 3230621

It’s that green connector.
 

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