kcjaz
SILVER Star
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:
Steps:
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).
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.
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.
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:
- Takes lots of pictures as you disassemble the mirror for reference when you put it back together.
- 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:
- 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:
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).
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.
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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