Power Folding Mirror Dead? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

TeCKis300

GOLD Star
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Threads
162
Messages
9,589
Location
San Diego
A kink in the 200-series armor? Something not working? Surely out of character.

Anyone have any hints to help troubleshoot my non-working passenger power folding rear view mirror? It auto-folded in fine last night. Driving to work this morning trying to make a lane change, was surprised to see the mirror still in the folded position. Was able to push it out manually, but it's flippy floppy and not engaged in the outward position positively.

No amount of fiddling with the power fold button will get it to move. The driver side mirror obeys as usual.

Will do the usual electrical checks including fuse, continuity, power this weekend. It's been raining a lot, wonder if water has anything to do with this.

May just have to drive my other perfectly working German car (knock on wood).

EDIT: Repair documented in post #7 below
 
Last edited:
The basic debugging process you described is the right place to start. I don't know if this is applicable to the LX, but here's the process for testing the mirror motor on the LC.

1984480
 
Not the first time I’ve seen this on here, though I don’t remember how far back to help you find other posts.
 
I had that problem and tried to manually fix but didn't work and was tired messing with it. The next day it corrected itself after I pushed button to fold out mirrors and was able to pop it back in manually. I stopped using that function after I got it fixed.
 
I searched and there were a few offhand issues without any real information. At least 1 person just replaced the whole side mirror assembly.

Thanks for that debug guide @indycole !

@99Cruiser , funny that you mentioned your experience. Went out at lunch, after the weather had dried up, and it's magically working again. Seems to me there was some water ingress in some connector or limit switch.
 
My mirror issue cropped up again after a couple months. This time, there's been no rain in sight. Always up for a good fight, I dug in. Symptoms were the mirror wouldn't fold closed or open. It would momentarily twitch with some minor motor noise, but just as quickly stop.

@indycole repair manual is a good check. Everything led to this:
1592173134563.png


Bottom line up front - $750 dollar part save by performing this is sub-component level repair. Resolution is to replace or repair the motor (part number FC-140SA). There are no limit switches that govern the folding function. Just motor. In normal operation, electronics detect increased current when the motor stalls once it hits the folding limits. Problem was wear residue from the carbon brushes of the motor shorting the brushes across the commutator. Short falsely signaled completion of fold with increased current, and the electronics stopped the party.


Leaving the mirror assembly on the door. Note this is on my '09 LX. Later LX and LCs may have differences.

1) Remove mirror glass. It's snapped on and prying gently away on the lower half of the glass will have it pop out. Remove two wires: dimmer plug, heater blades
2) Remove 4 philips screws holding the housing onto the metal chassis
3) Remove forward half of body colored housing by unclipping tabs exposed behind mirror. There's a sneaky one hiding very deep on bottom.
4) Open motor housing in place . You'll need to fight with this a bit as there's 4 very small clips along the base, and sealant holding the assembly together. Goal is to pry upwards on the housing cover while unclipping tabs. There's a single pry point molded in to start at. Perseverance and persistence without overly damaging the cover is the name of the game.
5) Extract motor. Once cover is off, there's enough play in everything to pull out the motor. There's a motor controller board that's pressure fit.
6) Replace or refurb motor. Part number FC-140SA
7) Refurb motor by prying away two tabs of the metal case and gently removing the plastic back half. Note carbon buildup (my pic is after cleaning) that was the issue with mine Use electronics cleaner and the buildup will melt away. Use a clean lint free cleaning cloth and gently touch up commutator of buildup.
8) Reinstall and happy folding!

1592188979782.png



1592174598878.png


1592174625233.png
 
Last edited:
For future reference, looks like there's potentially a retractor motor assembly that can be ordered. Choose your poison: free fix, $10 replacement motor, $230 retractor assembly, or $750 side mirror assembly fix.

Or just leave it be. I find the power folding function vital for my uses including off-road or with towing mirrors mounted. Can't count how many times I've stumbled into the tow mirrors that stick 18" out from the vehicle.

8794660B80RETRACTOR, OUTER MIRROR, RH09.2007 - 01.2012
8794660J00RETRACTOR, OUTER MIRROR, RH01.2012 - 08.2015
8796660B80RETRACTOR, OUTER MIRROR, LH09.2007 - 01.2012
8796660J00RETRACTOR, OUTER MIRROR, LH01.2012 - 08.2015
1592188309816.png
 
My LX 2010 driver side mirror stopped folding and I tried to repair it the same way. It did not help. I tried to refurb the motor. It seems to run ok when it's outside its housing. I checked the bottom bolts as well, they seem to be ok too. I guess my next step is to replace the retracting mechanism completely. Some pics from my attempt:
20200726_194459.jpg
20200726_194450_HDR.jpg
20200726_182557.jpg


20200726_194533_HDR.jpg
 
Those look like the same motors I replaced in my wife's SC430 mirrors.
 
Sorry to hear that didn't work for you.

Looks like quite a bit of carbon brush residue in the motor end cap. Was that pre-cleaning?

After re-furb, does the mirror twitch with motor function at all? And abruptly stop? If so, the controller is still detecting some sort of motor stall or motor short. Perhaps try to source a new motor?
 
Sorry to hear that didn't work for you.

Looks like quite a bit of carbon brush residue in the motor end cap. Was that pre-cleaning?

After re-furb, does the mirror twitch with motor function at all? And abruptly stop? If so, the controller is still detecting some sort of motor stall or motor short. Perhaps try to source a new motor?

It was a photo mid-cleaning. I did the second round using CRC QD Electronics Cleaner. Amazingly, it helped. It's working now. I hope it will last a while. I'd replace the motor, it's only $5, but it ships from China. I may order it now in case if it breaks again later. Thanks for posting this solution!
 
I need to split the motor to give it a cleaning as I am getting a "tick" sound that is very faint from the passenger side. However, I think I want to order the motor anyway, are you see these anywhere other than Alibaba?
 
I need to split the motor to give it a cleaning as I am getting a "tick" sound that is very faint from the passenger side. However, I think I want to order the motor anyway, are you see these anywhere other than Alibaba?

I couldn't find anywhere other than China.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom