Side mirrors not operating laterally (why I wish I had an LC and not LX) (1 Viewer)

[SLC470]

Hey all,
Thanks for the great community here. I have a 2004 LX470. I've not tried to operate the mirrors from their set position in >1 year but now neither side mirror will move laterally (left to right in either the left or right mirror). I was pretty exited when I quickly looked at the online LC100 EWD and it seemed straight forward enough to see where the issue was going to be but thought I should double check my LX specific EWD where to my dismay things became much more complicated. I unfortunately can't even read the operating switch diagram to tell which wires to check during operation and can't read the motor diagram to see which wires to supply 12V to and see if the motors are OK. I assume it's the operating switch but really want to check before ordering the part. Can anyone read this well enough to tell me what to check? The switch in question is on page 343 in the top right and I can't tell which position is which for the operation switch or select switch.

 

[excessive]

its probably not an electrical issue, my bet is the little motors in the mirrors are tired out, or might even just need lubrication

 

[SLC470]

Yeah, using the LC100 EWD that I can read for these mirrors (and is available online FYI) I figured out that in this case "M" is mirror "L" or "R" is left or right and "H" is lateral movement and "V" is vertical movement. So the left lateral movement is "MLH" from the R4 diagram and is wire 9 (green with red stripe). Testing R5 1-Ground I got a good 12V. All MLH/V got the same baseline V with key in "ON" of ~4V and there was a + and - deflection to move the mirror up or down and left or right for all mirror movements. So it's not the switch. Now I need to take the mirrors apart and see if there is a good signal coming out of the mirror ECU. If that's good it's definitely a motor issue.

 

[2K5LC100]

Even easier: Take it apart and swap the panning motor with the tilting motor. Reassemble and if pan works not and not tilt, you have a broken motor. At that point, you can probably combine motors from both sides to make one working assembly, and get a used but complete assembly from eBay for the other side. I messed with the mirrors so much, I can remove and take it all apart and assembly back in about 10 minutes now. Let me know if you need some help with instructions.

 

[SLC470]

@2K5LC100
That would be great. I've never had to mess with the mirror before. I was just searching the forum for a walkthrough but couldn't come up with anything. Do you know of a documentation on how to do the teardown, parts numbers, or location of instructions in the FSM? I really appreciate your help

 

[2K5LC100]

I'll write something up in a little bit. I didn't follow any documentations...just messed with it when I had a '00 LX a few years back.

 

[hoser]

Attached is TSB on LX mirrors that won't return to the proper position. It includes taking apart the door and removing the mirror plate. Testing the vertical vs horizontal motors is good advice.

 

[hoser]

On a related note: I cracked my '98 mirror housing (on a tree) and was able to source an '04 complete mirror on eBay (same color). I threw it on and only the horizontal adjustment worked, not vertical. So I swapped my old mirror plate that had both vertical and horizontal motors. Still no dice. I swapped in my old harness and everything worked fine!

I'll just say it is a significant amount of work to swap the mirror innards. You have to de-pin like a dozen pins on the connector. The 3 mounting screws are difficult to remove even with heat. I had to drill a couple of them out. I suspect 98-02 harness is different than 03-07. There is some circuitry inside the mirror too. I don't know what it does.

 

[TwistedCon]

This is probably not your problem, and you probably already moved them manually, but my car sits for months at a time without being driven so the mirrors never get a chance to move and every time my driver mirror will not move laterally. I move it by hand which made me cringe the first time I did it, but I needed it moved. Now every time without fail the trick works.
My guess is it needs lubrication, but I hate messing with mirrors... My Mercedes years ago was an absolute nightmare.

 

[sammybones]

Some folks covet the power side mirrors and brag about their awesomeness @MongooseGA

 

[hoser]

I certainly like the retracting mirrors. The auto dim feature is nice too.

@TwistedCon @LC CT says the plastic gear inside the mirror can swell over time and can cause binding.

Side mirror left/right up/down adjustment fix

Hey all, so my mirrors were not working with the left right adjustment. Up down worked ok but definitely needed some attention. Not sure if this has been covered on here already but I fixed my issue today and thought someone could use the tips of they have the same problems. 04 LX, power...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[MongooseGA]

Some folks covet the power side mirrors and brag about their awesomeness @MongooseGA

True story. I have no idea how Toyota owners make room for a tree about to hit their passenger side mirror. Savages..

 

[2K5LC100]

As promised, better late than never.

Push mirror to tilt all the way up.

While most guides tell you to yank quickly and hard at the bottom edge, I find this method a little too rough. Take a flat head screwdriver (I used a trim clip removal tool) and reach in the bottom and gently pry to take off. Took a picture of the mirror off so you can see where to pry.

Then, tilt the mirror back all the way down with the glass loose so you can just slide the mirror down and off, since the top hooks point up. Remove green clip with fingernail or your tool.

Remove the 3 screws holding motor unit to the bracket behind.

 

[2K5LC100]

Motor assembly/unit comes out and remove the 2 flat tab connectors behind it, noting where the black connector goes and the gray one.

Unscrew 4 screws holding the behind bracket to mirror housing, but screw it back in just about one turn so the screws stay in... Fewer screws to lose. Ask me how I know.

Take your flat head screwdriver and depress the plastic tabs holding the connector with the wires so it comes loose. Unhook it and wiggle it out of the back of the loosened bracket.

 

[2K5LC100]

Remove this screw...be careful not to lose anything as there are many little parts.

Pull it apart. Careful these 2 plastic tubes with springs.

Gently pry (I used fingernails) at these 2 tabs and open the assembly.

Motors are exposed.

Assembly is in reverse. Only to note that the 2 plastic tubes are not perfectly round...and you need to turn them like a key until they fit before you can snap the 2 pieces of plastic back together. That can be a little pita since the springs make them bounce around...easier if you have 3-4 hands. Also, the last step to snap the mirror back into the mirror housing, I would hook (slide up) the top of the mirror, and then push the bottom all the way in. Hold the mirror against the housing with one hand...and using your free hand, kind of karate chop (or palm?) the holding hand. That works for me snapping in the mirror every time.

 

[SLC470]

Hey all, finally got time to work on this. @2K5LC100 Has taken a ton of his own time and made an amazing contribution to this forum by posting a walk-though I've not seen on the site before. If anyone lives in his area we owe the man a beer! I did got recovery of my right mirror horizontal motion after lubricating as above but the left mirror only got partial recovery of function. None-the-less I'll count this as a success and I appreciate everyone's time and help here!

 

[Grumpy Grumperson]

I have this same issue. Has anyone replaced the motor and are they possible the same used on the doors?

I have some coming for the door actuator and would rather do this all at once on the passenger in case my motor is dead. My apologies if I missed this on another thread.

 

[Grumpy Grumperson]

I went ahead and took my mirror apart. Big thanks to @2K5LC100 for the detailed write up and pics. One of the plastic tubes that houses the spring was stuck and once I got it out I noticed the metal retaining clip was broken at the tip.

I tried to get it to work but ended up trying it without the retaining clip and just using a pick to hold it in place when I put the case back together. This didn't fix anything so I swapped the motors. It worked on the other axis so I'm sure I just need a replacement. This was the info on the motor.

FK-130RD
VD162Z02

I haven't found this exact one for sale yet but wanted to toss it out the to the superior searchers on this forum.

 

[Grumpy Grumperson]

I gave up finding the DC motor and ordered the entire motor assembly from Impex. It ended up being about $80 shipped and took about 2 weeks. Here's the part number for the right side 03 LX. 87908-60841.