Power Folding Side Mirror Problem

[mustu521]

Hi

A couple of days back my power folding mirror on the left side stopped working after i had parked my car on the road. Some moron probably tried to force it open by hand when it was folded in while parked . Now when I hit the switch to fold/unfold i can hear the motor running but mirror does not move. When I give it a slight push it folds/unfolds.

I had seen an old post with a similar problem and some recommendation to a guy in darley road. Don't know if he is still around as the posts were almost 2 years old. I'm comfortable in opening it up and having a look inside, but before i do that I want to get some opinions from fellow members who's tried it before. The car is a Mazda familia BG '91.

[mazdaspeed]

Sorry I don’t have a contact number but you know the place where they sell used books just as you pass St. Joseph college ? Try those places as I did a repair from them

[hasmax]

if u go on searching for retract issue, you will defa get emptied by our ayyalaz in darley road. I know a good place for exactly you problem as I got the same problem twice in my N16. hope you know the colur light at excel world / dialog. turn right from that n then u see AC shop in your left side. Just next to that is the shop im talking about. It is Rxxtxn Motors. There is a guy called Ruwan there. Actually he is the owner.

I got my both retracts repaired 400 each about 3.5 yrs back from him. But when i met him again about 4 months back for same issue, he charged 1100 for one and 800 for other. The differece was that I was calling him ruwan ayya both times while he calling me back as malli and sir respectively. I assumed that this one gonna give me a shot this time when telling sir sir..bla bla..

By the way still he is really cool guy and does the work perfectly. Dont bargain cz u hardly find guy who even say yes to repair the retract. This guy will defa help you out. ( I remember that a guy got 3500 for both retracts when i got them repaired 1st time again from the darley road. COMPARED TO HIM , THIS GUY IS DAMN REASONABLE )

And make sure you fold them whenever you can except at service stations / garages. The assholes there have no sense of retract and move the mirror manually breaking all delicate rims inside. I once taught a good lesson to a service fellow when i found him screwing with my retract.

Hope this guy will help you. let us know about the progress as um planning to meet him soon again as i got a retract issue in my newly bought CE 110. cheers.

[Ripper]

1+ for ruwan at rexxton motors

[mustu521]

@hasmax, yes i know that road along the fire bridage. i'll go check it out. I think paying anything more than 15000 bucks is not worth it as i can get a recon complete mirror for around 2,500 or 3,000. the insides of these motors are very delicate and some of the plastic wheels if grinded are not availalbe to replace.

I know exacly how you feel about the suckers who just try to medal around with the mirrors to open or close them. Some roadside time wasters also screw around when you park in the night. Although they are meant to be open/closed manually, for some reason it messes up the wheels and stuff inside.

Thanks for the info and i'll let you'll know how it goes.

[fonfe]

remove both battery leads from the battery and touch them together for 60 seconds.

this will drain all power from the ecu which will reset it.

I have done this on range rovers and bmws when the mirror have been knocked and do this, the mirrors are out of sync with each other or a few of the teeth have been damged inside the mirror. if one of the teeth has been damaged you will need it repaired, but if its just out of sync then you can just reset it by touching the battery terminals.

[Ripper]

remove both battery leads from the battery and touch them together for 60 seconds.

this will drain all power from the ecu which will reset it.

I have done this on range rovers and bmws when the mirror have been knocked and do this, the mirrors are out of sync with each other or a few of the teeth have been damged inside the mirror. if one of the teeth has been damaged you will need it repaired, but if its just out of sync then you can just reset it by touching the battery terminals.

errr!! most cars dont have the ECU controlling the mirror retract features.

There is a seperate box that sits under the ECU in some cars and that's it.

No idea if RR's and bimmers have the mirrors wired to the ECU...on most japs. this is not the case

[miniace]

As ripper mentioned take your car to Ruwan of Rexton motors-Next to fire brigade Maradana.Please dont mess with DIY resetting.

MINIACE

[fonfe]

errr!! most cars dont have the ECU controlling the mirror retract features.

There is a seperate box that sits under the ECU in some cars and that's it.

No idea if RR's and bimmers have the mirrors wired to the ECU...on most japs. this is not the case

errrr........most 1990 onwards cars have a minimum of an engine ecm (ecu) and a bcm...aka: body control module. it operates electric windows, sunroof, central locking, power folding mirrors etc it is (its that seperate box your refering too)a mazda may not have this but in light of ford and mazda being close with sharing engines, electrics and some bodies and that most 1990/91 onwards fords have bcms its an educated guess would be that it probably also have one. a hard reset by touching two dissconnected battery terminals will never cause a car problems so for the sake of a 2min try out theres not much to lose by trying a hard reset before going and spending any money.

[Ripper]

errrr........most 1990 onwards cars have a minimum of an engine ecm (ecu) and a bcm...aka: body control module. it operates electric windows, sunroof, central locking, power folding mirrors etc it is (its that seperate box your refering too)a mazda may not have this but in light of ford and mazda being close with sharing engines, electrics and some bodies and that most 1990/91 onwards fords have bcms its an educated guess would be that it probably also have one. a hard reset by touching two dissconnected battery terminals will never cause a car problems so for the sake of a 2min try out theres not much to lose by trying a hard reset before going and spending any money.

well machnag...i had a 93 toyota sprinter sometime and it had this retract mirror issue. I had a haynes manual for the the us spec can and unfortunately for me....the us spec hasn't had mirror retract. I tired my best to fix it on my own but failed to understand which unit controlled mirrors. Didn't want to pull the dash out to trace the wires so took it to this ruwan chap in darley road.

He only showed me this unit that sat right under the ECM... just a small board with some chips and stuff and that unit only controlled the mirrors. In my case, simple the wire plug that went into the unit had come off. So just plugging it back in sorted the issue.

After this incident i check up on the whole thing and realized that it was this seperate unit that controlled these sorta stuff and not the ECU/ECM itself. I did not know it was called the BCM... Possibly this is why cars like bimmers have multiple control boxes.

[Lalinda]

I'm having the same problem in my Honda Fit on the passenger side mirror. The most annoying thing is that when ever the engine is on, there is a motor running noise coming from that mirror and can be heard from inside the car. Also the mirror can now be folded easily. The mirror adjustments work fine and only the folding function fails.

I have also read about a common issue with a shut off device failing which stops the retract function in honda cars. Since I can hear the motor running and the fact that I can move the mirror with very little force I guess it can't be that and has to be with some plastic part so Stafford might not be the place for this.

Therefore planning to visit Rexton motors tomorrow. But any other options if Ruwan is not there? Or any other recommendation?

Edited June 12, 2014 by Lalinda

[Komisiripala]

i have the exact same problem in my honda. earlier both retractors weren't working. then i replaced the control switch, and lo and behold, passenger side retracts after one or two failed attempts, and the drivers' motor runs freely. i did som ereading on this and (at least for honda) it runs on plastic cogs, which care likely to break if osmeone forces the mirror open etc. you need those plstic cogs replaced (as do i. haven't got aroundto it yet)

i know a guy in bellanwila, auto electrician called malinga. PM me for contact details. he's really good at this sort of thing, but not cheap. he recently fixed my antenna (not fully retracting/extending) now it runs like clockwork, but 1200/- for a smiliar repair. highly recomemnded tho. the workshop is heaven. can't beleive he's a sri lankan mechanic....

[AmilaC]

On 6/12/2014 at 9:10 AM, Komisiripala said:

i have the exact same problem in my honda. earlier both retractors weren't working. then i replaced the control switch, and lo and behold, passenger side retracts after one or two failed attempts, and the drivers' motor runs freely. i did som ereading on this and (at least for honda) it runs on plastic cogs, which care likely to break if osmeone forces the mirror open etc. you need those plstic cogs replaced (as do i. haven't got aroundto it yet)

i know a guy in bellanwila, auto electrician called malinga. PM me for contact details. he's really good at this sort of thing, but not cheap. he recently fixed my antenna (not fully retracting/extending) now it runs like clockwork, but 1200/- for a smiliar repair. highly recomemnded tho. the workshop is heaven. can't beleive he's a sri lankan mechanic....

let me know the location please ?

[Raveen Peiris]

On 6/12/2014 at 9:10 AM, Komisiripala said:

i have the exact same problem in my honda. earlier both retractors weren't working. then i replaced the control switch, and lo and behold, passenger side retracts after one or two failed attempts, and the drivers' motor runs freely. i did som ereading on this and (at least for honda) it runs on plastic cogs, which care likely to break if osmeone forces the mirror open etc. you need those plstic cogs replaced (as do i. haven't got aroundto it yet)

i know a guy in bellanwila, auto electrician called malinga. PM me for contact details. he's really good at this sort of thing, but not cheap. he recently fixed my antenna (not fully retracting/extending) now it runs like clockwork, but 1200/- for a smiliar repair. highly recomemnded tho. the workshop is heaven. can't beleive he's a sri lankan mechanic....

Please send me his contact information