You had plenty of clearance yesterday morning. But as you
drank your coffee and backed out this morning, the garage
door opening mysteriously closed in on your car and
ripped off the side view mirror. Even if your insurance will cover it,
this $325 body shop repair is most likely less than your deductible.
In other words, it’s coming out of your pocket. The good news is
that you can replace the mirror yourself for about $80!
Order a replacement mirror online
Start your repair job by searching the Internet for an aftermarket
mirror. We found our mirror at www.carmirror.com, which
is just one of many Internet sources. We paid $37.26 plus shipping—
a far cry from the $175 the dealer wanted. Because
replacement body parts have to be painted to match your car, we
visited www.duplicolor.com to help us locate the factory paint
color code.With this info in hand, we visited an auto parts store
and purchased cans of aerosol touch-up paint and primer. The
primer and paint cost about $11.
Painting the mirror was easy. We simply masked off
the glass and followed the
spraying instructions on
the paint cans. But
if you’re not
up to painting
it yourself, take
it to a body
shop, which
should charge
about $75.
Remove the cover and door panels
Our power mirror repair required the removal of the door trim
panel to access the mirror’s electrical connector. This may seem
scary at first, but with the right tools (available at auto parts
stores), it’s simple. If your car has a manual mirror, you can
probably skip that step and simply pop off the mirror trim panel
and remove the three retaining screws (Photos 1 and 4).
Removing the door trim panel isn’t hard. It’s designed to be
removed for all types of servicing, such as repairing door handles
and window mechanisms. The most challenging part is finding
all the hidden fasteners. The trick to removing the trim panel is
to know that trim panel screws are usually hidden behind decorative
vanity caps (DVCs) or in obscure recesses. Start your
search with the armrest. Look for screws in the finger pull area,
under the armrest or behind speaker grilles. If you see a round
cover that serves no visible purpose, chances are it’s a DVC. Using a “hooked pick” (available at hardware stores; Photo 2), pry off the DVC and you’ll
most likely find a hidden screw. We found four hidden screws in our vehicle.
After you remove all the screws, use the trim panel removal tool shown in Figure A
to remove the Christmas tree–shaped fasteners from the door. There is no universal
pattern to these fasteners, so you’ll have to feel around to find them by slowly prying
around the edge of the trim panel. As you locate each fastener, insert the removal tool
behind it and pop it out of its hole. When you’ve removed all the fasteners, lower the
window and lift the trim panel up and out. Check the trim panel and door to make sure
all the fasteners came out of the door properly. If any were damaged, take them to an
auto parts store to get the proper replacements. Leave the power window and door lock
connectors in place and lean the trim panel against the door.
FIGURE A Special Tools
Click Image to enlarge.
Click Image to enlarge.
1. Pop off the mirror trim panel using the Door Panel
Remover tool.
2. Remove decorative vanity caps from screws with the
hooked pick, then remove the screws.
3. Check for retaining screws holding the door handle bezel.
If there aren’t any, that’s your clue that it snaps into place.
Use a small flat-blade screwdriver to undo the snaps.
FIGURE B Door panel fasteners
Click Image to enlarge.
Disconnect the cable
Next, follow the cable from the mirror
and disassemble the mirror’s electrical
connector. Remove the screws that hold
the mirror and remove it from the
door.Attach the new mirror. Reconnect
the electrical connector and make sure
you test the new mirror before putting
the parts back into place. Reverse the
entire procedure to reassemble the
door trim panel. Use your fist or a
small rubber mallet to reinsert the
Christmas tree trim panel fasteners.
Replace the screws and the DVCs.
Taming the crank
If your car has power mirrors
but manual windows, you’ll
have to remove the window
crank before you can remove
the trim panel. It’s impossible
to do without this special
door handle removal tool, the
Lisle No. 18600 ($5.90).
Simply slide the tool onto the
window crank and dislodge
the spring clip. Make sure you
hold a cloth around the crank
to catch the clip. Then pull the
crank off the splined shaft. To
replace, insert the spring clip
in the grooves on the crank
and push the entire crank
onto the splined shaft
until it “clicks.”
Buyer’s Guide
Lisle tools are available at
www.toolsource.com
and at CARQUEST Auto Parts stores nationwide.
