Power Fold Mirror Repair

[Kenmay52]

Does anybody know if its possible to repair Power fold Mirrors. Both mine offside and near side have been folded in by hand by some unscrupulous individual.

Or does anyone know where I can send them to be repaired. 

Edited January 16, 2020 by FROSTYBALLS
Title amended

[Gerg]

I was under the impression that power fold mirrors would yield if pushed into a closed position, and with no damage if done reasonably gently.

That seems to be the case with our 2013 Auris.  Yours are to a different design, of course.  But I thought this design difference would be mostly cosmetic.

The Auris ones are made by SMR, a company I had never heard of previously.  I have taken one completely to pieces a few weeks back, so the mechanism is less of a mystery now!

What happened when you tried to fold them back out?  If they are folded by hand (which it sounds like they were), then I believe they will have to be unfolded by hand - I don't think the motor will do this for you.  Not that this is obvious.

HTH.

[Kenmay52]

Is it possible to repair power fold mirrors on an Avensis T5-x

[Kenmay52]

Hi, both mirrors do not folf in or out. I can hear the motors running but there is no noticeable movement. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Topics merged

[Gerg]

I am not aware of someone who advertises themselves as door mirror repairers.

On our Auris (2013), if the door mirror is folded by hand, the motor function will drive it back to an unfolded position when requested. ( I have just tried this.)  No harm is done to the mechanism.

Later models of Avensis have similar door mirror internals to the Auris, I have looked.  But your model doesn't have the same mechanism.

 

Auris Mirror with the decorative cover removed:-

This is the best picture I could find of the inside of your Avensis door mirror with the cover removed:-

The large spring is not visible with your one, and the 'fold' motor has been relocated to above the hinge.

What does this mean?  The folding operation of your mirror will possibly not be the same as mine if the mirror is manually moved.

I think that, if the car is safe to drive, then any service garage might be able to help.  Or do you have AA membership?

If they can be fixed then I think this might be achieved with some oil and grease - internal mechanical bits are generally not available. Or, you might expect to pay about £40 for a secondhand item on eBay.

But before then, you could spray a generous amount of WD40 into the point where the mirror pivots, near the bottom, into the crack.  This role is one that WD40 is well suited to.  Over the next hour or two, the WD40 will spread into the mechanism.  There won't necessarily be an immediate result, if it does work.

These mirrors will collect a great deal of grime and crud in 14 years, perhaps some part of the folding mechanism has become jammed or wedged with road muck.

If they have been damaged by someone folding them back by hand then I would be surprised, unless the internal mechanisms are rusted or gummed up, and a sprung-loaded part of the mechanism is no longer free to articulate.  In the Auris mirror, the gear mechanisms are metal, so avoiding age-related failure to an extent, perhaps yours aren't metal?  In which case the gears will not be available as a new, separate part anyway.

Naturally, I am happy for someone to correct me on any of the above.

Hopefully, someone else will come along with a more complete answer.