Electric mirror repair

From THE Corrado Forum Knowledge Base

Having problems with your electric mirrors not moving or being a bit slow and weak? I had the exact same problem and after much swearing i've found the solution was actually quite simple! The problem seems to be with the electric mirror switch rather than the actual motors themselves. Here is a quick article on how to strip the switch, clean it and reassemble it. Its a 10 minute job and you won't need any parts or special tools.

Stuff needed

1x small flat bladed screwdriver

1x tin of brasso

1x cleaning rag

1x tub of vaseline (the aloe vera one smells nicer!) ==

1)remove the switch from the car. This can easily be done without removing the door card. Simply insert fingernails on the top of the switch and pull away from the door. The switch will tilt outwards. pull it upwards and it'll come out of the door card

2)disconnect the plug from the switch and secure it to make sure it doesnt fall inside the door card.

3)take switch to a nice clean area with a table (there are some very small parts inside the switch and you won't want to lose them!

4) This is what you should have (i've removed the knob from the switch, it just pulls off)

5) insert a small screwdriver into the seam near the plug part. Twist and the sides should come apart. there is a knack to it so take it easy and be careful not to break things!)

6)repeat for other side and the switch should come apart into 2 pieces. BE CAREFUL!!! Thers a really small copper dogbone shaped piece inside and it may well fall out. It's almost impossible to find once dropped.

7) you'll now have something like this. You'll immediately see that the copper board is covered in nasty blue corrosion and it looks a bit grotty. This is the main piece we'll be playing with.

8) you'll see 2 plastic prongs sticking throught the PCB. pull them together and the PCB will lift off the rear piece of plastic. Theres another 3 copper dogbones in here so again be careful not to lose them .

9)

you'll now have this. Again it looks grotty and nasty. Take the PCB and clean it up with brasso. You can use any abrasive claener you like (brasso, peek, hob brite (cooker cleaner) or even toothpaste at a pinch.). Give both sides of the PCB a good clean until it looks like this.

10) now its time to attack the dogbones. Again brasso or similir works well. I found the best technique was to put the dogbone on the table, add a puddle of cleaner onto it and then roll it back and forth under the cleaning cloth. It removed all the muck quite nicely.

Now everything is nice and clean simply apply a good smear of vaseline all over the PCB and the dogbones. Clip the whole lot back together again (be careful everything is seated correctly or it won't go back together.

Plug it back in to the car, push it into the doorcard and test your mirrors. They should sound much healthier now!

All in all way better than the ball ache job of cleaning the motors (which i have done and it made no difference whatsoever!)

written by elrikos. Look out for more guides coming soon!