On my '97 F150 XLT, the passenger side power mirror was damaged Beyond repair, so I bought a new mirror assembly. I just need to know the step-by-step procedure for removing the plastic interior door panels so I can get at the hardware to remove the old one and install the new. An experienced tech could probably do the whole job in about 20 minutes. Without knowing the secrets behind the plastic, I could do more damage than I'm trying to fix and spend a month doing it. What I need is an exploded view of the plastic parts of the door panels. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

Check out this link it might help some.

Good luck & welcome!

 

Dear Le Pew,

Thanks a bunch for your nicely detailed instructions. Appreciate it greatly. We had gone to Amelia Island, FL, to escape from Hurricane Frances. While we were there, some kind soul (for whatever reason) had grabbed my passenger side mirror by the glass and bent everything inside beyond repair. Sometimes you just gotta love people. Bought a new entire passenger side mirror, but was afraid to play with all that fragile plastic until I had some idea of how it came apart and went back together.

One last question: The mirror remote control on the door panel now only works in 3 out of 4 directions. From the driver's side mirror, UP/DOWN works, as does the LEFT button on both mirrors, RIGHT does not play on either side of the truck. Did I have a simultaneous switching problem? Since the electrical connection on the new mirror only has 3 wires, I am assuming that one of them is COMMON, another is to the UP/DOWN motor, and the 3rd is for the LEFT/RIGHT motor. Am also assuming that the door panel remote control simply reverses polarity to each of the motors to make it go in reverse when necessary. Do I need to get a new switch as well?

Thanks again,
Don

 

Dgp1939, It is coincidental that both mirrors dont work in the same direction but it does'nt have to be the switch.

I dont know how handy you are but I would stick the switch wires with a 12V test light while manipulating the switch in the right sided direction it should illuminate the light if the switch is good. Try this between both left & right mirrors.

I one time mistakingly assumed that my high beam switch was trashed because my high beams did'nt work. I replaced it to no avail, high beams still dead. It turned out that both high beams went out at nearly the same time. A quick poke with the 12V test light would have saved me a little work & money. Did I mention that there are no returns allowed on electrical parts?

Good luck.

 

Just realized that with your help, I won't have to tear everything down to fix the mirror. One page of the instructions shows how to replace the glass mirror. Since the old friction pins were bent out of useful shape, I can use the ones from the new mirror, along with the chrome pop-off and new glass mirror to get back to where I should be. Anyway, I'll work it out.

Am I right about the 3-wire system controlling two motors in two directions? Why use 4 motors and 5 or more wires when you can use switches and wiring to control only two to do the same work at less than half the cost? Spread that out over 150,000 vehicles and it makes a lot of sense to me.

While I have the glass mirror off, I can check the resistance of the motor. All I have to be concerned with is the possibility of an open motor coil. If there was a short, the fuse should have gone and other things protected by it should not be working. I can also pull the fuse and use my meter to check continuity of the wiring harness between the switch and mirror and even of the switch itself.

Seems to me that the easiest (and first) check would be to pop the switch panel and see if the switch even makes contact when in the affected position, then go from there. Ever hear of the "half-split" system of troubleshooting? Used to use it to repair complex electronic circuits. Like in a radio, the problem is always somewhere between the antenna and the speaker. If they are both good, start looking in the middle If it works in the middle, go to the remaining middle, etc. Each test eliminates 50% of what's left. Not that easy to do in this case.

The fact that the same motor works in one direction and not the other on both mirrors still kinda points toward the switch. Since I have been the only driver of the truck since it was born, the mirrors have only been adjusted maybe 20 times since 1997. Like Dr. Ruth says, "use it or lose it". Most likely, moisture in the form of rain or melting snow getting into the armrest switch panel is the villain here, along with possible corrosion. This truck has no rain gutters and I should have bought those "plastic awnings" for it long ago. The driver side armrest has been drenched many times.

You are exactly right that one should not ASSuME anything. That's why I came to this forum in the first place. Why re-invent the wheel? Hope I haven't been rambling too much.

Have a good day and
Thanks again.