Freelander 1 2002 ES 1.8L PETROL. POWER FOLD MIRRORS FAULT.

Hi Ya'll.

Just wondering if anyone could help me with this problem. I've looked on the FAQ section, but all I can find is "How to replace manual mirrors with power fold ones."

Initially, I've only just found out that the exterior mirrors are actually power fold types.

Yesterday, I woke to find the mirrors on my car were folded in, so when I went out, I pulled them out again. Initially, I thought someone had been messing around with the car overnight. I got into the car as normal.
Started the engine, and heard a sound of a motor whirring. When I looked, my mirrors were folding in on their own!

Didn't even know they were power fold ones, and I've owned the car for nearly two years! You learn something new every day! lol.

Now, the problem is this. I had to get out of the car again and pull them back out again. Did this and drove away, fine. Went where I had to, and locked the car up. When I came out, they had folded themselves in again! Pulled them out again, and as I was driving along, they closed on their own again!!

Last night, I disconnected the negative battery lead and left it off for ten minutes. Re-connected it, and the rear tailgate window went down as normal. Got into the car, pressed the switch to raise the tailgate window, and that went up, and the mirrors folded in again on their own!!! I have tried pressing the control button in the down direction twice to reset them, but nothing happens

It's doing my box in, don't know where to start looking to sort it.

Your help would be much appreciated, like I say, its just started to do it on its own.

Best regards.

you could just unplug the relay (passenger foot-well) when the mirrors are open

terr said:

you could just unplug the relay (passenger foot-well) when the mirrors are open

Click to expand...

Thanks Terr. Dya mean just to stop them moving on their own, or could this reset them?

Thanks mate.

That's an interesting fault. The mirrors are folded by a stand alone controller. This controller is fed with a constant live supply so the mirrors can be folded with everything turned off. The controller responds to a signal to ground, from the control switch.
If the mirrors are folding when not required, then you have 1 of 3 faults. 1st could be the fold switch is faulty, giving the ground signal, so folding the mirrors. 2nd could be the controller its self is randomly folding the mirrors, for no apparent reason.
3rd could be the control wire (Black/Blue) is being grounded on route to the controller.

Also if the mirrors are in the folded position, pulling them out can damage the fold mechanism so should be avoided.

You can test the switch so it can be eliminated from the equation completely. Simply pull the switch out of the dash and unplug the harness. Tie some string around the harness so it can be retrieved if is slips out of grasp. If the mirrors still fold, it's the controller at fault or the wiring to it.
You can test the wiring with a multi meter to see if it's grounded.
If switch and wiring come up as OK, the the controller has to be the fault. This can be unplugged to stop the mirrors folding.

it will stop them moving . i had to change the switch on mine as it did,t move them in.
some people have them wired to the door lock . so when you lock you mirrors go in,unlock and they go out.
but as im in and out all the time i passed on this easy mod

Nodge68 said:

That's an interesting fault. The mirrors are folded by a stand alone controller. This controller is fed with a constant live supply so the mirrors can be folded with everything turned off. The controller responds to a signal to ground, from the control switch.
If the mirrors are folding when not required, then you have 1 of 3 faults. 1st could be the fold switch is faulty, giving the ground signal, so folding the mirrors. 2nd could be the controller its self is randomly folding the mirrors, for no apparent reason.
3rd could be the control wire (Black/Blue) is being grounded on route to the controller.

Also if the mirrors are in the folded position, pulling them out can damage the fold mechanism so should be avoided.

You can test the switch so it can be eliminated from the equation completely. Simply pull the switch out of the dash and unplug the harness. Tie some string around the harness so it can be retrieved if is slips out of grasp. If the mirrors still fold, it's the controller at fault or the wiring to it.
You can test the wiring with a multi meter to see if it's grounded.
If switch and wiring come up as OK, the the controller has to be the fault. This can be unplugged to stop the mirrors folding.

Click to expand...

Cheers Nodge68, much appreciated. Process of elimination then, thought as much. I thought the car was possessed at one point, you can lock it up, go in the house, and look through the window, and after a minute or two, you see the mirrors fold in on their own. It's bizzare! lol.

Thanks again for your help.

terr said:

it will stop them moving . i had to change the switch on mine as it did,t move them in.
some people have them wired to the door lock . so when you lock you mirrors go in,unlock and they go out.
but as im in and out all the time i passed on this easy mod

Click to expand...

Thanks Terr. Sounds like a handy little modification to connect them to the door locks. At least that way, you don't have to remember to fold them in manually. Maybe something to look into once I've established my fault.

Great stuff, Thanks again.

L666BES said:

Thanks Terr. Sounds like a handy little modification to connect them to the door locks. At least that way, you don't have to remember to fold them in manually. Maybe something to look into once I've established my fault.

Great stuff, Thanks again.

Click to expand...

It's a very easy modification which requires only 1 relay and some wire in its simplest form. I've done it to my TD4 SE and my V6 before that. It's a nice little mod and probably one of the cheapest mods available with most impact.

Nodge68 said:

It's a very easy modification which requires only 1 relay and some wire in its simplest form. I've done it to my TD4 SE and my V6 before that. It's a nice little mod and probably one of the cheapest mods available with most impact.

Click to expand...

Like the sound of it being easy Nodge68. Don't think I'll be touching any wiring though, knowing my luck, I'll short something, or set the car on fire!!! lol. Is the modification listed anywhere on this forum? I'm interested now as to how easy it would be to do.

Cheers Mate.

L666BES said:

Like the sound of it being easy Nodge68. Don't think I'll be touching any wiring though, knowing my luck, I'll short something, or set the car on fire!!! lol. Is the modification listed anywhere on this forum? I'm interested now as to how easy it would be to do.

Cheers Mate.

Click to expand...

Yes it's on here somewhere. It was worked out by a few members a couple of years ago. It's really easy to do. You basically drive the relay coil by tapping into the locking motor feed. The relay switch terminals then simply apply ground to the Black/Blue wire. This means when the door lock motor is pulsed, the relay coil is also pulsed. The pulsed coil then switches the controller to ground, which folds or unfolds the mirrors.

Nodge68 said:

Yes it's on here somewhere. It was worked out by a few members a couple of years ago. It's really easy to do. You basically drive the relay coil by tapping into the locking motor feed. The relay switch terminals then simply apply ground to the Black/Blue wire. This means when the door lock motor is pulsed, the relay coil is also pulsed. The pulsed coil then switches the controller to ground, which folds or unfolds the mirrors.

Click to expand...

Cheers for that matey, I'll have a mooch and see if I can find it. I'll have to print it off once I've found it. As for removing the control stick / switch on the dashboard for the mirrors, do I just pull the lever towards me and the whole of the square section comes with it? Just thought I'd check, I'm a bit of a heavy handed Harry, I don't want to just yank at it in case it snaps off! lol.

Thanks again for all your help, i'ts really appreciated.

The mirror switch is just held in with clips, molded into the switch sides. A gentle tug is normally all it needs to remove it.

Nodge68 said:

The mirror switch is just held in with clips, molded into the switch sides. A gentle tug is normally all it needs to remove it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I'll have a look at it tomorrow, see if I can see anything untoward.

Cheers buddy.