Rear view mirror removal.
- Thread starter natas
- Start date
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Station House
Well-Known Member
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- 3,960
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- Fife, Scotland
Push it up towards the roof lining and pull the bottom towards you
You might need to jerk/tug it quite hard
They are a bugger to remove and almost impossible to replace!
You might need to jerk/tug it quite hard
They are a bugger to remove and almost impossible to replace!
Helmetbolt
New Member
- Posts
- 123
- Location
- Geordieland.
I have just done this on my Defender. I was struggling to get the Mirror back in, so had a close look at it. The bottom locating tang is spring loaded and mine was siezed up. A quick spray of WD40 and working the tang in and out a bit freed it off. It was a 5 second job to locate it back in the roof after that.
Station House
Well-Known Member
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- 3,960
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- Fife, Scotland
You must have found the magic knack - after trying on and off for a week, and lods of WD40 I still could get the mirror back in - ended up drilling and screwing it
Not ideal as I think it's designed to break clear if your head hits it in an accident, but on the plus side, it hasn't fallen off
I second that, I smashed my head into it the other day while trying to thread a cable through the bulkhead, knocked the frigger right off.
Spent a good 45 minutes trying to get the bitch back on, neighbours must have thought I was a right idiot swearing at a rear view mirror.
Got it back on in the end though. Not a pleasant experience.
Station House
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- 3,960
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- Fife, Scotland
pos
Well-Known Member
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- 3,685
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- West Yorkshire
I've never had a problem taking mine off or re-fitting it. Just be brute. It's a 10 second job!
paul fletcher
New Member
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- 475
- Location
- Croft
I swear to god if I hadn't have been sat in mine while refitting the mirror I would have lifted the bloody vehicle up! I'ts a right PITA. Good call on the WD though.
finaoldlandy
New Member
- Posts
- 1
Hi all. Just spent 2 days fighting the beggar. finally got it in in seconds!! Plenty of WD good tip also think the angle of push up!! Found for mine sitting astride driver and passenger seat and a straight push towards roof and it went in easy. Hope this helps someone else. Off to get me blood pressure checked.
postieparr
Member
- Posts
- 39
- Location
- Norwich
In the middle of refurbishing my headliner and reallly not looking forward to putting the mirror back on. It sounds a pig of a job!
In my limited experience what looks to be even the simplest job can turn into hours of struggling, usually with the very last nut that just refuses to come off.
Hopefully after reading this helpfull link all should go well.
In my limited experience what looks to be even the simplest job can turn into hours of struggling, usually with the very last nut that just refuses to come off.
Hopefully after reading this helpfull link all should go well.
steveyorks
Well-Known Member
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- 817
- Location
- west yorks
I had to get out the car and walk away from this job or I would have thrown the thing out the door and stamped on it! So easy to remove too!
Station House
Well-Known Member
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- 3,960
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
It's a bugger
Gave up after 2 weeks (including getting an Indy garage to look at it) - drilled and screwed was the answer
Gave up after 2 weeks (including getting an Indy garage to look at it) - drilled and screwed was the answer
LeadFarmer
Well-Known Member
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- 6,661
- Location
- Yorkshure
Ive removed and replace mine a few times, think I used a flat screwdriver to push the spring loaded tab backwards, whilst pushing the mirror in place.
LeadFarmer
Well-Known Member
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- 6,661
- Location
- Yorkshure
I had to refit mine the other day. The internal spring was seized, stopping the mirror clicking into place. I lubricated the spring and it went in first time with the help of a flat screwdriver depressing the latch.
Richard Seddon
Member
- Posts
- 28
- Location
- Ash Vale
REMOVAL
Grasp the arm and push it (firmly) upwards-and-forwards, towards the roof and windscreen. There's a spring-loaded lug at the top, and a fixed lug at the bottom. If it doesn't come easily, that spring-loaded lug has probably frozen. So spray plenty of penetrating oil (WD-40) at top centre, so it runs down onto the spring-loaded spigot and frees things up. Give it a few minutes for the WD-40 to do its stuff, then try again. You might also want to tape a couple of sheets of corrugated cardboard to the windscreen, in case you slip.
I've just removed mine because it was wobbling around. I think that the spring had frozen, which was stopping it pressing firmly into the bracket, hence the spring wasn't holding the assembly tight enough, and it started wobbling as I pulled on the arm when adjusting the mirror. (The free movement of the spring appears to be essential for clamping the bracket and keeping it from wobbling after refitting.)
REFITTING
As others have said, you need to thoroughly lubricate and 'work' the spring-loaded bit, until it moves easily, before attempting to put the mirror arm back onto the bracket.
When refitting, you press the (top) spring-loaded part into the fixed bracket, then, maintaining pressure on the spring-loaded part, you should be able to slip the fixed lug over the bottom lip, and releasing the upwards pressure, the thing will clamp itself into place (it's all coming back to me now). As I say, the free movement of that spring-loaded lug is what holds the mirror arm firmly in the bracket, so it doesn't wobble around.
Time invested in getting the spring to work freely will save a lot of pain. Last time I did this it went in quite easily. I'd recommend washing out any gunge with WD-40 to get things moving, then graphite dry lubricant or graphite/moly greace, as the WD-40 will dry out over time, and you don't want that spring-loaded top pin to seize up, else the darned thing won't be firmly gripped (by the spring's pressure) and it'll start wobbling around like mine did.
If it doesn't go back (relatively) easily, just keep lubricating and working that spring until the spring-loaded part moves easily when you press it against a solid object (e.g. a shoe last, a vice, or a house brick).
Thanks for the reminders guys. I'd have been struggling but for your good advice. A timely reminder.
Cheers,
Rick
Grasp the arm and push it (firmly) upwards-and-forwards, towards the roof and windscreen. There's a spring-loaded lug at the top, and a fixed lug at the bottom. If it doesn't come easily, that spring-loaded lug has probably frozen. So spray plenty of penetrating oil (WD-40) at top centre, so it runs down onto the spring-loaded spigot and frees things up. Give it a few minutes for the WD-40 to do its stuff, then try again. You might also want to tape a couple of sheets of corrugated cardboard to the windscreen, in case you slip.
I've just removed mine because it was wobbling around. I think that the spring had frozen, which was stopping it pressing firmly into the bracket, hence the spring wasn't holding the assembly tight enough, and it started wobbling as I pulled on the arm when adjusting the mirror. (The free movement of the spring appears to be essential for clamping the bracket and keeping it from wobbling after refitting.)
REFITTING
As others have said, you need to thoroughly lubricate and 'work' the spring-loaded bit, until it moves easily, before attempting to put the mirror arm back onto the bracket.
When refitting, you press the (top) spring-loaded part into the fixed bracket, then, maintaining pressure on the spring-loaded part, you should be able to slip the fixed lug over the bottom lip, and releasing the upwards pressure, the thing will clamp itself into place (it's all coming back to me now). As I say, the free movement of that spring-loaded lug is what holds the mirror arm firmly in the bracket, so it doesn't wobble around.
Time invested in getting the spring to work freely will save a lot of pain. Last time I did this it went in quite easily. I'd recommend washing out any gunge with WD-40 to get things moving, then graphite dry lubricant or graphite/moly greace, as the WD-40 will dry out over time, and you don't want that spring-loaded top pin to seize up, else the darned thing won't be firmly gripped (by the spring's pressure) and it'll start wobbling around like mine did.
If it doesn't go back (relatively) easily, just keep lubricating and working that spring until the spring-loaded part moves easily when you press it against a solid object (e.g. a shoe last, a vice, or a house brick).
Thanks for the reminders guys. I'd have been struggling but for your good advice. A timely reminder.
Cheers,
Rick
Last edited:
Richard Seddon
Member
- Posts
- 28
- Location
- Ash Vale
Don't you mean the top tang is spring-loaded? It's the bottom lug that is fixed, and the top one that's sprung, at least on mine. -- Cheers, Rick
