‘85 911 pass side mirror not tilting.

[jgurnari]

‘85 911 passenger side mirror not tilting,, “panning” left to right works fine… is the issue with a motor? where is directional motor located?…in the mirror itself? the door?… or elsewhere?
Driver side tilts and pans as it should.

[917_Langheck]

Check the continuity of the 4-way switch on the door. You may find that there is one axis without.

You should be able to remove the bottom cap by gently parting it from the main switch body; the two silver "rivits" will unwind out. Then it's an easy case of cleaning the contacts.

You should get something like this. Once it's clean and properly lubricated it should work again. Fixed mine that way.

[cabmandone]

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1101679-driver-side-power-mirror-works-up-down-out-but-not.html

Do you hear any clicking when the up/down function is activated?

[jgurnari]

the driver side works as it should, that in mind, are you saying the switch could work correctly for one side but not the other even though they are shared by one switch?
thanks

Originally Posted by 917_Langheck

Check the continuity of the 4-way switch on the door. You may find that there is one axis without.

You should be able to remove the bottom cap by gently parting it from the main switch body; the two silver "rivits" will unwind out. Then it's an easy case of cleaning the contacts.

You should get something like this. Once it's clean and properly lubricated it should work again. Fixed mine that way.

[917_Langheck]

If it is clicking, then the switch isn't the issue, it would be the gear-set or control wire that moves the mirror. (The adjuster motor is in the mirror body, and it's not an easy fix from what I have read in other threads here).

The position switch has three pins that reside in the upper switch body and make contact with three cones. The lever moves the pins into the cones and the cones rock to the side to contact the plates the wires connect to. All it takes is for one of those things to be dirty or not set properly and the adjuster won't receive its signal. All mine had was a little mfg grease between the cone and the plate that was causing an electrical isolation issue.

There is also the side of the car switch on the dash. Not likely to cause only one functional direction loss, but this is Porsche electrics, and they are funky to begin with.

[76FJ55]

Originally Posted by jgurnari

the driver side works as it should, that in mind, are you saying the switch could work correctly for one side but not the other even though they are shared by one switch?
thanks

it is one common switch, and the driver's side is working so that eliminates a malfunction of the switch. with the horizontal working on both mirrors that also eliminates the changeover switch. so it is down to either the mirror itself not working correctly or you have a failed wire between the switch and mirror assembly.

I'd pull the mirror motor assembly out of the housing to expose the plug in the mirror housing and start troubleshooting there.

[jgurnari]

is there a DIY on opening the mirror housing?
and possibly photos of what you described?

Originally Posted by 917_Langheck

If it is clicking, then the switch isn't the issues, it would be the gearset or control wire that moves the mirror. (The adjustor motor is in the mirror body, and it's not an easy fix from what I have read in other threads here).

The position switch has three pins that reside in the upper switch body and make contact with three cones. The lever moves the pins into the cones and the cones rock to the side to contact the plates the wires connect to. All it takes is for one of those things to be dirty or not set properly and the adjustor won't receive its signal. All mine had was a little mfg grease between the cone and the plate that was causing an electrical isolation issue.

There is also the side of the car switch on the dash. Not likely to cause only one functional direction loss, but this is Porsche electrics, and they are funky to begin with.

[Matt at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by jgurnari

is there a DIY on opening the mirror housing?
and possibly photos of what you described?

We don't have anything official but I was able to track down a thread where somebody had the same issue. I don't believe they were able to repair the internals but it's still a great documentation of disassembling the unit. It looks like it involves drilling out the rivets to gain access:
passenger side mirror not tilting

-Matt

[cabmandone]

Follow the link above young grasshopper. I deleted all of my mirror pics when I disassembled the the motor to find out what makes it work. Matt's link, that the OP actually started, has great pics of the internals.

Seems J has had this problem for two years.

[cabmandone]

To make it even easier, Here's the pertinent information from your thread back in 2020 that Matt linked.

Originally Posted by Solamar

Curiosity got the better of me (or maybe procrastinating things I should be doing...).

Drilled out the rivets -



Which reveals a rubber bellow covering the motor. Stretching the bellow reveals three Phillips head screws -





Which then reveals a true Rube Goldberg mechanism of pulleys and strings -





Gently pry open the motor case -





And now you can see the reversible electric motor and the electro magnet clutch which move an arm selecting a separate group of pulleys -





All this so you dont have to ask your passenger to tilt the mirror for you? Porsche engineers were/are freaking nuts.

My "guess" is that the electro magnet clutch becomes intermittent. Probably the arm hangs up.

So, how badly do you want your passenger mirror to function correctly?

[jgurnari]

maybe i’ll buy a used one and paint it!

[ramonesfreak]

Also do search for loose mirror. There are a few threads here regarding that issue which show in more detail how to take apart a mirror that the above referenced thread doesn’t shown

[ramonesfreak]

Here is one
Loose Mirror Tech Article

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by jgurnari

maybe i’ll buy a used one and paint it!

Don't have to buy the full mirror. The motor assembly is easily removed. The only problem I had was that the rubber around the mirror was really dry on the one I bought where the original I replaced was in very good shape.

I'm trying to find where I bought mine. The guy had several. Just post a want to buy in the 911 used parts section of the site.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by jgurnari

maybe i’ll buy a used one and paint it!

That is the tough way to do it. You have to take the mirror off of the car, then separate the base, center part and top part of the mirror. There is a spring in the there that is a substitute for a front end spring off of a Mac Truck. You will cuss a lot trying to compress it to get the mirror back together.

Second issue if you car has original paint, it is likely single stage, like my 85. Fining a body shop to paint it with single stage is a challenge, they will want to do two stage paint, which will not match after a year of sun exposure.

Just get a used motor, and swap the motor.

[jgurnari]

You were able to buy just the motor? Would I have to drill out rivets as mentioned by cabmandone? if you remember where you bought motor please let me know. Thanks Nick

Originally Posted by cabmandone

Don't have to buy the full mirror. The motor assembly is easily removed. The only problem I had was that the rubber around the mirror was really dry on the one I bought where the original I replaced was in very good shape.

I'm trying to find where I bought mine. The guy had several. Just post a want to buy in the 911 used parts section of the site.

[jgurnari]

Hey Glen, If I swap the motor I wont have to deal with the "MAC" spring? Would I have to drill out rivets as mentioned by cabmandone?

Or deal with it in a simple swap? ...or is motor swap fairly easy?
Thanks

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

That is the tough way to do it. You have to take the mirror off of the car, then separate the base, center part and top part of the mirror. There is a spring in the there that is a substitute for a front end spring off of a Mac Truck. You will cuss a lot trying to compress it to get the mirror back together.

Second issue if you car has original paint, it is likely single stage, like my 85. Fining a body shop to paint it with single stage is a challenge, they will want to do two stage paint, which will not match after a year of sun exposure.

Just get a used motor, and swap the motor.

[jgurnari]

Can I test my right side mirror motor by attaching it to the left side? want to be sure its the motor before I get into taking it apart.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by jgurnari

Hey Glen, If I swap the motor I wont have to deal with the "MAC" spring? Would I have to drill out rivets as mentioned by cabmandone?

Or deal with it in a simple swap? ...or is motor swap fairly easy?
Thanks

I believe all you have to do is remove the mirror from the car. That is a pain to do because you have to need the special tool to remove the wires from the plug. So take pictures, and notes and more pictures of the way the wires are connected, unpin the wires for the connector, and remove from the door.

You should not need to take that monster spring apart. Just lay the mirror on a towel or soft work area.

I have never had to remove my mirror. I did have the mount of the mirror casting break.









I had to buy a used mount and have it painted so I had to take the spring apart. I had to make a holder so I could clamp it in my vice, and pretty much put all my weight on it to compress it enough to tighten up the screw the spring goes around.

If you car is a 85 or older the Bentley manual is wrong about how the mirror itself is attached.







On later models there is a round ring that has to be rotated. On the earlier cars, just three clips hold the mirror on, the is real easy to remove.

Non of it is rocket science. Just try hard to avoid taking that spring apart.

[jgurnari]

hey Glen, appreciate your help
and all the pictures.
i do not see the motor in any of the photos… i know i’ll be able to get the mirror off the car, done it before but my issue i believe is the motor which I don’t see in the photos. can i swap this mirror to the driver side ONLY to test to see if the motor is actually the problem?
thanks again

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I believe all you have to do is remove the mirror from the car. That is a pain to do because you have to need the special tool to remove the wires from the plug. So take pictures, and notes and more pictures of the way the wires are connected, unpin the wires for the connector, and remove from the door.

You should not need to take that monster spring apart. Just lay the mirror on a towel or soft work area.

I have never had to remove my mirror. I did have the mount of the mirror casting break.









I had to buy a used mount and have it painted so I had to take the spring apart. I had to make a holder so I could clamp it in my vice, and pretty much put all my weight on it to compress it enough to tighten up the screw the spring goes around.

If you car is a 85 or older the Bentley manual is wrong about how the mirror itself is attached.







On later models there is a round ring that has to be rotated. On the earlier cars, just three clips hold the mirror on, the is real easy to remove.

Non of it is rocket science. Just try hard to avoid taking that spring apart.