Folding Mirror Inop

[RNajarian]

This appears to be a common problem with older (Gen 1) Cayennes

My 2005 Base model Cayenne driver side mirror suddenly decided not to fold in (or out) properly. There was no damage to the mirror, it just started happening out of the blue. I can hear the folding mirror motor come on when the mirror folding switch is turned on, it may move in a jerking manner for an inch or two but then just shake as the internal motor continues to run. The passenger side works as expected.

I have seen replacement gears for this mirror on the web. Wayne has a Tech article how to replace the glass and remove the mirror but not how to disassemble the mirror.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Porsche-Cayenne/36-BODY-Side_Mirror_and_Motor_Replacement/36-BODY-Side_Mirror_and_Motor_Replacement.htm


If anyone has already disassembled the mirror I would love to hear how they did it.

I’ve bought a used mirror from eBay I will experiment with, hopefully someone will have some direction for me.

Thanks

[RNajarian]

I found some PDFs which describe how to disassemble the mirror.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66156&d=1207759465
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66157&d=1207759485

When my spare mirror arrives I’ll post photos.

[RNajarian]

I finally got around to taking my spare eBay side view mirror apart to try and devise a resolution for my inoperable folding side view mirror.

I was hoping to identify where the (likely) broken gear was and how to replace it.

Long story short, I removed all of the plastic housing but could not figure out how to get to the mechanism that folds the mirror.

I have not found anything on the web pertaining to a Cayenne. I’ll see if there is anything posted for Audis or VWs.

Below are some photos of my disassembly. Hopefully I will come up with a solution soon.

[EC900]

Bear with me, I don’t have Porsche auto fold mirrors. Do they automatically fold-in when the key is off or can they be left unfolded (out) at anytime and closed only when needed?
Could just be out of synch with the passenger side.Something that could happen if one is bumped closed or one side is frozen up in sub zero weather (not in your case).
Did u try to manually fold/unfold the mirror? When activated, try manipulating the mirror to help it into either position to match the passenger side.

Pic # shows u removed the motor that only operates the glass.
There should be a separate motor for the mirror (behind glass) and one that activates for the auto fold feature under the base mount. If a gear (plastic/nylon] is broken it’s not repairable, if it’s off it’s pinion maybe but all relies on if u can access the fold motor to open it up for inspection.
That last pic 3 shows a small screw. It’s not clear, it could be a triple-square head (similar to torx but entirely different) to remove the mirror from the mount. A broader pic 3 of the underside of the mirror would help identify if access to motor is possible.
Also; Check u-tube for Ford folding mirror tutorial on “syncing mirrors”.

[honerboys]

i'd start by plugging your spare into your car's harness and seeing if the spare folds when the pass. side does - if it does not the problem may not be in the mirror housing itself, but in the wiring

[RNajarian]

Thanks guys for the replies. . .

I will provide specific responses soon.

[RNajarian]

The mirrors fold in and out by a switch. Not automatically

They were not hit or bumped. Likely not a sync issue.

I did more disassembly, the way to access the folding mechanism is most likely through the area you see in the photo where the wire loom comes out of the spring.

I saw a Volvo mechanism accessed this way.

Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to disassemble the area illustrated by the tool.

[RNajarian]

Different Angle




Here is a thread on RennTech addressing the same situation, unfortunately no solutions.

https://www.renntech.org/topic/46779-folding-side-view-mirror-malfunction/

[RNajarian]

Here is the description of a similar repair on a Passat. It might be helpful.

https://www.passatworld.com/threads/power-folding-mirror-repaired-with-pics.277270/


As posted in Passat World.

“So a couple of weeks ago, I stopped in at my local dealer to go in to the parts department. I come out a few minutes later to find someone had manually unfolded my passenger side power-fold mirror. Not knowing what to do, I tried to put it back in its folded position, and then I hit the switch to unfold. The driver's side didn't do anything for a moment, while the passenger side motor was whirring for a few seconds before it engaged the mirror again, made a loud pop, tried to fold it in further, and then finally backed up and unfolded with the driver's side. I ran them through a few folding cycles and they seemed to be ok. I'm pretty sure I know who ****ed with it, but I had no evidence, I didn't see him do it, and it seemed ok so I thought no harm, no foul.

Fast forward a few weeks to Friday evening. As I leave my parking stall I hit the switch. Nothing. No sounds, no movement, nothing. I cycled the switch a few times hoping it had busted and it would make contact and unfold; no dice. After a few tries, I heard a strange sound coming from the passenger side mirror. So I turned off the ignition, tweaked with it a bit, and finally got them to unfold about 40 minutes later. This has happened four or five times since Friday, and it has become painfully obvious what caused the problem. Even worse, they won't fold at all now. Well, they will, but the passenger side never stops. After it folds, the motor just keeps going making a loud pop every few seconds.”

My driver side mirror has similar symptoms.

“I am severely angered and deeply saddened. I'm really hoping someone may know a fix, because this sounds like a costly repair.
So I got some time today to work on the Variant. I did another core flush, and after finishing with some time to spare, I decided to look into the problem with my mirror. After breaking it down and investigating how it moves, it became painfully obvious what the problem was, and as it turns out it's a very easy repair. My wallet is safe.

Here's the fix. This assumes that you know how to break your mirror down to the very base,

Just looking at the mechanism is a bit deceiving, as it appears that the motor is built on to the swivel and it enages a solid ring on the base. This is wrong. Somehow, the motor in the swivel is linked to a ring in the base that turns the swivel through another break-away link. The break-away pressure is determined by the giant spring in the hinge. As you can see, a press-on clip maintains the spring pressure against the break-away. What happened when guy manually moved my mirror is that the extra pressure in the spring when the break-away is activated forced that press-on clip to slip on the shaft. Spring pressure went bye-bye, and there was nothing resisting the motor from moving the swivel past the break-away.

The fix is obvious, recompress the spring restoring pressure to the break-away. To do this, you will need to find something like a pipe or tube that is hollow and large enough to stow the harness, yet thin enough to engage the clip but still slip over the shaft. I borrowed a crazy lug wrench from a neighbor.

I had already done the repair in this pic, but this will give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. Hide the wires in the tube while using it to hammer on the clip.

Final product: ring repositioned, spring recompressed, proper tension restored to break-away. “

Unfortunately the links to the photos of this 2008 thread were no longer valid.

[RNajarian]

This link to resolve the same problem in a Touareg looks promising. . .

https://www.clubtouareg.com/threads/folding-mirror-repair-2013-vw-touareg.292799/

Here is the part of the thread that addresses removing the circlip that houses the folding mechanism.

”Today I had time to replace it. Thanks to your instructions! And as U mentioned to get the spring compressed is a hell. TieRaps didn't work, there is no place. Finally from a step, pushed down with all my weight (100Kg) on open end spanner 22mm, the spring compressed this way down over the notch, and a friend slide the locking plate in. Tried 1 hours all kind of ideas alone, but with 2 of us it was fixed in 1 minute. Assembly of the rest of the mirror took 5mins or so. ”

[RNajarian]

Fortunately I can say this problem has resolved successfully.

SUMMARY:

The driver side side view mirror would not fold in. The motor would make a lot of noise, flounder and the grinding sound would stop after about a minute.

I purchased a side view mirror from eBay to take apart to see if I could replace the bad folding motor. After a lot of research you can see in this thread, I determined, removing and replacing the bad folding motor would be very difficult.

I purchased a second side view mirror, this time the same color as my vehicle, to replace the defective original unit.

Despite having Wayne’s write up how to remove the door panel I really didn’t want to remove the panel. Nothing ever seems to go back the same way. I considered cutting the wiring loom at the side view mirror selector switch and splicing the new unit in. Jeremy from TRE convinced me NOT to do this and remove the door panel, “splicing is never good.”

So I bit the bullet. I removed the door panel. Important to note having the right tool made the job 100 times easier. I had purchased a set of plastic body removal tools off Amazon, they worked GREAT!

For this job you do not have to completely remove the door panel. Separating the sides and bottom are enough to gain access to the wiring loom and connections.

I installed the correct color side view mirror . . . and. . . Yes you guessed it. The folding mirror motor was inoperative on this one too.

In desperation I connected the skeleton of what was left of the mirror I took apart . . . and IT WORKED!

At this point I went back to the work bench and disassembled the second mirror I bought off eBay, replacing the correct color cover pieces to the first eBay mirror that worked.

Once done, I returned to the vehicle and installed the newly assembled mirror. I put it through it’s paces and everything worked. I reinstalled the door panel and voilà! The Cayenne is back to 100%

I did not disassemble the original side view mirror because in the event I ham handed the assembly of the working side view mirror I would at least have an esthetically pleasing side view mirror to put back on the vehicle.

Hopefully this mirror won’t crap out on me anytime soon.

Disassembled, but working blue side view mirror


Non working Titanium Metallic mirror on Right/Working Blue mirror on the Left


After the cover swap


EDIT

Even though I tested the convenience light (under the mirror) with a voltmeter it seems to be out. . . a minor problem but I will need to take the glass off and replace the bulb. I’ve got LED blade bulbs leftover from my pinball machine upgrade. I’ll give that one a whirl.

. . . here is the repair

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cayenne-macan-forum/1119971-side-view-mirror-convenience-light-led-upgrade.html