One of my BA's wing mirrors is loose. Not where it fixes to the car; it's the hinge, it has loosened so the mirror flaps in the breeze. Most annoying, particularly as it's on the driver's side.

I've never taken one of these apart. Is it fixable, or is it new unit time?

Thanks.

this happened on my old F, it was fixed together at the hinge with black gaffa tape when i bought it, took off the tape to find it was only the wire which was linking the two together. I got some good epoxy resin glue from the local motor factors.
it worked a treat and was as solid as a rock. the only problem will be that you will not be able to fold it in on a night time/shopping car park etc.

hope that helps

adamhicks26 has a set for sale on here for £30 I think , the back covers are swappable if yours have as groove in like mine, and my old drivers side mirror was a bit "flexable" in the wind so I know how bugging it is.
Otherwise I can tell you that the mirror unit can be unscrewed from underneath, there is a small round plastic cap that pops off.
You might if careful and nowt is actually broken be able to just tighten it all up, worth a go, good luck.

Very very common, particularly on post fords (like yours) - the quick fix is to wedge blu-tac between the mirror and base where it hinges All 3 of my post fords had the same problem, on the driver's mirror - just blu-tac every time

Great - thank you! I'll have a look at that.


I think that, or Hughie's blu-tac will have to be the solution for the moment!

I'm relieved it's a common problem. But is there a way of properly fixing it? Or does it happen because of wear, and so there's no way to put it right? I'd rather put it right, in case I have an accident & get blamed for bodging a repair.

Edit: I've just found another thread on this, doesn't seem there's an easy solution! I might just take it apart anyway & see what I can do.

Wobbly mirror sorted!

I pushed mirror unit flat against the window, then built up several layers of electrical tape on the inner end of the unit, to create some friction against the part that fixes to the car. The friction stops it blowing closed when the car is moving. The mirror can still be adjusted, and as the tape is black, it just looks like a small fixture of some sort that's supposed to be there. In any case, the fix doesn't show when the mirror is in the normal position

I did a quick test drive and the mirror didn't move at all

Now that is clever, might have to steal that idea to keep mine in one place

Yep, seems fix is a good-un: did a longer trip down to Surrey on dual carriageway, motorway speeds, mirror didn't move a fraction. Phew, has saved me hassle of getting a new one!

323Rock also had a great little trick for fixing the wobbly mirror,

soak a rubber O ring in some hot water for a bit

stretch it over the mirror, into the gap between the movable mirror, and the mirror door plastic bit...if that makes sense

Thanks Rock

Great idea! Similarly, I'd thought about using one of those cord-covered elastics that girls wear in their hair. Should just about go over the mirror & fit under the hinge.

Just an update on this thread.

Sundance's wobbly driver's mirror has just been failed on MOT, as it was considered "insecure"

The garage have said they'll tape it up to get it through the retest, but just a heads up to anyone else with this issue who's about to get a MOT!!

For the record my tape solution (above) is still in place, but the tape has since shrunk and no longer does the job, so I will need to replace it. It got me through MOT fine last year, though, when the tape was still quite new.

S

I had an issue last weekend with my drivers side mirror not opening fully. Turns out that around the main pin/shaft/whatsit there are two metal rings in which 3 ball bearing fit. Normally the bearings are sat down in the plastic base and the rings run either side of them, with slight flares in them that the ball bearings 'lock' into.

Insert rudimentary diagram that may or may not be accurate:



I'd found that one of the bearings had come out its hole and was locking too early, preventing the mirror from opening. Eventually popped it back in it's hole and it works fine again. Anyway, my thinking is that over time the flares in the metal rings wear/stretch causing them to not lock as securely as before, hence the wobble.

You can see what I mean by folding the mirror, it should lift slightly as the the ring rides up over the bearings and you can just see them sat there, or not as in my case Of course this is on my post-Ford mirror, pre-Ford, no idea

Still not figured out how to separate the base and mirror yet to investigate further, even have a 2nd hand one from a scrappers to play with, no joy

What's wrong with just wedging some blu-tac between the baseplate and mirror? worked for me on all my BAs

I suppose, as long as it's JDM blu-tac....

Imported especially for that job

EDIT: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Insect-Hittsuki ... B0012R4RPY

(that was more difficult to find than you might think)