Dmenscha

You guys have saved my bacon before and today I have a new issue.

I just bought my wife a 1998 e-320 wagon. (I got a great deal from a friend) The passenger side mirror will not return from the parking mode. It will move side to side, but not up or down.

We mostly have only 2 lane roads around here, so it's not an immediate safety issue, but it might be in the future.

Any ideas? I've RTFM

TIA.

raymond g-

i'd suggest popping off the mirror cover and examine the mirror assembly
naked while you manipulate the controls. pay close attention to anything
which may inhibit movement such as years of grime, insects, etc. i found
dead hornets and leaves.

if you head over to the STICKIES here, there are tons of links to mirror
troubleshooting...which you should find details on mirror cover removal.

Dmenscha

Thanks Raymond,

I have pulled the assembly apart and found nothing that would have me suspicious of it. I'm wondering if there is a way to clear the seat position memory. The previous owner may have hit the memory button while in reverse, although it seems stuck in all 3 presets.

Plutoe

Sounds like you only did one half of what was suggested-----the main question is while the passanger side mirror was off were you able to move the mirror in a side to side and up and down position-----

raymond g-

ack...forgot to include the link

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210...ml#post4577982

Dmenscha

Thanks for the input Plutoe. And thanks for the link raymond. I did visit that link before I posted here the first time.

At the risk of not wanting to force the mechanism just yet, I applied some pressure to the plate in the up and down axis and it didn't want to budge. I can control the side to side motion with the control in the cockpit, and when i attempt the vertical it just clicks as if it's trying to move but is up against a stop.

With the wisdom here in the forum, I'll try to use more force and see what happens and let you know what the result is. I figured I didn't want to break the mechanism the first time I touched the car.

Plutoe

Based on your report--- of not being able to move the mrror up or down because of clicking------you have a bad mirror motor, they are expensive and it is cheaper to get a complete mirror assy---there are loads available on the internet!!

Dmenscha

I wish you would lie to me. Tell me it's something that a cleverly placed piece of duct tape would fix it. I'll take it apart and test the motor independently.

Once again I really appreciate the prompt and expert comments.

Plutoe

Ok the good news is that I am told(a gent from Tbilisi) if you get a girl friend, not wife to bend over and drape her ---- over the mirror and move form side to side 69 percent of the times the motor is repaired---that's a possible solution!!

raymond g-

one day, i'm going to hook Plutoe up to SDS and see what trouble codes appear!

Dmenscha

So, I took the mirror off the side of the car (Big mistake) and removed the motor housing. 3 screws got the motor housing loose so I could pry the tabs off the housing and look at the electric motors and the gear mechanism. I could have done this without taking the mirror off the car, but futzing with the nylon gears might have become problematic.

As I suspected, one of the gears wasn't quite right and I managed to replace it in a position where it turns freely. As they say in the manuals, replacement is the opposite of removal.

I discovered that the assembly had been off the car before because I found a screw rattling around inside the case. Quite an effort to put wooden wedges in the gap to keep the mirror springs from snapping shut!

Thanks to all that replied to this thread. I'm a happy camper!

raymond g-

great effort. you get a gold start for having retained all your fingers, too.
been there, done that. know that it is a tricky job but do-able if you're patient.