Jerky / Juddery Folding Wing Mirror fix / lube

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smilie121
B5
Posts: 479
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:53 pm
Passat model: B8 GT DSG 230bhp
Location: Loch Lomond

Jerky / Juddery Folding Wing Mirror fix / lube

Post by smilie121 »

Quick guide to sort your jerky wing mirrors. Mine were jerking quite badly and this has got them to be as smooth as when I got the Passat. It seems its a build-up of poo as well as drying out. I did the fix a few weeks ago and still great.

You'll need:

1 - Dent puller
2 - Flat head screwdriver
3 - WD40 and Some silicone / PTFE lubricant or as I did a WD40 and silicon 2 in 1
4 - A towel


Links to images if needed:

https://i.ibb.co/JC7htMT/mirror1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/FnSb9LN/mirror2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/LJMkgVM/mirror3.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/ZVqHJgN/mirror4.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Bz1twyT/mirror5.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/3zm78vd/mirror6.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Ttr4xkK/mirror7.jpg

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With your adjustable mirror joystick, move your mirror in as to get your finger behind the mirror as pictured. Make sure the mirror is clean before attaching the dent puller. Now simultaneously pull outwards but also diagonally fashion, as if peeling it off. See the third picture to understand why. It feels like it may break but its pretty strong as you will see.


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What it looks like when it's off. Careful not to let it dangle and hit the paintwork. It's easily unclipped.


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Red arrows highlight the push fit plastic retention brackets. The brute force pulling backward would increase the chance of breakage, whereas applying more pressure to one side as mentioned will allow them to bend and peel off in sequence.

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There are 2 plastic brackets that hold the housing in place. Using a flat head screwdriver, lift these off the metal in order to pull the shroud off. Red pushes down from the metal and blue and pulls up. START ON THE OUTSIDE FIRST, unclip and pull back enough so it cannot reclip.


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A closer look at the inside of the shroud. As you can see the outside clip snapped as it reattached. This is because I had unclipped both and attempted to pull the shroud off. On the second mirror, I did the outside first and had no problems and was far easier to remove. If you break yours as I did, fear not as Gorilla glue seems to have glued it on properly (left it the 8 hour minimum curing time). I have reclipped and unclipped without it breaking - good stuff!


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Fair amount of poo for a 3-year-old car.


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Red arrows highlight the part that rotates. You cannot get in here and guessing you would need to remove the mirror from the door (accessed via removing the door card) to have any chance of servicing it.

Spray all around here with your 2in1 or WD40 using a straw to get in where you can, using a towel to save getting anything on the paintwork.

Give it several minutes to work before repeating - I did this 3 or 4 times over 20 or so minutes. Now fold and unfold the mirrors several times and reapply the 2 in 1 or the silicone / PTFE spray in both the folded and unfolded positions. MAKE SURE YOUR MIRROR IS UNPLUGGED AND NOT DANGLING OR YOU RISK DAMAGING YOUR PAINTWORK. I repeated this step 3 or 4 times also but didn't leave it for minutes, just jumping side to side. After a few more folding the mirrors were much smoother - maybe 10 or 15 motions.

They improved even more over the following days, likely due to the increased number of times of movement?

Reassembly is simply the reversal of the above steps and goes together quite easily - be sure to align up the shroud before pushing it back on, starting on the inside to outside. So literally reverse as above.

Hope this helps folk when the time comes. Always good to give back to the community after all the help I have received for my previous car.
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