tightening manual drivers mirror

[se200]

The 94 SL mirror keeps on moving when you hit bumps. I took off the inside cover and can see the plunger is not applying enough pressure. Cannot figure how to tighten. Can it be fixed?

[PurdueGuy]

you wanting to tighten the mirror to the door, or the control knob?

Mirror to the door should just be 3 nuts (10mm probably, maybe 13mm, don't remember off hand). If the control knob is like on a 2nd gen, it's held into the trim piece with a hex set screw, which is tightened/loosened by a hex key.

[bumpdraft]

Originally Posted by PurdueGuy

you wanting to tighten the mirror to the door, or the control knob?

I believe he means he wants it to stop shaking from the wind buffeting it while he’s driving.



Why I believe that is what he means:
At night, I flip the driver’s side mirror slightly down so lights don’t shine in my eye.

From day one in 1998, I noticed it went down all jerky and cheap-like.

So,…I took it off the car and lubed the control cables with Maxima chain lube so operation would be smoother.

Also, I noticed the control cables were routed wrong (so I thought). They were twisted around and over each other. That is what caused the jerky operation.

I took them apart and re-routed the control cables so they were parallel to each other, and not all twisted over and around each other.

Now,….I have very nice smooth operation, BUT the mirror shakes in the wind. I think I even put the control cables back how they were (routed over and around each other), but the mirror still shakes in the wind at highway speeds because I lubed the control cables.

[se200]

To further elaborate, the 3 nuts are tight, the set screw which holds the knob to the plastic was tight. When you set the mirror to where you want and then drive a while, the mirror eventually points to the ground, not very useful especially since I am tall. Behind the knob where the 3 wires are is a spring and plunger to keep tension on the knob and keep it from moving, but the spring is not keeping the plunger tight and it doesn't appear adjustable like many other model cars. It doesn't look like I could separate it to stretch out the spring. Maybe there was some other bushing in there that wore out and fell out

[PurdueGuy]

Ah, I'm not familiar with the mirror guts, sorry. Best bet might be a new-to-you mirror from a junkyard...

[virnin]

Originally Posted by se200

To further elaborate, the 3 nuts are tight, the set screw which holds the knob to the plastic was tight. When you set the mirror to where you want and then drive a while, the mirror eventually points to the ground, not very useful especially since I am tall. Behind the knob where the 3 wires are is a spring and plunger to keep tension on the knob and keep it from moving, but the spring is not keeping the plunger tight and it doesn't appear adjustable like many other model cars. It doesn't look like I could separate it to stretch out the spring. Maybe there was some other bushing in there that wore out and fell out

Sadly, there are no adjustments on the driver's door mirror. Once it goes loose, you're screwed. I replaced mine with with a "less used" one.