Electric mirror failure diagnosis.

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WE7X
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Posts: 125
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 6:11 pm

Electric mirror failure diagnosis.

Post by WE7X »

Another episode in my journey of minor annoyance repairs.
Neither of my electric mirrors ('98 LS) are working, so it was a convenient time to dig into the problem.
Fuse #3 under the left dash has power, so head to the master mirror switch on the driver door panel.
There was no power there. BUT, I noticed a short section of wires just before the door mounted mirror switch that were bulging and covered with heat shrink. There was supposed to be power on the orange wire going through that area, and probing the orange from the door side showed power, but not the other end, which went to the switch. I figured somebody had hacked together some splices and it had come loose.
I opened up the very well sealed heat shrink (the kind with the internal sealer) , expecting to see poorly done splices, but found a very small circuit board with two very small one amp fuses soldered to the board traces. They look like small green 1/8th watt resistors, and appear to be marked as 1 amp fuses.This is not shown in the wiring diagram in my factory shop manuals. Needless to say, both fuses are open circuit.
To be continued, hopefully with a picture or two, if I can figure out how to post one.
Rod J
WE7X aka Rod Johnson
Forest Green Metallic '98 LS AWD
Issaquah, WA

Topic author
WE7X
ASV Supporter
ASV Supporter
Posts: 125
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2018 6:11 pm

Re: Electric mirror failure diagnosis.

Post by WE7X »

Today, I placed clip leads and an ammeter across the blown fuses to test the mirror motors and circuitry. It all works, and is not drawing more current than expected, so I have no idea why the fuses were bad.
I know I have the exact replacement fuses here someplace (they are 1A Micro fuses with axial leads). When I find them, I will solder them onto the small circuit board and seal it all up again.
I tried taking a couple of pictures, but I cannot seem to get them from my phone to the desktop, in a format that allows me to send them back out. I am still using AOL, so it might be a problem with them.
WE7X aka Rod Johnson
Forest Green Metallic '98 LS AWD
Issaquah, WA
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