Strange Mirror behaviour 05 ES330
 

So, here's a strange one.
My passenger side electric side mirror will, periodically, not adjust in the up and down position. Side to side is always o.k.
It does nothing when operating the dash switch, or putting the car in reverse
( which should automatically move them downwards )
Eight times out of ten, when I go to the high pressure coin wash the mirror starts working again. This time, it didn't.
Any ideas?

I have seen that on my RX400h and my sons GS300 AWD We inquired at the dealer and found out that when it is cold out the mirror freezes in place and does not move at all when it gets warmer out it will work again.

Unfortunately the exact same thing happens even in the summer.....so it's not cold related.

Possibly you have an intermittent short-circuit in the wiring inside the mirror assembly. When you wash the car, some moisture could get into the mirror assembly and temporarily make the connection that allows the mirror to function. Once the moisture evaporates, the connection is lost and the up/down movement of the mirror stops working again....just my guess.

Lexucan....that sounds like what must be going on. The moisture definitely causes it to work again.
How do I get into the mirror to check connections?

Hi there. Each mirror housing has 2 motors - one for up/down and one for side to side movement.

As the fault is only affecting the one side mirror (eliminating the switch as the potential problem), and the one direction, that motor (or its connections) is suspect.

As its intermittent, my suspicion is that it is a connection problem (dust, corrosion, loss of tension in one of the connectors in the multi-way housing).

As you said cleaning seems to affect it, you will need to pull the mirror out and check the connections in the housing for poor contact (i have never pulled mine to bits, so i dont know how the wires connect to the motor).

If cleaning did not affect the fault, i would trace the wiring and plug/unplug all the connectors along the way to clean the connections within the multiway housing.

Does someone have a repair manual to help with the mechanics involved here?

Cheers, peter.

Ok I'm having the same issue on my 93 es300, I have changed out the driver side mirror 2 times. Along with the mirror adjustment switch on the dash. Is there a relay somewhere I can check?