The right outside mirror on my wifes 330RX came loose and started to rattle. In fear the dealer would want multi hundred dollars to fix it I started to investigate. There was a large gap between the mirror housing and the mount.

Underneath the mount is a plastic cover that pops off with a small screwdriver. It covered two of the three mounting screws that hold the mirror housing to the mount. As I tried to tighten these screws it was obvious that they were stripped and would not tighten.

I decided to remove the mirror from the door to see how I could fix the stripped holes. To do this there is a panel inside the door just opposite that is easy to pry off. This reveals three bolts that hold the mirror mount to the door. Two of these bolts are below the level of the interior door panel but can still be removed. There is a piece of foam that will prevent the bolts from falling in the panel (you have to partialy remove the panel anyway so dropping them is not the end of the world) At the front, top of the door panel is a plastic rivet. Push the center pin in partialy then pry out the entire rivet. Next is the electrical harness.

The interior door panel has to be partialy removed (I say partialy because I could not figure out how to remove it completely and was able to finish the job with it partialy attached) Start at the bottom and pry the plastic panel from the metal door. It takes a lrage amount of force and you need to be near the fastener. Work your way around the panel to move up both sides to the top. In the door pull is a felt bottom. Lift it up and underneath is a screw. Take it out. Laying on the ground, looking up between the panal and the door, you can trace the harness to the connector. It has a locking tab in the middle of the long side. Push the tab toward the wires, push in slightly to release, then pull out.

After having the mirror on my coffee table I had to find two new screws that would reach deeper in the holes than the original screws. This worked realy well.

Assembly is obviously the opposite of dissassembly but the hard part is getting the connector back in but it is do-able.

Hope this helps someone who is in the same jam I was.

Paul

 

Good job. Just a question though, is your car out of warranty already? That would have been a free warranty fix at the dealer. Either way it is fixed, but if your car is in warranty it could have saved you from doing the labor yourself.

 

Nice write-up, thank you. Any photos?

In the classic car world, we do a lot of things like this. Other things you can do are to add steel wool to the hole, which gives the screw something to bite. Another way is to fill the hole with epoxy resin, let it harden then redrill the hole. THat gives the screws new material to bite, also. I have done both.

Gary

 

There is a product out there called Pig Putty or now I see it on tv called magic putty that comes in a log about the diameter of a nickel and is about 8 inches long that is a 2 part epoxy in stick form. The outside is one color and the inside is another color. You cut off a small circle of this stuff and roll it in your hands till it changes colors and is soft then you can mold it into shapes or put it in holes and let it harden then you can drill it or sand it. It will also stop leaks in oil, water or gas. I use the stuff at work to stop leaking transformers till we get them back to the yard for disposal.
Jeff

 

Most excellent write-up. Gives me food for thought. On my wife's '04 RX330, I notice the mirrors are not moving smoothly. They seem to be sticky and jerky when adjusted or when they automatically move down when the car is in reverse. I considered having the dealer perform pm on the mirrors.
My question to you is: Are the adjustment motors in the mirror assembly? If so, how easy would it be to clean/lube the adjusters?

thanks
Chris

 

The mirror would be covered under the 4 year, 50K mile warranty. I had my mirror serviced for the same reason. The actual side mirror assembly was moving...about 1/4 of an inch. Our mirrors are not the folding type. So, they are supposed to be sturdy and solid. Mine can be moved 1/4 of an inch back and forth.

 

Very nice 1st post. How long did did your wife have this baby?

 

I found the original post extremely helpful. Both of my side mirrors were loose when I recently purchased my 2004. I tightened the pair of bolts on the bottom of both mirrors. This worked for the driver's side, but the passenger side was loose again in a week. So I decided to try the longer bolts trick. For those of you planning this repair, I suggest socket cap machine bolts. The specs are #10-32 x 3/4 inch. I found a pack of three at Home Depot. These bolts have a large head because you use a hex wrench to tighten them. However, there is plenty of room for the large head above the plastic bolt cover on the bottom of the mirror. I also used some medium strength thread locker when I put these in. There's very little room under the side mirrors so I used a hex bit in a mini ratchet. This allowed me to avoid scratching the door paint. It's been a few weeks now and the mirror is as tight as ever. Another forum success story.

 

Nice thanks mine were loose i just tighten them up good post!!

 

I would b e interested in this as well as my passenger side mirror is not always working smoothly and seems to need some kind of lubrication.

 

I realize I am replying to a very old thread, but I had to say thanks .... the driver's side mirror has been loose for awhile now and the T25 screws wouldn't tighten down. Dealer wanted to replace the mirror (and I might add, quite a bit of $$$$ involved), but blue thread locker, the #10-32 x 3/4 bolts you reference above at Home Depot, about 10 mins and the mirror is tight as can be. Thank you again for this!

 

Thanks, bought RX330 few months ago, been bothering me so much. Easy fix with bolt specs provided.

 

For those that used the longer bolts, which did you use:

Hex Button Head #10-32 x 3/4in @ Home Depot

Hex Socket Head #10-32 x 3/4in @ Home Depot

Hex Flat Head #10-32 x 3/4in @ Home Depot