2015 Expedition Power Fold Mirror Repair

[twjanak]

Good morning!

New registered user here but have to say thanks for the help via previous posts on side view mirror repair. Definitely could not have made it without the post from dcsang Here. Hoping this post below may help someone in the future.

My passenger side view mirror would not stay folded out, it would blow back in the wind part way to the window and then catch the detent and stay in this semi folded position. Doing the "reset" procedure found online did not help any. The mirror seemed to operate/fold normally, just seemed like the detent was out of position.

I removed the glass via dcsang's instructions, which were invaluable. Uscrewed the tilt motor and removed the blinker light. Removed the entire plastic housing exposing the plastic arm and wiring. I immediately noticed a broken wire on the two pin connector shown below. I also could see that the mirror would still lock into it's detent, just that the detent was in the wrong/semi folded position. Searching for info on these two wires and the little "Magna" module they connect to led me to believe they had something to do with the fold motor circuit. I tried to salvage the two pin connector to reconnect the broken wire but ended up ruining it in the process. So cut the connector off and twisted the wires together to test. Folding the mirror in and out a couple times resulted in the detent stopping in the correct position. Soldered the wires together and tested again with perfect results.

I do believe sometime during the several weeks that the mirror would not stay in the correct position it went from folding correctly to not folding at all. May have even been intermittent folding/not folding. I assume that was due to an intermittent connection with this broken wire. Either way, it appears to be fixed and I will road test it as soon as I get the front brakes reassembled!

Travis

 

[Yupster Dog]

My passenger side view mirror would not stay folded out

Always nice when someone post a problem and the fix.

I remember a couple of threads about the folding mirror not folding right. This will be very helpful.

Nice post Travis

 

[Gary Waugh]

@twjanak
I don't want to hijack this thread, but do you have a link or any pictures how you took the mirror apart? I recently reveresed my car and caught the passenger mirror and broke all the housing. I bought a used unit from eBay but it is not power fold like my original, so I would like to swapo all the body with the indicators, etc but couldn't see how to take it apart. Clearly you have found how to, so hoping you can help explain what you did so I won't break my new housing!!
Thanks Gary

 

[Travio]

Another Travis with the exact SAME problem. Wires pulled out of connector, I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right! Thanks for posting the splice, why would Ford change colors on 2 sides of a connector? Just sloppy engineering! I had to re-pin the mirror heater too, as that was sheared off.
The only silver lining is I finally got to use my auto fabric tape I bought to re-wrap everything. I opted to put a new plug on this, to give it a little more slack on the wire. I suspect the mirror might have hyper extended, resulting in the break.

In response to the above post, you have to pry the mirror from the bottom, and create a gap. It took me several attempts, the mirror is held to the actuator by little plastic tabs that grip the circumference. There are 2 for each point, and they can be pretty difficult to nab. If you can create some positive pressure on the underside, it makes it easier. Be careful once it does come loose, I am not 100% sure that I didn't break the heater wire. After you disconnect the mirror (heater and blind spot wires), there are 3 bolts around the actuator, and one on the turn signal. The turn signal has a tab on the non-screw side, so lift it out (in this case from the left). I could not figure out how to disconnect the actuator, so I left it connected, and removed everything else. Once all the screws are out, you can turn the plastic housing to allow it to slide down the metal arm and do your work.

If you are interested in what plugs I used here, see below....