Side view mirrors - motor not tracking, plastic not snapping back into trim

[allaneyre]

Hey All,

I keep our "beast" in a smallish garage that has just enough space to fit our 2020 XLT. My wife is the main driver and often folds the mirrors in to make sure she clears the entrance to the garage. With the colder weather and snow, we've just recently started pulling it in every night.

Today, I went to leave and, heard a good crunch on the passenger side as the mirror was pushed back and folded the opposite way. The damage appears to be minimal, but here are the issues I created:

- The mirror feels "loose" in the housing. It also will not track straight. I hit the right arrow and it tracks up and to the right. I hit left and it tracks down and to the left. Up and down seem "OK", but I haven't tested extensively.

- There was some deformation of the plastic housing, as evidenced by both the painted cap and the lower black trim not snapping completely back into the black trim ring that goes around the mirror glass. I was able to get the painted cap to snap back in... but the lower black trim doesn't seem to want to go back.

So... looking for any help on:

1. Is there a way to re-set the mirror motor or something to see if its just out of sync with the buttons, etc. I'm wondering if that's why its tracking weird

2. If not the sync on the motor, how do I get the glass off to see if I can replace the mirror motor? Does anyone have a link to the motor and is it replaceable without the whole mirror assembly?

3. I've seen a few videos replacing the mirror cap, but none that talk about the bottom black trim. If I get the glass off, is there a way to pull the other pieces off so I can try and get them to go back together within that black mirror glass trim ring?

Thanks for the help!

 

[allaneyre]

All,

I had the time to take apart the mirror today and see what's wrong.

I found the following YouTube video that, while in another language, shows how they take it apart. There was also this video from a manufacturer of replacement caps/trim that also gave good instruction on how to get the screwdriver in there and to rotate the flat-blade to pry the mirror off the mount.

Once inside, I found that the mirror control motor was loose and the center retainer was broken. After disconnecting and removing from the housing... I also found a bracket that keeps it centered was also broken. All the parts were plastic, so a replacement was necessary.

NOTE: Searching for a replacement side mirror control motor will almost certainly get you to the part number: 6U5Z-17D696-C. For my '20 XLT model, this is missing the mirror memory connector which is found on 6U5Z-17D696-D. Depending on your shipping needs/cost, I also found that the Acura 76210-STX-H03 control is an exact replacement. The Acura part was available on Amazon with Prime while the Ford part number was $20 more and/or only available on Ford part dealer sites with 1-2 week shipping timelines + shipping costs.

While I had the mirror off, I also found two screw on the inside of the mirror housing that held in bottom black outside trim piece. After loosening, I was able to push the plastic back within the retainer ring and re-tighten the screws to seal it all back up.

Hopefully this helps someone else. I'll update when the new mirror motor gets installed... hopefully that will fix the alignment/movement issues with the mirror glass.