My mirror started clicking the other day, Feb 18th 2012 or so, and it now does it consistently. I am guessing there is a sensor in the housing that tells it when to stop moving based upon what key opens the door. Does anyone have any idea on the sensors or how to stop the courtesy program from moving the mirrors? I have a 2010 SV Premium. I went into the settings menu on the Audio display to turn off convenience opening, however the mirror still moves. Any ideas would be great, I would like to not destroy the mirror. I have also noticed that when I back up, and the mirror tilts down, that it dosen't always go back up. It is just the passenger side that has this problem, the drivers side works just fine. I would imagine that the mirror is fairly expensive to replace so for now I have stopped the mirrors from going down but I would like for them to also not move on using the fob. I am the only one driving the car, so I don't need the car to know the difference between the fobs and adjust the mirrors for my comfort.

http://youtu.be/4d8TY1JZd5A

 

I would assume your car is still under warranty.. so I'd call up the dealer about it

 

unfortunately not, I do a lot of driving in it, I am up to 52K on it. Waaay past the warranty period haha. Plus I had it in for everything when it was getting close to running out, which was only about 7 months ago, and I am sure I pissed the tech's/writers off enough not to push Nissan to help me with this. I am still in good standing and will bring it back for major service (60K...). Plus everything I complained about truly had a problem, but it was in probably twice a month for a few months with little and not so little things, but I don't want to make a stink about it when at this point it really is my problem.

Anyone know what a replacement would cost? I don't need it painted, I can just swap the internals. OR if anyone had one that was damaged, glass/housing/moisture in the lens, but that the internals still work great, I would be interested in buying it at a reasonable price if I can't get this fixed.


EDIT: The actuator assembly is only $32 from courtesy parts. Anyone know how to diagnose the problem so I can buy the right part?

 

O okay that sucks.... Yeah these are the reasons I buy the extended warranties because its always something that goes wrong after the fact

 

OP on my 2012 after a week of owning it my passenger mirror did yours is doing the dealer replaced the complete inside and actual mirror... So I am guessing thats what you need to do? not sure, hope this helps.

 

SUCCESS!! sort of. I decided it was easy to take the mirror assembly off, so I did. Brought it in the house and started dissecting it. There is a position sensor that tells the motors when to stop moving in the actuator assembly. These two sensors use a simple resistance circuit to determine the depth. I noticed that one of the contacts had corroded thus making the circuit incomplete and the motors will simply spin until they hit the top of the circuit. I soldered the connections back together, it is a temporary fix, but the end result is that it works again. I need to order the replacement piece but I cannot find it on courtesy parts so I will pay a visit to the dealer to find out. If it is part of the actuator assembly, then it is only $32 so not to bad. Better than replacing the entire assembly. I have a few pics below of the issue and the part.


If you look at the two black strips, one on each of the two circuit boards, you will notice that one has a gray section at the bottom and the other doesn't. The one with the gray section goes to the vertical position sensor and gives me my problems. I simply bridged the gap with some solder and put it back together hoping it would work.

 

good to know what this is and that it isnt a BIG deal to fix. Glad you got it figured out

 

vr4z06gt - I am quite impressed. I am fairly strong with geophysics (my degree field) and astrophysics (minor), but internal automotive electronics leave my eyeballs hopelessly crossed and my little brain in gridlock.

Is that a splotch of mirror assembly grease or a bruise just below the nail of your left thumb in your photo? I would bet you may be the sort of tinkerer than can somehow figure out almost anything. Good luck with your mirror. Like you, I cannot stand to have something clicking or rattling in my car.

 

Thank you for the complement. That is just mirror grease. I took apart the actuator assembly to see how it worked. I suppose that is the engineer part of me coming through.

 

Ahhh! Engineer! That explains things. I can grind and polish telescope lenses, build telescopes, write code in six different computer languages, map geologic strata, lay shingles, lay brick, am certified to install electrical wiring in homes that will meet all code requirements, and have done all these.

But when I push a button that is supposed to do something electrically in my car, and it does not do it, I head straight to the dealer, because I know my chances of fixing the problem are very remote.

I guess what I am saying is that being a jack of all trades does not come close to making me an engineer. Engineers just have a way of knowing how to approach technical and mechanical problems. Sadly, other than changing a flat tire, I don't.