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Outside mirror body loose.


rofsts

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On the 98-04 Seville, can I tighten the loose outside drivers mirror body myself ?

I am reluctant to start pulling on the trim in fear of ruining something, does anyone

have a suggestion on where to start ? The section of trim behind the mirror base is

above the window ledge and seems llike it might snap off easily ?

Or is this better left to the dealer ?

Thank you guys, mine is a '99 sts.

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rofsts,

I am very familiar with the outside rearview mirrors (OSRVMs) for the '98+ Seville. In fact, I once removed one of these units from a derelict vehicle that was destined for the scrap heap just so I could take it apart and study its internal construction. (I still have it in my office.)

Before you try any repairs on your vehicle, help me understand exactly what is loose. Is it the bowl-shaped, body-color-painted piece that normally faces the front of the vehicle and surrounds the (reflective) mirror surface? Or is it the triangle-shaped piece that is mounted to the door, at the front lower corner of the window opening? Neither of these pieces simply pries off from the outside! In fact, the entire mirror assembly is attached to the door with three nuts that attach to studs on the triangle-shaped piece; the studs pass through the door's sheet metal and the nuts are attached on the inside of the door, behind the dark gray plastic inner trim panel that surrounds the glass. Removing this trim panel requires first removing the main door trim panel. None of these steps is particularly difficult if you have some experience working on vehicles and you have proper "trim panel removal" tools, available at any auto parts store. One person can do the job alone, but handling the door trim panel is easier with the assistance of a second person.

Please provide more details about the symptoms you are experiencing that lead you to conclude that you have a "loose mirror base" so that I can better assist you.

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RDWROIR,

Just so there is no misunderstanding. On my car there is a triangular trim cover on the inside that covers the mounting bolts that pries off. That is what I was refering to. Not prying anything off from the outside. I would never recommend prying the mirror off from the outside. You are obviously more familiar with the Seville than I.

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Ranger,

Thanks for your clarification. I admit I was puzzled by your previous post -- I though that you might be referring to an exterior trim piece. :huh:

I am aware that on the '97 Deville the triangle-shaped trim piece inside the door snaps in place and covers the retaining nuts for the OSRVM. However, I thought that this piece was not separate from the main door trim panel, i.e., it could not be removed from the door separately from the main panel. Perhaps it can be snapped free and pried back far enough to access the retaining nuts for the OSRVM? In any case, this is not possible in the '98+ Seville.

(My father owns a '97 Deville, but I have a lot less "hands-on" experience with that generation of Eldo/Seville/Deville than the '98+ Seville and '00+ Deville, hence my confusion.)

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Hmm, well, I never had the need to remove it but I would swear that it is seperate from the door panel. I am at work now but will take a walk out and have a look at it when I take a smoke break in about :30 - :45 min. and post back.

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RDWROIR,

FWIW, on the '97 Deville the triangular trim cover is seperate but I could not tell for sure if it is attached to the door panel. Didn't want to pry it to much and break something that I did not have to remove. I did remove the door panel several years ago and I don't recall removing that piece so if I had to guess, I would say it is seperate.

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Thank you for your suggestions thus far ! Yes the whole outside

assembly is getting loose and moves slightly more that normal

at the triangular area that attaches to the door frame.

So as stated earlier it would be the three bolts that have nuts

on the inside, behind the gray plastic trim.

Quess my question was answered, the whole door panel must

come off to loosen the gray plastic piece covering the mirror

nuts, was hoping the gray plastic might come off seperately.

Thank you folks, ROF STS.

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rofsts,

Your last post (above) correctly summarizes the situation. However, assuming that your vehicle has experienced "normal" usage (i.e., no abuse), then I have some difficulty believing that the three retaining nuts for the OSRVM have loosened themselves such that you would notice movement of the mirror assembly. Hopefully it is just a simple a matter of tightening the nuts to correct the problem, but I am concerned that you may find that something in the mirror assembly is actually cracked or broken. In any case, the only way to find out for sure is to remove the door trim pieces as I described previously and perform an inspection. If/when you do this work, or have it done for you, please remember to update this thread so that everyone here knows what you found and how it was fixed, and we can all benefit from the shared knowledge.

Good luck!

Ranger,

FYI - Regarding our discussion of the triangle-shaped trim panel on the '97 Deville door panel, I checked the online GM service parts catalog for that model. It shows that the piece is indeed a separate, serviceable part, but it appears to have hook-shaped feature on its bottom edge that attaches behind the main door panel, under its top edge, and is retained to the main panel with a nut. Now that I think about it, I recall once scrapping a damaged door panel from a Deville of this vintage, and the triangle-shaped piece was definitely a part of the assembly, as suggested by the illustration in the service parts catalog. If the trim piece in your vehicle can be removed separately from the door panel, it may be because the nut is missing, or the piece is damaged in some (relatively harmless) way.

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  • 5 weeks later...

'RDWRIOR" suggested that I post the outcome to my question/delima, well after realizing I didn't want to risk breaking trim fasteners etc. taking the door panel off, I called my dealer, they said bring it in, is a quick fix if nothing is broken.

Early this morning I took it in , they had the trim off and tightened the bolts and had it

back to me in 20 minutes !! Charged $28.35, can't beat it, they have been a great

dealer to me (Hennessy, Atlanta) . Does make me feel dumb however, know I could have taken care of it myself with the right tools.

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rofsts,

Thank you for posting your update and "closing the loop" on this issue, as I had requested. I made a point of asking for this kind of feedback because one of the things that has frustrated me about this forum over the years is that too often people come here asking for help with a problem, and get some good, educated guess diagnoses and/or recommendations, but then they never give an update on what actually was found to be the root cause of the problem and/or what fixed it. Both 'Ranger' and I (and you, too) were making assumptions -- accurate in this case, as it turns out -- that the loose mirror was caused by loose fasteners, but obviously neither of us had ever examined your vehicle. The real problem may have been something else, but we never would have known had you never updated this thread.

It would seem that your dealer served you well. Knowing the work that is involved, and considering typical dealer labor rates, I would say that you were charged fairly. I am glad that you had your problem fixed. Still, as I stated in a previous post, I am curious what could make the mirror mounting nuts loosen over time. . . unless they were never tightened properly in the first place! To your knowledge, was the vehicle ever serviced in some way that required the mirror to be removed/replaced? I would hate to think that the assembly line worker didn't get the job done properly. . . <_<

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