I came out of a restaruant to find that someone had bumped into the side view mirror on my 2002 Taurus. It was hanging down and I was able to snap it back in place, however, it is not as stable as before. Can I just glue it back to stabilize it? What kind of adhesive should be used?
Side view mirror repair
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
Tried to glue mine from the outside. Could not hold parts together for the glue to hold. Did not last.
One way to repair.
Remove inner door panel. Search on a search engine "muth mirror install taurus" for instructions. PDF file is a Gen3 but similar enough. http://www.muthco.com/techsupport/pdfs/21000540.pdf
Muth sells replacement custom mirrors. There could be some minor differences from your door.
Remove all screws. Should be about 8 most around the sides of the door, and some at the door handle.
Starting at the bottom. Pull or pry the inner door panel to pull out all plastic holders that grab in holes in the door. You will hear a ripping sound as the plastic comes out of the holes. Plastic holders are reusable.
Pull inner door panel up over the door lock plunger and the door handle.
Prop the door inner panel on blocks or something so that the wires do not pull too hard. It is not necessary to disconnect any wires yet.
Remove the speaker grille and speaker if any near the mirror. Mach type grill just pulls off by hand. Spkr has small bolts. See Muth instructions.
Do not need to disconnect wires yet so that the wire will keep the mirror from falling to the floor and breaking.
Unscrew the 3 nuts on 3 plastic spikes which is how the mirror holds on to the door. Spikes may be already broken. The mirror might just fall off and be held on by the wire. If the mirror is totally broken off, you should have a mirror with 3 plastic spikes and 3 broken fragments of plastic spikes.
Hold the mirror so it does not fall and unplug the round black connector from the mirror. This is the only wire you must disconnect. Remove mirror from car.
Before gluing the spikes together, find some small nails or screws that would fit inside the spikes to strengthen the joint. Cut off the nail heads and glue together the spikes with the reinforcing nails inside. I used cyanoacrylate gel. I do not know what the best glue is.
Reinstall mirror. Only one trick to reinstall inner door panel. There are 2 large plastic spikes in the inner door panel that fit into 2 holes in the steel part of the door. The spikes guide the inner door panel to the right place so the plastic holders will go the right way.
Buying a new mirror housing might be better but you might have to wait for delivery or go the junkyard route and you might have to remove the colored mirror cover and reuse on your new mirror housing.
Pic 1 Door. Pic 2 Door plastic holder, cables, plastic spike in inner door panel. Pic 3 Connector for Mirror.
Pic 4 Broken Mirror. Pic 5 Glued Mirror.
One way to repair.
Remove inner door panel. Search on a search engine "muth mirror install taurus" for instructions. PDF file is a Gen3 but similar enough. http://www.muthco.com/techsupport/pdfs/21000540.pdf
Muth sells replacement custom mirrors. There could be some minor differences from your door.
Remove all screws. Should be about 8 most around the sides of the door, and some at the door handle.
Starting at the bottom. Pull or pry the inner door panel to pull out all plastic holders that grab in holes in the door. You will hear a ripping sound as the plastic comes out of the holes. Plastic holders are reusable.
Pull inner door panel up over the door lock plunger and the door handle.
Prop the door inner panel on blocks or something so that the wires do not pull too hard. It is not necessary to disconnect any wires yet.
Remove the speaker grille and speaker if any near the mirror. Mach type grill just pulls off by hand. Spkr has small bolts. See Muth instructions.
Do not need to disconnect wires yet so that the wire will keep the mirror from falling to the floor and breaking.
Unscrew the 3 nuts on 3 plastic spikes which is how the mirror holds on to the door. Spikes may be already broken. The mirror might just fall off and be held on by the wire. If the mirror is totally broken off, you should have a mirror with 3 plastic spikes and 3 broken fragments of plastic spikes.
Hold the mirror so it does not fall and unplug the round black connector from the mirror. This is the only wire you must disconnect. Remove mirror from car.
Before gluing the spikes together, find some small nails or screws that would fit inside the spikes to strengthen the joint. Cut off the nail heads and glue together the spikes with the reinforcing nails inside. I used cyanoacrylate gel. I do not know what the best glue is.
Reinstall mirror. Only one trick to reinstall inner door panel. There are 2 large plastic spikes in the inner door panel that fit into 2 holes in the steel part of the door. The spikes guide the inner door panel to the right place so the plastic holders will go the right way.
Buying a new mirror housing might be better but you might have to wait for delivery or go the junkyard route and you might have to remove the colored mirror cover and reuse on your new mirror housing.
Pic 1 Door. Pic 2 Door plastic holder, cables, plastic spike in inner door panel. Pic 3 Connector for Mirror.
Pic 4 Broken Mirror. Pic 5 Glued Mirror.
Attachments
Joined
·
3 Posts
The passenger mirror on my 2001 taurus and the same issue. After I removed the inside door panel, I completely removed the mirror assembly and I used JB Weld (glue) repair the mirror. This is a two part glue product. I removed the mirror to be able to work on it better. Before gluing it back together, use a file to rough up both parts that will be glued together. Once I mixed a small amount of JB Weld together I applied a lite coat just enough around one mount at a time. I did one mount a day (no rush). I also used rubber bands around the mirror and mounts to hold the mount in place. Be sure that the mounts line up stright. After I glued all three mounts l appied another light coat of JB Weld. Again, I roughed up the area before applying another coat. Cost was under $5.00 for the JB Weld.
Just FYI, remember to check the Topic Finder at the top...plenty of write ups made by members here for what you're looking for 
How well does JB Weld hold up to hot weather? That's a pretty easy fix for $5 and doesn't look half a**ed. Nice! I've seen plenty of amusing fixes at the yards (string and a screw, screws, nails, varietys of tape, etc).
And definitely check out a place like LKQ Self Serve, or Pull A Part for a new mirror if JB weld doesn't hold up.
How well does JB Weld hold up to hot weather? That's a pretty easy fix for $5 and doesn't look half a**ed. Nice! I've seen plenty of amusing fixes at the yards (string and a screw, screws, nails, varietys of tape, etc).
And definitely check out a place like LKQ Self Serve, or Pull A Part for a new mirror if JB weld doesn't hold up.
repaired mirror again with different epoxy
Right side mirror broke again at the 3 plastic legs that bolt to the door. This time used BK 765-1540 to glue the plastic mirror legs together. Sticks well 1 day later. Will see if stays stuck.
Do not mean this as an advertisement. Just heads up on something that worked to repair a bumper cover. Will see if it sticks to mirror plastic.
Regular epoxy and cyanoacrylate glue do not stick to TPO or polycarbonate in bumper covers and some other car plastics.
Used "NAPA FLEX BUMPER REPAIR KIT BK 765-1540" to repair large holes in the bumper along with fiberglass cloth backer. Also used it as a filler like bondo on bumper cover. Sticks well to Taurus bumper cover. Spreads and sands ok.
Here is a video how to remove side mirror
Follow up. NAPA FLEX BUMPER REPAIR KIT BK 765-1540 did not work for the side mirror but did work for the bumper cover. Bought and installed aftermarket side mirror to end the problem. Aftermarket mirrors seem to come with one black smooth cap and one textured black cap. Paint cap to the color you want and install cap.
Right side mirror broke again at the 3 plastic legs that bolt to the door. This time used BK 765-1540 to glue the plastic mirror legs together. Sticks well 1 day later. Will see if stays stuck.
Do not mean this as an advertisement. Just heads up on something that worked to repair a bumper cover. Will see if it sticks to mirror plastic.
Regular epoxy and cyanoacrylate glue do not stick to TPO or polycarbonate in bumper covers and some other car plastics.
Used "NAPA FLEX BUMPER REPAIR KIT BK 765-1540" to repair large holes in the bumper along with fiberglass cloth backer. Also used it as a filler like bondo on bumper cover. Sticks well to Taurus bumper cover. Spreads and sands ok.
Here is a video how to remove side mirror
Follow up. NAPA FLEX BUMPER REPAIR KIT BK 765-1540 did not work for the side mirror but did work for the bumper cover. Bought and installed aftermarket side mirror to end the problem. Aftermarket mirrors seem to come with one black smooth cap and one textured black cap. Paint cap to the color you want and install cap.
Attachments
Joined
·
7,050 Posts
Used plastic weld epoxy from vatozone/oreilly when mine got smacked by a tumbleweed. Worked great. $5. It sticks to the plastics a bit better than JB weld. JB will work fine if it can find corners/grooves to bite into, but on slick plastic it's iffy
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
Join the discussion
