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You need a new $4k mirror. LIES!!!!!!


gmendoza
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Panchos Speed Shop had a LP640 come in with both broken mirrors. So I took it apart to find the problem. Turns out the Murcie (LP640 for sure, I'm assuming 580 is the same) uses the same electric motor as the one found in some GM and Dodge vehicles. Inside the motor is a plastic spur gear that breaks. Here's the fix:

 

 

To remove the mirror:

 

Pop off the panel exposing the bolts & the panel exposing the connector. (borrowed the pic from the web)

 

b2fd0d3386_1024_zpslrrnthry.jpg

 

Undo the connector, fish the mirror wires through the slot in the door panel. Unfortunately, the door panel on this car pinched the wires, so I had to loosen the door panel. Here are good instruction on door panel removal.

 

http://www.safeer.us/how-to-fix-diy-lambor...comment-page-1/

 

Remove the 3 bolts holding the mirror on, fish the wires through the door, and remove the mirror.

 

 

Separate the two mirror pieces:

 

The remove the center bolt and remove the round beauty cover exposing the four bolts on the bottom of the mirror. Remove the four bolts

 

IMG_3091_zps2zujlno8.jpg

 

Separate the two mirror pieces by wiggling the fixed triangle piece away from the mirror housing. The two pieces are held together by the four bolts removed in the previous step and a post that rides on a socket on the fixed triangle piece.

 

Mirror housing post:

IMG_3089_zps2aafez32.jpg

 

Triangle piece socket:

IMG_3088_zpsbtla7tym.jpg

 

 

 

To disassemble the mirror housing:

 

Pop off the mirror glass and disconnect the heater wires off the mirror glass. The glass snaps in place with the tabs circled in red.

IMG_3087_zpsteuebgwm.jpg

 

CAUTION: As you can see, the glass has no reinforcement and you will have the pry the glass off. So there's a high chance of breaking the glass. I used a small hook to lift the tabs as I pried the glass off. Lambo has revised the glass and now the glass is completely backed by plastic giving the glass much more support. New glass is about $120 from Glen @ AMH.

 

Remove the six bolts. Take care not to lose (or forget during assembly) the plastic shield circled in yellow:

IMG_3086_zpsqqt6d8dh.jpg

 

remove the lone bolt circled:

IMG_3084_zpsrsj0wohd.jpg

 

remove the motor assembly from the housing taking care not to damage the paint

 

IMG_3082_zpsfnq530ot.jpg

 

IMG_3081_zpskmtlx741.jpg

 

IMG_3080_zpscsob1xla.jpg

 

 

To remove the motor from the housing:

 

Remove the three socket head bolts (there are nuts on the other side of the bolts):

IMG_3079_zps4kgzaw1j.jpg

 

Undo the mirror adjuster connector and fish the wires out. You may have to loosen the bolts circled to make room to fish the connector out (there are three).

IMG_30801_zpsx3mteauc.jpg

 

 

Lift the motor out the housing

IMG_3078_zps6xz78nhh.jpg

 

Here's the motor:

IMG_3076_zpsdoxq6gld.jpg

 

Now you have two options. One is to replace the motor with one off ebay. Unfortunately I could not find a source for a new motor only. Pros of this option is that it fits & works perfect. Con is you still have the same crappy plastic gear that will break sooner or later. If you decide to replace it, just match it to the pic above. Left or right doesn't matter.

 

The other option is to take your motor apart and replace the gear. I found a company that 3D prints replacement gears. You can buy the gears here:

http://www.gruvenparts.com/gruvenparts-com...irror-assembly/

 

Instructions to replace the gear are here (go to step 8 on page 11 for our application)

http://www.gruvenparts.com/content/PDF/Gru...Y_8_29_2016.pdf

 

Pros of going with this option are that its a much stronger gear that will probably never break. If they do, they replace it.

 

Now, all is not perfect in the world and I hope Gruven can improve on this. The resolution of the print is not very high. So I had to use a small file to clean out some flash from between the teeth to prevent the motor from jamming. I also had to sand the face of the gear smooth to get rid of flash to also prevent jamming.

 

Overall, I was still satisfied with the gear and would recommend it as long as you pay attention to detail.

 

Reassemble in the reverse order and there you have it. Feel free to PayPal me a small percentage of your savings as a token of appreciation. lol

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Amazing work figuring all of this out!!!

 

Now I can start using my folding mirrors without being so afraid of wearing out the gears and not having a reasonable repair plan!

 

Thank you Gonzo!

 

(And nice Esprit in the background!)

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Excellent! I was told by a dealer the mirrors can't be repaired if they break, and must buy new, just over $5K for the mirror and service to replace. Anyway, I still deal with this mirror fart noise in the link below, and just waiting for the day it will give out: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

 

Good to see you are close by if mine ever craps out! For those not choosing to fold in their mirrors, watch out as I bumped mine slightly once when I was not folding them in...so easy to accidently bang into as they stick out a mile. Or the wife walking by doing laundry, ouch!

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>>>> Anyway, I still deal with this mirror fart noise in the link below, and just waiting for the day it will give out

 

That day is near, my friend.

 

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>>>> Anyway, I still deal with this mirror fart noise in the link below, and just waiting for the day it will give out

 

That day is near, my friend.

 

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>>>> Anyway, I still deal with this mirror fart noise in the link below, and just waiting for the day it will give out

 

That day is near, my friend.

 

Yes, been saving my lunch money since March to prep for the day. Plastic crap. Pantera window gears have the same plastic gears, but at least parts dealers have upgraded to brass.

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Excellent! I was told by a dealer the mirrors can't be repaired if they break, and must buy new, just over $5K for the mirror and service to replace. Anyway, I still deal with this mirror fart noise in the link below, and just waiting for the day it will give out: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

 

Good to see you are close by if mine ever craps out! For those not choosing to fold in their mirrors, watch out as I bumped mine slightly once when I was not folding them in...so easy to accidently bang into as they stick out a mile. Or the wife walking by doing laundry, ouch!

 

 

Yup, I'm 99.99% sure your gear is broken. Word of caution, if you continue to use them like this, its possible for the gear to jam completely with the mirror partially folded. That's what happened this LP640. It got jammed almost fully extended but since it wasn't locked into the fully extended position, the mirror was loose, flopping around.

 

Phil, JanDaMan is right though. Everything in the folding mechanism is metal except for this gear. So even a bump can cause them to break. Although, if I had to choose a weak link, this gear is not bad considering there's a fix.

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Phil, JanDaMan is right though. Everything in the folding mechanism is metal except for this gear. So even a bump can cause them to break. Although, if I had to choose a weak link, this gear is not bad considering there's a fix.

 

:iamwithstupid: It would be easy to make a brass gear but then your "fuse" would be something much more costly.

 

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Just to clarify, is this the actual gear to buy in the link below for $49.99, and then you are saying you need to work on it a bit paying attention to detail for it to work?

 

http://www.gruvenparts.com/gruvenparts-com...irror-assembly/

 

 

Yup, that's it. I have an extra set of gears at home. I'll take pics of the areas that need attention for smoother operation tomorrow.

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Thanks. It's a shame dealers don't offer this "option" for repair. Maybe there is financial incentive just to replace it with a whole new unit, but I was told these can't be fixed. Maybe they don't know the fix or per Lamborghini practice are not allowed to offer a fix. This statement is what I would expect from a good customer service dealership, but maybe I am just naive: "it is recommended that the entire mirror be replaced for $_______, or we can attempt to repair it for $_____; however we can't guarantee it would work or have any warranty if we repaired it."

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Thanks. It's a shame dealers don't offer this "option" for repair. Maybe there is financial incentive just to replace it with a whole new unit, but I was told these can't be fixed. Maybe they don't know the fix or per Lamborghini practice are not allowed to offer a fix. This statement is what I would expect from a good customer service dealership, but maybe I am just naive: "it is recommended that the entire mirror be replaced for $_______, or we can attempt to repair it for $_____; however we can't guarantee it would work or have any warranty if we repaired it."

 

 

I think there are no incentives for dealers to offer this. Repairing the gear is 3x the labor as replacing the whole mirror and profit on a $5k part is much better than on a $50 part.

 

 

So here's the old gear vs the 3D printed gear. As you can see there's a little of plastic strings between the teeth that should be removed.

07D4BB84-2CBD-40A1-8B7B-B5A2297D1B88_zps

 

Also see the top surface in this pic is a little uneven, this should be smoothed out also. C16819D4-F365-48B2-A461-12BD8BE3AFB7_zps

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Thanks. It's a shame dealers don't offer this "option" for repair. Maybe there is financial incentive just to replace it with a whole new unit, but I was told these can't be fixed. Maybe they don't know the fix or per Lamborghini practice are not allowed to offer a fix. This statement is what I would expect from a good customer service dealership, but maybe I am just naive: "it is recommended that the entire mirror be replaced for $_______, or we can attempt to repair it for $_____; however we can't guarantee it would work or have any warranty if we repaired it."

 

Dealers aren't in the game to save you money. That's what a good independent shop does, albeit with the same disclaimer. I do these types of things for my customers daily. As long as they are aware of that there is no guarantee I'd gladly make a repair like this.

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Thanks for the gear photos. Anyone know of a good independent shop in Orange County? I need to learn what may need dealer assistance vs independent shop. Not sure I would feel real confident doing the door panel and changing the gear myself. If I took my time, maybe so. What the hey, at least I had enough confidence to change my battery, so maybe this is the next level.

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I think there are no incentives for dealers to offer this. Repairing the gear is 3x the labor as replacing the whole mirror and profit on a $5k part is much better than on a $50 part.

 

 

So here's the old gear vs the 3D printed gear. As you can see there's a little of plastic strings between the teeth that should be removed.

07D4BB84-2CBD-40A1-8B7B-B5A2297D1B88_zps

 

Also see the top surface in this pic is a little uneven, this should be smoothed out also. C16819D4-F365-48B2-A461-12BD8BE3AFB7_zps

 

Hey man, would you be willing to let me borrow the broken gear? (I'm about 25min from you). I'd like to model this one and see if I can turn out some better parts.

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