Kimple

Hello,

I had an small accident and need to replace my side mirror mount and gasket. How do I get the mirror glass out so that I can disconnect the electric connector inside the mirror?

Thanks,

Kimmo
Porsche 944 '86

Tabor

Push the glass all the way up or down. There will be a plastic ring with ridges on it that run perpindicular to the mirror glass. You will need to rotate this ring with a screwdriver. Sorry, but I don't remember witch way you need to rotate the ring (clockwise vs. counter clockwise).

After this the glass and its metal frame will pop off.

Kimple

Ok, thanks! I'll give it a try.

Kimmo
Porsche 944 '86

Renntag

Tabor is right. There is a ring on the back of the mirror that must be turned slightly to disengage the motor. There should be a drain hole a the bottom of teh mirror that can be used to accessteh ring as well. The ring may be stiff. You cant miss it, it has ridges on it.

Good Luck

art

does anyone know if there is a convex mirror that will fit on the pass side mechanism(power, '86)

Thanks,

Art

Bryan

At this point, if you have the glass out, and then removed the mirror motors and gearbox with the 3 10mm bolts, you're probably wondering how you actually get the mirror mounting "pillar" off the car. Notice how the plug for the wiring harness won't fit down the opening in the pillar? Notice how the wiring also disappears into the door? Don't bother taking the door apart looking for another connector. You won't find it. This is another example of the famous 944 "ease of service". Hah hah. You may want to work your car over with a sledgehammer at this point. Perfectly natural.

I carefully made a note of the order of the wires in the connector, then pushed each wire out of the plastic connector which only mildly destroys the aluminum contacts, then pulled the wires out of the pillar one at a time from below, ensuring that any contact that had managed to survive the ordeal thus far was now mangled. Then you do what you gotta do with the pillar portion - in my case it was polish the paint on the door around the base of the pillar. Assembly is the reverse of removal - force the wires back up through the pillar one at a time, put the connector back together, then put the rest back together. If you did everything right, you will only be able to adjust the mirror up and down, then when you turn on the rear defroster the mirror will adjust itself all the way in toward the car. Oh wait, that's what mine does. If you did it right, it should work fine again.

If you just want to do just the gasket, take the "flag" portion of the mirror off the pillar portion with the 2 torx bolts. Then slip the old gasket up the pillar and off. When you put the new gasket on, be sure it's warm out. The gaskets shrink a lot when they get cold and you can't get them stretched over the base of the pillar.

Good luck. I bet you thought this was going to be easy, didn't you.

Bryan

Kimple

Thanks for good instructions Bryan! I knew it's not as easy as it first seems - I have read my Haynes manual Anyways, it's good to double check, because Haynes is not always very detailed.

I need to replace the mirror mount and gasket, so I must do that evil connector thing. What kind of tool did you use to push the wires from the connector? I don't want to break anything if possible

Kimmo
944 '86 (hanging mirror & some scratches)
318i '84 (winter transportation)

Bryan

I have a set of little "jewelers" screwdrivers and I used one of the smallest flat-blade screwdrivers to just push the connectors out.

These contacts are not designed to be taken apart. They have ramped prongs on them that snap into the plastic connector when they are assembled. You'll probably bend at least one of these over per contact when you remove it. So you'll have to bend them back into place for the contact to go back into the connector properly and stay there.

I didn't even bother to look in the Haynes. That thing is so full of inaccuracies (my car is an '88) that I'm ready to toss it out the window. Does it say to take the connector apart?

Bryan

Bryan

And to whoever asked about the convex glass - in '87 or '88 Porsche put convex glass in the passenger side. Any used parts place should be able to hook you up with one for $20-$30. It'll fit the '86 mirror.

Bryan

Rudy 97

The tool for releasing the mirror connector pins is available from Amp or Lisle.
If you have access to a lathe, drill a 3/32" hole in the end of a 1/8" round rod .5" deep. Chase the hole out with a #33 drill. That will act as a pin release tool.
Pull the wires out through the mirror pivot one at a time so they don't jam.

dmjames

Another option is the replacement glass Kyle sells over at Only944.com. That basically just glues inside the existing frame. http://only944.com/partscatalog/only/mirrors/

I have a convex version that's been on my 84 for most of a year now, and it's been great.