DaveW

When I tap on the mirror housing, or shut the RH door, something inside the mirror housing vibrates. It's not a tinny-sounding vibration, but more of a "purring" sound, like I woke up a large cat inside.

The mirror glass itself does not vibrate when I do this, nor does the glass appear to vibrate at any time, including when driving.
If I gently press on the mirror glass while tapping the housing, the vibration is somewhat reduced, but it still there.
If I tap only the mirror glass, the vibration doesn't occur.
If I gently press on the bottom of the mirror housing while tapping the top, the vibration is mostly gone.
I tried tightening the screws described in this thread, but they were already tight, and tightening them more did not help.

So, I have two questions:
What is vibrating inside the mirror housing?
How did you fix this if it happened to you?

Thanks for any insights on this.

DaveW

OK. Update:

I stated my symptoms somewhat wrong. I've come to the conclusion that is is the mirror glass vibrating on its mounting/adjuster mechanisim. What is annoying is the noise, and you can't SEE the mirror vibrating. What's funny is that only the RH mirror does this, but not the left one.

Rotating the mirror housing to different positions makes no difference. Adjusting the mirror to different positions makes little or no difference.

Anyone been able to "damp out" this kind of vibration?

dontlift

After a recheck, I do get a very faint resonating on my driver's side only when the housing is in the normal position. It's only noticeable inside a quiet garage, though.

Unfortunately, the FSM/etc seem to treat the entire assembly as one (replaceable) unit -- no breakdown of what's inside.

DaveW

Thanks. I also did look in the FSM to see if I could disassemble the mirror to find and fix the vibration. As you said, the FSM was no help. I certainly don't want to break or gum up the mechanism inside in an attempt to fix this. It just makes the RH door sound not solid when it is shut. BTW, the inside components of the door are NOT rattling - I took off the inside panel and made sure that didn't rattle a few years ago.

Dave

Fritz Flynn

iTrader: (263)

I think you'll have to heat the mirror to unsettle the glue then pop it out of the bezzle. Once you have the mirror off you can see the screw that need to be tightened.

DaveW

Thanks.

So, I assume you have fixed a similar vibration this way?

Fritz Flynn

iTrader: (263)

I recall have a similar problem and that's how I fixed it but it was over 5 years ago so my memory is a little vague.

DaveW

OK, thanks, again.

Before I started taking things apart, I wanted to have some hope that it would be useful. Even if the adhesive gets destroyed, I have double-sided foam tape to replace it. I just have to be careful not to melt or break something getting the mirror glass off.

I'll let you know if it works!

Dave

IRPerformance

iTrader: (41)

Mazda tried to minimize the door rattling by bolting a piece of foam on a bracket to the inside of the door skin on 94+ models. The same thing can be better accomplished with a piece of dynamat. As far as the mirror, I hav3e solved that by shooting some expanding foam behind the glass.

DaveW

1. I checked and fixed that (stuff rattling inside the door) a few years ago.

2. That sort of fix did cross my mind, but wouldn't that keep the mirror-adjuster mechanism from working?

Dave

DaveW

Hmmmmmmmmmm...

I went out to the garage to TRY to remove the RH mirror glass and find the screw(s) that Fritz mentioned. I heated the mirror glass as hot as I dared, and the 16-year-old adhesive didn't cooperate. So, I never did get the glass off. I was really thinking if I heated it any more, or pried any harder, I'd wind up ruining something.

However, in doing all this, I moved the mirror glass fully from side-side, and top-bottom several times. When I was done, there was a small amount of travel in the glass that wasn't there before, and it moved easier. It now felt like the LH mirror did when I had moved it. The RH one had felt much firmer when I tried to deflect it.

And, guess what! The annoying vibration has disappeared, at least temporarily. So, the operation was a failure, but the patient wound up healed, anyway!

My guess is that since the mirror glass was so firmly fixed in place before, that it resonated in the housing like a tuning fork. In moving it around and giving it a little freedom to move easily, the vibration is now being damped out by the sliding motion.

Not the planned outcome, but a success, nevertheless.

Dave

dontlift

Congratulations!

If you do need to remove the mirror, take it (the car or even just the housing) to an auto-glass shop. They do it all the time, and can properly re-mount it.

DaveW

Thanks, everyone, for the help. Glad I didn't destroy something in the process. We'll see if the vibration stays gone. If not, maybe I can repeat this procedure.

Fritz, thanks for the advice. When i moved the glass around, I could see (some of) the screws you referred to, but the ones I could see appeared to be tight.

Ihor, I think that foaming the cavity would stop the vibration, but it would keep the mirror glass from being able to adjust.

Dave