Focus Mk3 Power Fold Wing Mirror Struggling

[Albacore]

All of a sudden, my drivers side power fold mirror gave up the ghost. It was after the recent very hot weather - I don't know if that tipped it over the edge.

First it wouldn't open, now it's open, but won't close. you can hear the motor fire up and the mirror starts to move but never gets very far before the motor stops. Presumably it is stopping on a current limit check or not completing movement in a given time.

I'm just wondering if it needs some lubrication. Does anyone have any tips or a guide to accessing the power fold motor/gears?

Or is there a specific spot in the inner casing where you could drill a small hole and squirt in some spray grease?

[Albacore]

To answer my own question (!), the news is good and bad. I did manage to dismantle the mirror as far as power fold motor lever, but the motor was goosed.

It was marked 1020791. The only place I could find one that looked the same at a sensible price was Aliexpress. Generally, 1020791 seems to refer to the motor without the worm gear, 1020792 has the worm. There also appear to be variants in shaft length and possibly worm length.

Anyway, given how bad Aliexpress delivery times are these days, I had to call it a day and buy a preowned complete mirror off eBay.

But since I never found a howto as to dismantling the mirror, here's a few notes - possibly the only ones in the world....

First remove the mirror glass in the usual manner and unclip the cover.

Now take the mirror off the vehicle and rest the mirror on a flat surface covered with a cloth or (better) piece of firm foam rubber. Pull off the heater spade connector with a pair of pointed pliers while pressing down on the male terminal with a flat bladed screwdriver - otherwise you will rip the terminal off the mirror.

Remove the mirror attitude motor - one long T10 screw in the middle and 2 others. Prise out the motor and disconnect. Take out the two bulb holders and disconnect the power fold motor. Another sideways screw to remove and now it should be possible to remove the mirror inner housing.

Next step is to remove 3 x semi-hidden recessed T10 screws round the mirror pivot. You need a proper Torx driver with a very thin shaft. Also the screws may be rusty - it's not easy! And you need to turn what's left of the mirror round to access the 3 screws.

Now remove the wiring loom.

The next problem is separating the 2 remaining halves of the assembly. You need to compress the big spring with a G clamp. I used an old flanged port bottle cork (very useful!) at the top and a piece of 3mm ali at the bottom (see pic). Compress the spring and then you just grab the arm of the clamp and turn it about 1/8 of a turn (I think clockwise from the top). Release the clamp and the spring should be released.

Now one more screw on the motor cover, release the clips and you're in!

There was plenty of grease in mine btw, others have reported differently, though as with all worm gears, it seems to work itself away from the gear.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[Bootsox]

Just had a similar issue myself with a driver's side wing mirror on a 2015 Focus mk 3.5, 1.5 ecoboost.

Mirror not folding properly, which was also upsetting the central locking/immobiliser. Couldn't find anything on eBay (unit needed a puddle light and electrical pin-outs weren't matching) so resorted to Ford dealer for a new carcass (£177 inc VAT).

Congrats on your perseverance re extracting the motor, I resorted to a post mortem in the end using a Dremel. Took the motor apart and it looks like a failed brush (see photo), commutator looked ok.

Vehicle done 125k miles, had a few niggles recently with the washer pump, remote locking and now the wing mirror but all fixed.

[hiace_drifter]

On 3/19/2023 at 8:58 PM, Bootsox said:

Just had a similar issue myself with a driver's side wing mirror on a 2015 Focus mk 3.5, 1.5 ecoboost.

Mirror not folding properly, which was also upsetting the central locking/immobiliser. Couldn't find anything on ebay (unit needed a puddle light and electrical pin-outs weren't matching) so resorted to Ford dealer for a new carcass (£177 inc VAT).

Congrats on your perseverance re extracting the motor, I resorted to a post mortem in the end using a Dremel. Took the motor apart and it looks like a failed brush (see photo), commutator looked ok.

Vehicle done 125k miles, had a few niggles recently with the washer pump, remote locking and now the wing mirror but all fixed.

I'm having the same issue on a 2014 Mk3 - the ford dealer has quoted me double your price for a new mirror. It's a "complete unit" - not sure if that means it has more parts than the "carcass" you mentioned. They said there was no other option.

[Bootsox]

The "carcass" is a complete wing mirror less the mirror glass itself and the colour-keyed cowling. In my case, these two items were transferred over from the original (otherwise, the cost would have probably doubled, IIRC the mirror glass alone was £77.

Ford seem to change the designs quite a bit so I'm not sure how much interchangeability there is between the various model revisions.

As Albacore mentions above, in the case of a swap over, take great care unplugging the electrical connections from the mirror, as the lugs are easily torn away from the mirror backing.

There are third party wing mirror suppliers who seem quite a bit cheaper than the OEM but I didn't want to take any risks, just needed the issue sorted.

[hiace_drifter]

On 4/5/2023 at 10:25 PM, Bootsox said:

The "carcass" is a complete wing mirror less the mirror glass itself and the colour-keyed cowling. In my case, these two items were transferred over from the original (otherwise, the cost would have probably doubled, IIRC the mirror glass alone was £77.

Ford seem to change the designs quite a bit so I'm not sure how much interchangeability there is between the various model revisions.

As Albacore mentions above, in the case of a swap over, take great care unplugging the electrical connections from the mirror, as the lugs are easily torn away from the mirror backing.

There are third party wing mirror suppliers who seem quite a bit cheaper than the OEM but I didn't want to take any risks, just needed the issue sorted.

I've ended up with an OEM for £150, but that includes glass and primed cowling. I'm hoping to transfer over the painted cowling from my old mirror, but have the new one as back up. Finger crossed!

Do I need to disconnect the main car battery whilst removing/installing the mirror?

[unofix]

35 minutes ago, hiace_drifter said:

Do I need to disconnect the main car battery whilst removing/installing the mirror?

No, it just unplugs.

[hiace_drifter]

20 hours ago, unofix said:

No, it just unplugs.

Cheers, mirror replaced! It was actually very easy (apart from getting the painted outer cover off). If had been transferring individual components though (light, glass etc) it would have probably quadrupled the effort/complexity.

[unofix]

10 minutes ago, hiace_drifter said:

mirror replaced! It was actually very easy

Good to know it all went well 👍