driver's side mirror

GEO PRIZM
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ELIZABETHA
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The driver's side mirror on my car was recently broken off. The mirror was not damaged, but the plastic unit was hanging off just enough so that the mechanic said it needed to be replaced. I had it replaced and now the knob that moves the mirror up and down is too close to the inside plastic casing, so it won't swivel far enough over. If I remove the plastic casing, the knob is still stopped by the door frame. The mechanic says that the metal piece on the door that the side mirror attaches to must be misaligned from the accident, but I was probably going 5 miles an hour or less so it's hard to believe that the door was damaged. At first he thought that the mirror was defective so he tried putting in another mirror, but the problem remains. Any ideas why this would be the case?

Thanks a lot for any suggestions!

[Geo Prizm 1993]
Nov 16, 2007 at 2:20 PM
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TWONS
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The manual mirror is controlled by 3 internally mounted cables attached to the control knob and it is quite likely the original mirror experienced some damage to a cable as they stretch very easily, even for something as simple as moving the knob stiffly when there is ice restricting the external movement of the mirror surface.

The external potion of the mirror housing is extremely strong & well secured by three screws through the door to a relatively flat portion of the door. A very slow speed incident would likely cause the mirror to tug at the door just enough to cause misalignment but little or no obvious damage to the door or the mirror.

If the knob is visibly misaligned from the inside, then either the mirror or the mounting surface has been damaged. Close examination of the interior and exterior mounting surface during the mirror replacement should easily identify any damage.

If the door's mounting surface is undamaged, perhaps your mechanic replaced the original mirror with a previously used mirror in which case I would have to suspect the replacement mirror also had an issue.
Aug 7, 2009 at 1:25 PM