Removing plastic housing around side mirrors.

Grover · June 12, 2003

Does anybody know how to remove the plastic surround that goes around the side mirrors? I bought a used Yukon and the previous owner hit something with the mirror and a small piece of the plastic is broke off and rattling around inside the mirror. It is very annoying when the windows are down.

Thanks.

SFPegasus · June 12, 2003

It's not real easy.

You have to remove the glass first. If you accomplish that without breaking it (I didn't), you'll find that the outer trim (that you see around the glass when the mirror is facing you) is secured inside with four torx screws.

Grover · June 13, 2003

Is there a trick to getting the glass out or do I just pull on it?

SFPegasus · June 17, 2003

There's trick...... believe me!

The mirror is connected to a hub that snaps into the motor housing. There's something like 10-12 "tabs" that need to be released.

The best way I can describe it is to use a flat tool and work your way around the glass VERY slowly. Do NOT pry on the glass, but work on the plastic hub behind the glass. The mirror glass (especially the passenger side) is extremely thin and cracks very easily.

I think if I had to do it all over again, it would be easier to find a replacement mirror on ebay or something.

Do you have the black textured mirrors or ones with painted (or chrome) inserts?

Grover · June 18, 2003

I have the painted inserts (Indigo Blue). I haven't found much on Ebay, maybe I will look around the local junkyards.

Thanks for your help.

SFPegasus · June 18, 2003

You can put your inserts on any of the other mirrors. Just be carefull pulling them off. They have 3M tape as well as plastic clips holding them on.

AZ-Z71 · June 18, 2003

Here is what I found out from the cd manual -

Adjust mirror face as shown in picture to obtain access to mirror face retention clips(1).

(What they showed is the mirror moved in a way that the inside edge was pushed back into the housing and the outside edge of the mirror was out of the housing. You can achieve this by adjusting the electronics of the mirror by pushing the right button until the mirror doesn't move in any more.)

Position flat-bladed tool between back side of mirror face and the adjuster mechanism as shown in picture.

With a twisting motion of the flat bladed tool, separate the mirror face from the adjuster mechanism by releasing the mirror face retention clips(1).

With mirror face in hand, disconnect the electrical connectors.

Remove the mirror face from the mirror housing.

Inspect the adjuster mechanism for damage.

Sounds a lot easier than I suppose it will be. Hope this helps. The mirror has a bracket mounted to the back of it and it clips/snaps to the motor mechanism.

SFPegasus · June 19, 2003

What they fail to mention is that the clips that hold the mirror are designed so you can get a BROKEN mirror off and install a new one. Getting an intact mirror off in one piece is a different story.

Trust me, I broke two of the darn things.

GnatGoSplat · June 19, 2003

I had a hard enough time getting a new glass on, I even accidentally bent some of the tabs trying to get it on and was concerned the remaining tabs might not hold it on well enough to survive bumps (so far so good though).

I can't imagine being able to get the glass off easily without cracking it, not without some kind of specially bent tool at any rate.