how to repair mirror assembly without dismantling door, and trying to fix boot that doesnt open from boot button

[danieldavid]

hi, been at this on and off since i bought the car a year ago, had the drivers folding motor disconnected with a screw in to lock it in drivable mirror position. I dismantled the whole thing from the outside starting with the glass, and the bit that was broken was the plastic stalk. I tried for hours to match on ebay as nothing came up for rcz, the dealer gave a diagram of parts but the stalk was compressed in with other parts connected to the door, and again that would mean dismantling the inner door and breaking all the seals. I dismantled it again today and finally thankfully compressed the new plastic stalk. The item was about £7 from ebay, it was listed under renault, it was described as

For Renault Megane MK4 Talisman wing mirror motor gear housing repair kit​

So ive listed what i did, rely on your own checks, in case you have a broken mirror mechanism, and dont want to pay £150 for a used one and then have to spray to colour match it, or rip open all the sealant on the inner door leather, etc.

I popped off the glass, undid 4 screws holding the outer plastic rim with small torx rachet, then undid the further 3 tiny torx to take off the main plastic front cover, undid the three small torx long screws and took off the motor adjustor mechanism (i also had to replace this but you have to get the one with i think 7 or 9 terminals not 3 as its tied to memory seats, i think a paid about £8 for that) , i then undid the two torx going into the door with the tiny rubber cover, disconnected the 4 wire connectors, and carefully pulled them through one at a time in a logical order so they fitted, smallest connector first , then took out the broken plastic stalk, put the new one in the black plastic bit left, and you have to then use the stalk to join the metal and plastic main part left with the spring , to the bit of plastic that meets it that connects to the door, i put it on a rug and carboard and stopped it slipping, then got a pair of heavy plyers, and put my entire body weight forcing and turning it clockwise an eighth of a turn, thankfully it locked togather eventually after several attempts. i then reassembled on the car, firstly drawing the 4 wire sets through, largest connectror first so they fit through the stalk, then the two torx onto the car door and rubber cover, then position the wires logically so they reach, fitted the motor adjustor, with 3 tiny long torx, then the main back plastic surround with 3 torx, and finally the front plastic surround with 4 torx, connected the heated mirror two connectors and popped he glass back on. You need to put a lot of force onto the plyers to compress the spring, peugeot dont sell tyhe stalk, its a single uybit and costs much more than a £150 used entire mirror, so stalk is cheapest and saves dismantling the door inside and spraying colour.

Im still trying to work out why my rear boot doesnt open from the button at number plate, but does from fob, pulled to pieces the rear button, with rubber cover, button with 2 springs and interior white plastic switch holder, tried spraying cleaner into switch but no success so guessing theres a wiring problem thats stopping it from the button on car but not stopping it from the fob. In case anyone has found an obvious probnlem cause and solution, welcome t let me know, before i pull my boot to pieces possibly unneccessarily, many thanks

 

[EddieJ]

Your determined I’ll give you that, my patience might have cut out sooner, good on you.
If it helps, the workings of the RCZ mirror are the same as the 308cc, the plastic outer shells and bowl and foot are different shapes but the gubbins inside is the same. Look at my wee photo to the left if you want to know how I know

Re you boot switch, if it works from the fob then the mechanism is working okay, if you have access to a multimeter you should be able to test out the switch. It’s probably not worth trying to fix at it as they are inexpensive, and you don’t need to be RCZ specific either, same switch in many pugs.

 

[danieldavid]

thanks, that makes sense it would fit 308 items, the only one i could find was renault megane that fitted, i noticed the c3 seems a bit similar in design as well but couldnt find a stalk for it online. Swapping the stalk saves so much cost and hassle, now i finally know how to compress the spring. I thought at first i had cmpressed it enough and glue had failed between the plastic and metal part, but today realised it had to definitely be compressed more to the next level of plastic protrusions. I tried a 6 inch g clamp but couldnt grip it straight. The cc is cleverly designed with the folding roof. Thats good advice to check the switch first, if thats all it is, before i pulled my boot together i was going to try to bridge the two terminals the switch goes into , but to be honest wasnt expecting the switch to be the problem as it was physically clicking loudly and not stuck. Glad you mentioned this is a known failure point, if its the switch that will be such an easy fix / replacement, many thanks again.

 

[danieldavid]

its the switch, great, i put two tiny screwdriver ends and crossed the connectors in the boot green small block and i can hear the door mechanism trying to open. Cant get the switch to work, tried spray, its a tiny sealed unit, theres loads of corrosion in it, great, new switch ordered in next few mins...

 

[danieldavid]

ps, if anyone fixes the mirror as mentioned above, when you compress the spring, you have to i think make sure the allignment is right, there are 4 directions it can be compressed, i left the car inlocked with boot open to lock central locking open, and compressed the spring in the open position so it could be fitted to the car electronically and would close in the right one of the 4 directions when the car locked, and subseqently unlocked. I dont know what happens if its put on in wrong direction, wouldnt want to try as might mean another stalk and attempts to try to recompress the spring again...

 

[danieldavid]

oh and i reckon theres about 100kg or a tenth of a ton of downward push with arms to try to force it round into place including partly body weight, i had to wrap my hands in a scalf as it was getting painful on the hands of the large plyers, the large non pointed plyers fit onto the top of the spring mechanism and allow it to force down and twist, i dont know what other tools would work... i had to angle the plastic piece on the floor so it would grip to the cardboard and carpet as the part that is shaped to fit into the door isnt flat... its still a huge saving of work not having to strip the interior door and spray paint a colour match..