Kinda messed up trying to change the mirror glass

[TopSkateDog]

So I've had my 960 a few weeks, now, and at some point noticed the heated mirrors don't appear to be heated (they both move OK).

So I decided to buy new, heated mirror glass for both sides, and having done similar, back in the mists of time, on my S70, assumed the process would be the same.

On the S70, the procedure was, angle the mirror so that the outside vertical is angled out as far as possible, then use a screw driver to pry it off it's mountings.

Did similar on my 960, except angle the mirror glass so the upper horizontal was most prominent, then did similar with a screwdriver. Problem is, I nust have been too hamfisted as I seem to have broken the white plastic clip.

Also, my new mirror glass has a slightly flatter mounting, and I'm not sure works with my mirrors (96 960). So now I can't seem to reattach either the old or new mirror glass to the housing.

Now I've ordered a new motor unit for the housing, although the image didn't show the white plastic clip.

My question really is how best to solve this, and does anybody have any links to mirror glass (presumably ebay) that's heated and convex, that also has fve appropriate fitting / mounting to clip onto the original type of motor mount?

[loki_the_glt]

Volvo, in their infinite wisdom, changed the mounting system for the mirror glasses at some point in the 9xx-series' life.

The original ones were easy to replace; as you say the mirror is pushed in at the top and a screwdriver applied through the hole at the bottom of the casing, flick the blade to unlock the gear and remove, with replacement being the reverse. Then they closed up the hole in the base of the housing and put a multi-point locating device into the mirror.

Unfortunately, and contrary to the Haynes manual's bold statement that the glass will come out by pushing it in at the door side and lifting, the new glasses are fit and forget: the lugs are designed to go in and spread, Rawlplug-like, and will not come out again.

IMO, the easiest solution is to find a set of earlier mirrors and retro-fit them. Alas, you'll probably not be able to get a set that are colour-coded for your car, regardless of its colour.

[TopSkateDog]

The plot thickens...

An ebay seller was selling the motor units, in the picture, I didn't see the white plastic clip I broke, but now it's arrived, I can see it, only it's black in this unit.

I won't get chance to fiddle around with it 'til weekend, and may not then if's really cold, but say I manage to install the motor unit in the mirror housing without breaking anything else, anybody know where I can get mirror glass that has the right sort of mounting on the back to fit?

[bluebrickrick]

I just bought a wide angle, heated, with plate from ebay, 141973786781

If I had damaged the original I would have been in the doings ! the plate did not exist, other than there was a cylindrical lightweight bit of plastic which might have slipped over a hand operated but not my electric unit so I ended up having to get every last bit of glass off the old plate, cut some new holes in it as the heater connectors were different size AND spacing and then cobble those onto the wires.

The glass was slightly oversize for the old plate so I heated the plate up with the hot air gun and stretched it over the new glass, also added some decent double sided tape as the bit on it was probably OK but about half the area was covered.

Have been trying to find suitable wordage for my feedback, it is not brilliant optically but neither did it break the bank, arrived quickly is secure packing, it is just if you choose using the part finder for model / year gizmo IT SHOULD B WELL FIT

Rick RANT MODE OFF

Stupidly, I didn't actually check if it heated up.......

[TopSkateDog]

The ones I bought were (well this is the ebay item for the left one...) 142123492735.

When I get chance I'll see if there's any way I can make all the bits work.

Having removed the left side mirror glass, I suspect the original glass got broken, because there's a stick on glass over it. Whether the original heating element is u/s, I'm not sure.

Driver's side heating doesn't appear to work either, but I'm not removing that until I've found a way of fixing the passenger side. I did buy the same replacement glass for the driver's side.

I'm sure I did this repair on my S70 years back and never had any problems and took a couple of minutes...

[Laird Scooby]

This is becoming a pain for all of us from the look of things!

Like many others, i replaced mirror glasses on previous cars with no problems, bought the new glass with backplate/frame, stuck a screwdriver up the bottom of the mirror (ooo-errr missus! :err: ), flipped the rotary slide catch and removed the old mirror glass. Fitted the new one by reversing the procedure.

Now it seems the only mirror glasses available are for the later 9xx models with the "fit'n'forget" tangs that once they've locked in on a different mounting ring are there for eternity or until they get broken.

Maybe the thing to do is make do with fitting the newer style motor and mirror glass. However that adds at least £25 (price from PFV/partsmonster) for the new motor onto the repair and leaves a redundant motor assembly.
Granted you get a new motor out of the deal but it's rare they fail from over-use anyway - usually from lack of use!

Personally i blame Ford for the "disposable" attitude the later design seems to have. ;) :D

[bluebrickrick]

Yes that circular bit came as a separate ring - so its for a later design then - the mirror was seperate to the black bit so once I'd got all the old bits off the original just stuck the mirror in that It seems just buying the mirror itself is the answer as long as the original support gear remains intact.

I have repaired one of the little motor racks in the past, two sub millimetre holes drilled behind the teeth one on either end and then some very careful solvent cleaning and aralditing a bit of nichrome wire bent through like a staple with the free ends twisted together.

I suspect it is more about us being a minut part of the market now, presumably the correct parts are still available from main dealers but it is far easier for us to order one day and receive the next...

[Laird Scooby]

Think i'll have to try and remove the remains of the glass from the old mirror backplate then - assuming i still have it!
If not i'll have to remove the stick on replacement from the front of the broken one currently in the mirror housing.

Hope the MoT went ok today Rick! ;) :D

[Dirty Rooster]

This whole thread feels a bit confusing because when I needed to replace a smashed mirror I found the easiest thing was to go to the scrapyard and get the whole mirror assembly for a similarly aged car and swap the whole thing.

I understand if the scrapyard might take a while to get the right model in, but with a bit of patience the job is done.

[Laird Scooby]

I see what you're saying but it's meant to be a 2 minute easy job to swap the mirror glass, no need to remove the whole mirror, door trim etc to unplug it, just change the glass and job done. ;) :D

[TopSkateDog]

Managed to fix mine. The new motor unit and new glass fit perfectly.

So all I had to do was remove the old motor unit, put the new one in, connect up the element wires, and the new mirror glass snapped onto it perfectly.

The only slight issue being the heater wires / connectors fit a bit loose on the new mirror glass. At some point I should probably look at crimping them with some pliers.

Heating works fine on that mirror, now, as does movement.

[Laird Scooby]

Managed to fix mine. The new motor unit and new glass fit perfectly.

So all I had to do was remove the old motor unit, put the new one in, connect up the element wires, and the new mirror glass snapped onto it perfectly.

The only slight issue being the heater wires / connectors fit a bit loose on the new mirror glass. At some point I should probably look at crimping them with some pliers.

Heating works fine on that mirror, now, as does movement.

That's pretty much what i did on mine except using secondhand mirror bits. Nice to know the new bits fit and work as well. I also had to squeeze the heater connectors slightly to get a good contact. ;) :D

[TopSkateDog]

Fixed my driver's side, now, with a new motor and mirror glass.

Minor irritation being that both new motors seem to reverse the direction of the sideways movement from the switch. Easy enough to deal wkth, though, in terms of behaviour - given that once set, it's rarely changed.

Other minor issue being I struggled with the wires as they attach to the terminals on the mirror backs. They seem to fit a bit loose, and needle nose pliers didn't do anything to make them a firmer fit. They're working fine at present, but a more secure fitment of the plugs / spades would be more ideal.

[Laney760]

Just out of interest, my blue colour co-ordinated driver's electric heated mirror only ever worked on demisting, it wouldn't 'move' the glass

I very kindly received a brand new black plastic one from a forum member years ago and thought I would put it on when mine totally gave up the ghost, which it hasn't yet!

Over the last couple of weeks something very strange has happened. Now the glass moves but the de-mist doesn't work!