THANK YOU!!![/color]
MDCole9761 !!
This threads pictures are worth a million thanks!! I took my own pics, but see no need to post them here. I ended up gutting the ebay purchased housing, taking out the motor assembly, and working on mine on the door. Works like a charm!
So now I have this ebay housing that has a power folding motor that doesn't work, and thinking about turning it around on ebay myself for $15.00 +shipping. I still have the housing all put back together with the turn signal(it has a chip out of the plastic that the screw holds it in the housing- was there when I took it apart and saw it), power tilt motor, and heated mirror and wire harness. Maybe someone can use those parts.

Awesome! Glad it worked out for you too- I love my folding mirrors (I don't use them too often, but when I do I love them). When I first starting looking into replacement mirrors, I thought for sure there was no way around buying a $150 mirror and then having to pay to get it painted. But for less than $50 it's fixed and I have spare parts!

 

Hey guys thanks for this great topic !

I found this all metal replacement gear and a new motor for these power folding units for the GM trucks. They will also fit the Enclave.

if you look up gruvenparts dot com and go to their GM trucks section you will see the 2nd item from the top is the brass folding mirror gears. They also sell the power door lock motors, and the power folding mirror motors.


There is also a complete DIY on the page. Its for a Tahoe, but once you get the motor drive unit out, the procedure would be the same for Enclave. This really fixes and design flaw in the GM power folding mirrors and helped me alot.

 

Has anyone gotten GM to cover this outside of warranty ?

 

Has anyone gotten GM to cover this outside of warranty ?

Why would they?

 

Why would they?

wishful thinking i guess...

 

Here is more info on the replacement stuff, theres also a DIY on their page


"
GRUVENPARTS.COM STRENGTHENED SPUR GEAR FOR 2007-2014 GM TRUCKS FOLDING MIRROR ASSEMBLY - Click Here for the Product Page !


Spur Gear Shown Installed per DIY on Right. OEM Gear on Left - Click Here for the Product Page !

See the DIY Link the Website Product Page!

This product carries a LIFETIME WARRANTY!

GruvenParts.com is pleased to announce this replacement strengthened new BRASS spur gear for the folding mirrors on 2007-2014 GM trucks including Acadia, Traverse, Enclave, Escalade, Silverado, Avalanche, Tahoe, Suburban, Sierra, Yukon, and Denali. As many have discovered, the folding mirror assembly on these trucks suffers from a thin, weak spur gear. As a result, the spur gear cracks at the slightest impact or just wears out over time causing an inoperable folding mirror.

GruvenParts.com has SOLVED this issue by designing a proper BRASS spur gear made with a thicker cross section to eliminate the stress concentrations which cause fatigue cracking. Our spur gear is machined to fit onto the OEM worm shaft via epoxy. We can provide new motors, too if you want them, please visit the GM Section of our website or click here

Click Here for the Replacement Mirror Motor Product Page !

Application :

Sold in pairs (enough for 1 complete vehicle). Gears Fit Both Passenger and Drivers Side Power Folding Mirrors.

All 2007-2014 GM Trucks With Folding Mirrors Including Acadia, Traverse, Enclave, Escalade, Silverado, Avalanche, Tahoe, Suburban, Sierra, Yukon, and Denali. This includes (but not limited to) the following mirror assembly part numbers :
25-83-12-36 (25831236), 25-77-98-49 (25779849)

This list of part numbers will continually grow as we build the interchange list. This is in no way complete, as most GM trucks made from 2007-2014 with power folding mirrors will use this gear. If your power folding mirror looks like the mirror shown in the DIY, this gear will fit your vehicle."



?

 

is anyone doing these repairs?

 

I purchased a whole mirror off of Ebay that was my by color match. I stripped it down to the motor and swapped out my motor with the motor from Ebay with no issues. all because my main housing was in better condition. Haven't had any issues with it at all.

 

How do you access the PDF?

 

Awesome, this helped me a lot. My 2008 Enclave had the mirror stuck in the closed position. With the PDF instructions, I was able to take apart the mirror and see that the motor was working. I put it back together and it no longer worked. I ended up figuring out that the two torx screws could be loosened just a bit, and the mirror would move freely.

 

My 2009 Enclave LH power folding mirror quite folding, and the mirror was a bit loose on the pivot. I listened while activating the power folding button, but could not hear anything from the LH mirror (RH mirror folds well). I got a salvage mirror assembly and installed that on the LH side, and everything folds properly again.


Anyone know what folding mirror motor units on various GM vehicles (year range and models) would interchange with a 2009 Enclave LH folding mirror? There is a U-Pull near me and if I find damaged mirrors, I wouldn't have a problem removing the power folding motor unit from it to repair my original mirror. But I don't know which vehicles to look for. Anyone in this forum have any ideas?

 

If I were you, i would definatly stick with searching for a same year, make, model, and color that you have. Body styles across makes/models(Acadia, Traverse, Outlook) - all are different in design, I would think. Unless the "guts/inter workings are the same, which I would doubt that they are the same. Do a search on Ebay for 2009 Buick Enclave power folding heated mirror. You are bound to find something. Even if it isn't your body color, you could use the parts from it with your original outer shell/housing. I changed out my broken motor and reused my original outer skin for $75.00.

 

I thought I'd pop in with a reply since I used this thread to get info on how to do this repair. I think the first post makes the job seem a lot harder than it is but I've also been a professional mechanic for over 30 years. Everything comes apart pretty easy, and pretty much as described in the first post (thanks to the OP for giving me a glimpse of what I needed to do). I was sweating the mirror glass and I couldn't get it to release like the manual said. I ended up getting my fingers inside and directly under the clips to push out and release it. Be careful the internet is full of pictures on how the glass attached but they don't apply to the Enclave (at least not the 2013). Mostly what's out there is pictures of the Tahoe where the glass pops up to come off, the Enclave it pops out. I should have taken some pictures but it was over 100 at 7 am and I was sweaty and cranky doing the repair. I'm sure the drivers mirror will go out soon and I promise to take pictures of that repair.


I bought the parts and followed the instructions for that repair from the GruvenParts.com website. I used the vise to compress the spring but I could not get the lock ring to twist by turning the socket. Most times it would twist the whole motor assembly out of the vise. I was able to get some Knipex channel locks to grip the spring and lock ring and twisted it that way. I laid it all out as I took it apart, replaced the gear (bought the shaft and motor package) and motor and put it back together. I did not grind the tabs as suggested on the website, I prefer not to tamper with GM engineering unless there is a proven value to it. I think I had less that an hour into it. The right mirror folds in and out much faster than the driver side now.



Shout out to Gruven for providing the product and information. I'm surprised Dorman or the like haven't tried to buy the idea or copy it yet. Top quality product and no price gouge due to the monopoly on the market. Rare in today's car car enthusiast market.

 

Well I had to go back into it a week after the repair. The mirror would refuse to go back out unless I jostled the mirror around a bit. It appears that since I didn't move the brass bushings up to hold the shaft more stable the gears became misaligned. At the urging of Paul at Gruven I also ground the tabs flat as the instructions state. It works well again so far, I hope that was the issue. I did take pictures this time.

The two mounting bolts that need to be removed so you can get the housing off the fold motor.

Back of the mirror glass showing the tabs that hold it onto the motor.

And the mirror motor showing the inserts for the tabs

As you can see the mirror pulls off straight out away from the housing not up like the Tahoe glass. I was able to get my fingers behind the glass right at the tab and push it off. It takes more force than is comfortable

 

Before I attempted this, I searched and searched and didn't see anything on this forum (I don't recall much on the other Lamba forums either) whereby someone disassembled one of the side view mirrors to repair the power folding function. I know that there are plenty of people in the same boat I was (one or both not folding any more), so I figured I'd go ahead and write a good how to. Honestly, I'm a pretty capable mechanic (my works often exceeds what most dealership mechanics do) and I'd write up more how-to guides, if I only had the time.

In my case, my driver side mirror works fine, but the passenger side stopped folding- all other functions worked fine. I also got REALLY lucky in that I found a person on eBay selling a brand new, GM factory passenger side folding heated power mirror (unpainted) for $40. If you are like me, you didn't want to pay to buy a mirror and then pay even more to have it painted and/or you have a "donor" mirror with which you can swap parts.

First, here's a few notes/tips to keep in mind:

- From what I saw, you can separate and replace the following parts of the mirror: The shell/housing (the painted part that holds all the guts), the turn signal indicator, the mirror motor assembly, possibly the wiring harness (might take a little work to get it out of the non-folding part of the mirror assembly), the mirror/glass, and (naturally) the folding motor assembly.

- If the part of the mirror assembly that does not fold is fine, you COULD actually replace the mirror folding mechanism without removing it from the vehicle. Since I had a brand new mirror as my "donor", I opted to replace the whole thing


Let's start! I only took photos of the mirror when I was swapping the motors as that's the focus of this write up (sorry)

1. If you are going to replace the non-folding part, take the whole mirror off the car. Start by prying loose the door panel at the upper left corner (near where the mirror is on the door). At least for the passenger door, you will need to take out 3 bolts to get it pried out enough to get to the 2 wiring harnesses. One is behind a plastic cover that sits behind the interior door handle and the other two are located under a removable plastic cover that runs vertically up the grab handle on the door panel (see attached pic). You will also need to remove the interior plastic cover that hides the 3 nuts that hold the mirror to the door (it's held on by a spring clip- just carefully pry away from the door to pop it loose).

2. Disconnect the wiring harnesses and pop out the wiring harness retainer that is attached to the metal under the door panel, just above where the harness connects.

3. NOTE: There are 2 plastic retainers on the inside of the door rubber that hold the door rubber to the mirror assembly (if you are looking at the 3 mounting nuts for the mirror on the inside, the clips will be to the left on the door's rubber surround). Make sure you pop these out before trying to remove the mirror assembly

4. Remove all 3 mounting nuts (10mm) and remove the mirror from the vehicle.


Okay- time to disassemble!

1. Start by pushing the top of the mirror glass all the way in, so that the bottom of the glass is sticking out (i.e. if it were on the car and you were looking in your mirror, all you'd see is the sky.

2. CAREFULLY pry the mirror outward and while holding pressure, use a hook or other similar tools to try to release some of the tabs that hold the back of the mirror to the motor assembly. I know it feels like your gonna break something, but keep applying careful pressure and eventually the mirror will release.

3. Once the mirror releases STOP- more than likely you have a heated mirror and there are two wires attached to the top left corner of the glass that need to be taken off before you can separate the glass from the mirror housing. NOTE: when pulling off the heater wires, I recommend using the dull edge of a tool (any tool) to apply pressure to the metal terminals where they attach to the mirror. The first time I went to pull off a heater wire, it felt like I was about to tear the whole metal terminal off the mirror. By holding the other part of the metal terminal against the glass while pulling on the wire to remove it, you keep the metal terminal from trying to rip off the back of the mirror.

4. Once the glass is out of the way, you'll see that everything is pretty accessible!

5. Disconnect the wire harnesses going to the mirror tilt motor and turn signal (for now, you can leave the one attached to the folding motor assembly). Pull the turn signal harness out from behind the tilt motor so that all wires are together near folding motor assembly.

6. Remove the two screws that hold the folding motor assembly to the shell (torx)- they are long screws and are easy to remove (see attached pic).

7. Now for the tricky part- the folding motor assembly is somewhat tightly fitted into the shell. To separate the shell from the folding motor, separate the two parts (the shell and the part that mounts to the vehicle) by prying apart with a wiggle/rocking motion. You should slowly feel the shell sliding off the folding motor assembly.

NOTE: The shape of the folding motor assembly prevents the shell from sliding straight off the top. Once the shell has slid as far as it can off the folding motor assembly, carefully tilt the shell away from the assembly at the point closest to the pivot (see attached pic where it shows them partially separated).

8. Finish separating the shell from the folding motor assembly, taking care to route the wiring harness safely out of the shell

9. All you are left with is the mirror mount, folding motor and wiring harness.


At this point, you have a few options:

-If you are replacing/swapping the whole mirror mount, folding motor and wiring harness (which is what I did), simply reverse the steps above to mount the new mount/motor/harness to your existing body color, painted shell.

-If you want to replace just the motor, it's as easy as removing the 4 torx screws holding the folding motor assembly to the mirror mount, pulling off the old folding motor assembly (carefully routing the wire harness out the center hole) and mounting the new folding motor assembly on your existing mirror mount. Then reverse the step above the mount your existing shell onto the new folding motor assembly.


That's about it! In the future, I might try to do these in a PDF since it makes doing inline pics and markup (arrows, circles, etc.) easier. In fact, don't be surprised if I do just that and post it below... :thumb:

Total time (for me at least) was about 1 hour (I'm a detail oriented person, so speed isn't my strong suit). Mechanical knowledge needed was pretty average and basic hand tools and a socket set was all that was needed.

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for all those whom added to this post. I just did my 09 Enclave passenger side mirror foldaway motor.
I had purchased a used assembly, wrong colour, and changed out the motor on my existing assembly.
NOTES take care to NOT put too much pressure on the mirror tabs, they can break easily. Also I found leaving the existing mirror assembly on the car made the work that much easier. Put some light grease on the surfaces around the foldaway motor to make it easier to reassemble.
One last thing, check operation of each part as you assemble it, the foldaway motor, then the turn signal light and lastly the mirror controls.

 

Good to hear Rick H. I will also add to check the heated mirror option after all assembled, i turned the rear defroster on, which turns the mirror heat feature on, and use a laser temperature reader. Mine read around 113*.

 

Before I attempted this, I searched and searched and didn't see anything on this forum (I don't recall much on the other Lamba forums either) whereby someone disassembled one of the side view mirrors to repair the power folding function. I know that there are plenty of people in the same boat I was (one or both not folding any more), so I figured I'd go ahead and write a good how to. Honestly, I'm a pretty capable mechanic (my works often exceeds what most dealership mechanics do) and I'd write up more how-to guides, if I only had the time.

In my case, my driver side mirror works fine, but the passenger side stopped folding- all other functions worked fine. I also got REALLY lucky in that I found a person on eBay selling a brand new, GM factory passenger side folding heated power mirror (unpainted) for $40. If you are like me, you didn't want to pay to buy a mirror and then pay even more to have it painted and/or you have a "donor" mirror with which you can swap parts.

First, here's a few notes/tips to keep in mind:

- From what I saw, you can separate and replace the following parts of the mirror: The shell/housing (the painted part that holds all the guts), the turn signal indicator, the mirror motor assembly, possibly the wiring harness (might take a little work to get it out of the non-folding part of the mirror assembly), the mirror/glass, and (naturally) the folding motor assembly.

- If the part of the mirror assembly that does not fold is fine, you COULD actually replace the mirror folding mechanism without removing it from the vehicle. Since I had a brand new mirror as my "donor", I opted to replace the whole thing


Let's start! I only took photos of the mirror when I was swapping the motors as that's the focus of this write up (sorry)

1. If you are going to replace the non-folding part, take the whole mirror off the car. Start by prying loose the door panel at the upper left corner (near where the mirror is on the door). At least for the passenger door, you will need to take out 3 bolts to get it pried out enough to get to the 2 wiring harnesses. One is behind a plastic cover that sits behind the interior door handle and the other two are located under a removable plastic cover that runs vertically up the grab handle on the door panel (see attached pic). You will also need to remove the interior plastic cover that hides the 3 nuts that hold the mirror to the door (it's held on by a spring clip- just carefully pry away from the door to pop it loose).

2. Disconnect the wiring harnesses and pop out the wiring harness retainer that is attached to the metal under the door panel, just above where the harness connects.

3. NOTE: There are 2 plastic retainers on the inside of the door rubber that hold the door rubber to the mirror assembly (if you are looking at the 3 mounting nuts for the mirror on the inside, the clips will be to the left on the door's rubber surround). Make sure you pop these out before trying to remove the mirror assembly

4. Remove all 3 mounting nuts (10mm) and remove the mirror from the vehicle.


Okay- time to disassemble!

1. Start by pushing the top of the mirror glass all the way in, so that the bottom of the glass is sticking out (i.e. if it were on the car and you were looking in your mirror, all you'd see is the sky.

2. CAREFULLY pry the mirror outward and while holding pressure, use a hook or other similar tools to try to release some of the tabs that hold the back of the mirror to the motor assembly. I know it feels like your gonna break something, but keep applying careful pressure and eventually the mirror will release.

3. Once the mirror releases STOP- more than likely you have a heated mirror and there are two wires attached to the top left corner of the glass that need to be taken off before you can separate the glass from the mirror housing. NOTE: when pulling off the heater wires, I recommend using the dull edge of a tool (any tool) to apply pressure to the metal terminals where they attach to the mirror. The first time I went to pull off a heater wire, it felt like I was about to tear the whole metal terminal off the mirror. By holding the other part of the metal terminal against the glass while pulling on the wire to remove it, you keep the metal terminal from trying to rip off the back of the mirror.

4. Once the glass is out of the way, you'll see that everything is pretty accessible!

5. Disconnect the wire harnesses going to the mirror tilt motor and turn signal (for now, you can leave the one attached to the folding motor assembly). Pull the turn signal harness out from behind the tilt motor so that all wires are together near folding motor assembly.

6. Remove the two screws that hold the folding motor assembly to the shell (torx)- they are long screws and are easy to remove (see attached pic).

7. Now for the tricky part- the folding motor assembly is somewhat tightly fitted into the shell. To separate the shell from the folding motor, separate the two parts (the shell and the part that mounts to the vehicle) by prying apart with a wiggle/rocking motion. You should slowly feel the shell sliding off the folding motor assembly.

NOTE: The shape of the folding motor assembly prevents the shell from sliding straight off the top. Once the shell has slid as far as it can off the folding motor assembly, carefully tilt the shell away from the assembly at the point closest to the pivot (see attached pic where it shows them partially separated).

8. Finish separating the shell from the folding motor assembly, taking care to route the wiring harness safely out of the shell

9. All you are left with is the mirror mount, folding motor and wiring harness.


At this point, you have a few options:

-If you are replacing/swapping the whole mirror mount, folding motor and wiring harness (which is what I did), simply reverse the steps above to mount the new mount/motor/harness to your existing body color, painted shell.

-If you want to replace just the motor, it's as easy as removing the 4 torx screws holding the folding motor assembly to the mirror mount, pulling off the old folding motor assembly (carefully routing the wire harness out the center hole) and mounting the new folding motor assembly on your existing mirror mount. Then reverse the step above the mount your existing shell onto the new folding motor assembly.


That's about it! In the future, I might try to do these in a PDF since it makes doing inline pics and markup (arrows, circles, etc.) easier. In fact, don't be surprised if I do just that and post it below... :thumb:

Total time (for me at least) was about 1 hour (I'm a detail oriented person, so speed isn't my strong suit). Mechanical knowledge needed was pretty average and basic hand tools and a socket set was all that was needed.

Enjoy!

Thanks for this very detail information I couldn’t find no videos so you explained it very well and helped out a lot to save money success beyond to you

 

 

Has anyone tried to remove folding motor assembly as in item 7 above? It appears my assembly has mounting arms connected to the outer part of the mirror housing, but they heat (melt) mounting to the housing. I even cut the them off and still could not move the assembly. The attached photo is my 2015 passenger mirror. The silver screws are where I cut the heat mounting off. The mount was hollow so I tap them and put screws in. Gave up trying get it out.

 

Should have indicated 2015 Buick Enclave. Sorry