As I started to reverse the car last night, I heard a tinkling noise and upon investigation, found that the glass on the passenger side door mirror had spontaneously decided to drop off and shatter on the ground. It looks as though it had been simply stuck on.
Anyone know a good source of replacement glass and the procedure for sticking it back on? As the undersurface is heated, I would anticipate that any 'glue' would have to be able to tolerate heat?
Thanks and, by the way, I haven't put this under 'technical' because I can't imagine that I'd need to put my overalls on to do the job :-)
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they are ALL indeed "just stuck on" The replacement you buy, from whatever source (dealer, factors, halfords, ebay) will have double sided tape on it. You just peel it off and stick it on.
Make sure the mounting plate is clean and dry.
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I can't speak for Vauxhall, but the CRV door mirror glass had the heating element in the glass itself - a simple glass replacement from Halfords would have lost the heating.
The glass was pretty cheap from Honda, only 17 or 18 quid.
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Thanks for those re-assurances, chaps; the element isn't embedded in the glass, so it should be cheaper and simpler to fix. A quick glance at a couple of reviews seemed to suggest that the replacement should be stuck over the 'existing broken glass' rather than a situation where the glass had simply done a bunk.
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Ok, well YMMV, but that hasnt been the case in the three I have replaced.
(VW polo, VW Van, Laguna)
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>> I can't speak for Vauxhall, but the CRV door mirror glass had the heating element
>> in the glass itself -
Thats pretty rare.
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The ones I've done with heater have had the heating element bonded to the rear of the glass so if you buy a replacement glass it comes with the element and you just reconnect the wires. However if the broken bits are tidy enough sticking on a halfords type with the supplied tape usually retains the heating effect.
With the heated glass replacements being only £20-£25 on Ebay I usually replace the whole glass/element for a more secure repair.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Fri 16 Nov 12 at 09:20
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Blimey - it looks as though absconding mirrors are a fairly common occurrence; I'd never heard of it happening previously.
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As others have said, they're stuck on with double sided tape. Those that have been lucky and not had the mirror glass break when it falls off have re-attached it with a flexible impact adhesive.
Plenty to be had on ebay for a fraction of what the dealer prices are.
eg - www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-ASTRA-H-2004-2009-LEFT-WING-MIRROR-GLASS-18L-/390284363102
And yes, it is a common problem for the tape to lose its stickiness and the mirror glass to fall off.
>> Thanks and, by the way, I haven't put this under 'technical'
Why not? We're trying to build up a database of information, which is not helped when you put it here to be 'lost' in among general motoring discussion.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 16 Nov 12 at 10:08
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>>Why not?
Didn't you read? he said why not.
>>which is not helped when you put it here to be 'lost' in among general motoring discussion.
Well, no doubt being shirty will really improve things.
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...and you're never shirty, Mark:)
Pat
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>> ...and you're never shirty, Mark:)
>>
>> Pat
Thank you Pat, finally you've seen the light. I am merely misunderstood at times.
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>> Didn't you read? he said why not.
And I gave a reason why he should have done.
>> Well, no doubt being shirty will really improve things.
Didn't stop you when you were a moderator ;)
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 16 Nov 12 at 12:10
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>>I gave a reason why he should have done
This is probably pointless...
As a generalisation, someone coming here has no aspirations or needs for the site. You, as part of the management team, do. So for him there is no "should" at all. There might be a "want to" but there's no "should".
If you would like he, and others that follow, to do something to YOUR advantage, then best you manage it in the way most likely to achieve that.
>>>>>>Why not?
>>
>>>> Didn't you read? he said why not.
>>
>>And I gave a reason why he should have done
Read those lines again. See if you feel you addressed my question.
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>> Read those lines again. See if you feel you addressed my question.
Whatever.
Your main aim tends to just want to argue and rile other members, and I for one can't be bothered with playing the donkey and carrot game with you.
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Shame, you're so good at it. Although sometimes you should try being the carrot.
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And you should stop being a cock.
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>>And you should stop being a cock.
David!
Personal abuse and insults, I'm sure I remember you saying that wasn't permitted in here.
Have the rules changed?
8-)
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 16 Nov 12 at 13:48
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>> Personal abuse and insults....
Keep your shirt(y) on. I was continuing along the theme of animals. Don't know what you were thinking about.
Anyway, don't cocks generally try and rule the roost?
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.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 16 Nov 12 at 18:42
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>>
>> >> Thanks and, by the way, I haven't put this under 'technical'
>>
>> Why not? We're trying to build up a database of information, which is not helped
>> when you put it here to be 'lost' in among general motoring discussion.
>>
I see that the forum search function has a feature to search 'any forum', so I don't think the discussion is lost - it's ready to be found.
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Thanks to everyone for the information. I will bear in mind the ebay link - I hadn't seen it when I searched earlier and, while I was in town, I ordered one from Halford's at £9.49 - it should be in tomorrow.
Apologies for upsetting Vxfan - clearly the reference to 'my overalls' was a subtlety too far. I have contributed to the Technical section on this forum, and more so to it's earlier relative, frequently over the past 12(?) years, though this has usually been on topics such as the relationship between PCV valves and oil consumption rather than a mirror becoming unglued. By all means, move the thread to technical if you wish - I just didn't want to annoy the chaps who can change two engines during their lunch hour.
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>> Apologies for upsetting Vxfan
It didn't upset me. I was merely passing comment.
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>> I hadn't seen it when I searched earlier and, while I was in town, I
>> ordered one from Halford's at £9.49 - it should be in tomorrow.
Are you sticking the Halfords one to the plastic backing plate? If so, having done the same job to a Corsa C mirror recently you may find it's not quite the same outline as the original backing plate. This means careful lining up to get the slight gap equal around the outside. You only get one go with the double sided tape of course. A genuine one fits exactly but is something like £43 for the same thing!!
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" This means careful lining up to get the slight gap equal around the outside. You only get one go with the double sided tape of course."
I suspected that might be the case - very stressful! I had to perform a similar operation a couple of evenings ago when I applied a protective film to a digital camera screen :-(
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>> I suspected that might be the case - very stressful! I had to perform a
>> similar operation a couple of evenings ago when I applied a protective film to a
>> digital camera screen :-(
In my case the glass was still attached to the plastic backing plate but cracked into many pieces. Sticking the glass over the cracked glass would have looked awful so I spent a painful hour carefully chipping off the old glass with a screwdriver before sticking the Halfords item to the backing plate. Lots of slivers of glass and cut finger tips!
A good wipe over with white spirit to degrease the plate is a good idea to give the new item a chance to stay in place.
Last edited by: Victorbox on Sat 17 Nov 12 at 07:59
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>> The ones I've done with heater have had the heating element bonded to the rear
>> of the glass so if you buy a replacement glass it comes with the element
>> and you just reconnect the wires. However if the broken bits are tidy enough sticking
>> on a halfords type with the supplied tape usually retains the heating effect.
>>
>> With the heated glass replacements being only £20-£25 on Ebay I usually replace the whole
>> glass/element for a more secure repair.
As I said. the ones I have changed do not have a glass/element, merely a back plate (with the electric movement assembly and the heater element) with the glass stuck on. And they are the type that just detach themselves and fall in the road.
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Buy genuine the cheap after market are rubbish had one on my H.
That dropped off too. :-(
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>> Buy genuine the cheap after market are rubbish had one on my H.
>>
>> That dropped off too. :-(
Like the genuine one did?
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The CRV one clipped onto the mounting bracket/electrical adjuster.
It would be nigh on impossible to fall off - ours needed replaced because Mrs L hit the door mirror coming out of the Gallowgate shopping mall in Falkirk - the housing was ok but the glass shattered (still clipped in situ however)
Presumably the Swift has the heater in the housing as the CRV demisted in 30 secs while the Swift takes around 3 minutes.
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>>Gallowgate shopping mall in Falkirk
I think you mean the Howgate Shopping Centre
Friend's 18 yr old daughter scraped almost the full length of the nearside in the Howgate a few months back.
Too many concrete pillars in that carpark for my liking - I use the multi-story @ bus station - fewer pillars & wider aisles.
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That's the one! - I don't go to the shops much ;-)
Last edited by: Lygonos on Fri 16 Nov 12 at 15:36
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Herself has an 05 Astra H estate. When it reached around 10yo I found the drivers mirror glass on the floor by the drivers door.
Luckily it was intact so I cleaned it up, and the housing also, a good spread of EvoStick to both parts and popped it back on. Old towel over it and a couple of G clamps. Left it overnight and it has been as good as new for years:-).
Rgds
Zuave.
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"a good spread of EvoStick "
Thanks for the confirmation of 'Evostick' - it is one of my mainstays along with Loctite superglue and Araldite depending on the job.
When I examined the vacated spot, a tiny still-tacky area suggested that the meanest squiggle of an 'Evostick-like' substance had been used originally.
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>> a simple glass replacement from Halfords would have lost the heating
My Escort came with a replacement passenger side mirror glass, stuck on top of the smashed original. It took 60 seconds to demist as opposed to 15 seconds for the driver's side. I put up with that for 3 winters.
>> Herself has an 05 Astra H estate. When it reached around 10yo
Not many 10 year old 05 plate cars out there :)
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>> Not many 10 year old 05 plate cars out there :)
>>
You may be surprised..... ;-)
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:-) twas a loong day yesterday, should have said "around 2010 the mirror glass dropped off"
Anyway, get yer Evostick out!!
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