side mirrors on a 97 vette

[silverc5]

Has anyone had a mirror come loose at the swivel joint? If so how do you fix it? Or did you have to take it to the dealer? It looks like the prior owner had a problem but just threw some superglue or something on it. I would rather have it fixed the correct way.. Thanks for any help:confused

 

[c4c5specialist]

HI there,
You will have to replace the mirror.
The biggest thing that you will have a problem with, is attempting to find parts, as the internal swivel spring, and the retainer are all part of the mirror assembly.
besttoyou, c4c5

 

[vigman]

Probably faster

To get one from a wrecking yard and trade out what it is ya need?


Vig!

 

[JOV]

The only way to fix the outside mirrors on a C5 is to replace the mirror assembly. Its about $350.00 at the dealer and mirror assembly comes unpainted. What normally happens is the push washer that keeps tension on the spring wears out the shoulder on the post .There is a cheap fix, you can drill a small hole in the base of the mirror into the post but you will lose the benifit of being able to push in your mirrors. To me this is a lousy enginnering design by GM and is happinig on a lot of 97-98 C5
Just my $.02 and hope this helps....

 

[vettepilot]

The design engineers probably didn't expect people to be swinging those mirrors around after every car wash to dump the water. If left alone (yeah how many do that)they would probably last indefinately unless hit.
vettepilot

 

[DRTH VTR]

side mirror on a '97

I had my mirror broken at a carwash (I learned my lesson- no more car washes!! I got scratches, too) and had to have the whole unit relaced. In looking at the broken part, I don't see any way to fix it, as the spring load on the spring retaining clip must be very large. I don't think you could get it assembled.

 

[silverc5]

Thanks everyone for yory replies. I did a quick fix for now until I can find one at a salvage yard or on the net. The dealer wants $180 dollars unpainted and uninstalled. Once I find one I'll have them paint and install it. We haven't had the best of luck with this car since buying it alittle over a month ago, so I hope this isn't the start of things to come