I recently had someone smack my passenger sideview mirror assembly, and it's hanging by the electrical cord. Not fun. I procured a replacement from Rockauto and taking off the door panel/trim tomorrow to get on with it. I worry about breaking connector clips on the ride. It's a 1998. Any suggestions to mitigate breakage of the clips? I'm going to take my take my time obviously, but don't want to end up with 2-5 broken clips in process and a wiggly door panel. If you have any tips/tricks, please share.

The end result will hopefully be remote and heated mirrors!!

Pretty minor stuff compared to all the things Ive read on here, but I'm a newbie. CPU has always been my jam. AUTO has not.

I can imagine a lot of OGs shaking their heads going "This guy is so lame". They're not wrong!! I work on datacenters. Not vehicles. I'm rather dumb in this category.

Any bit helps!! I just don't want to end up with busted connectors and floppy door trim.

First body work project for me. I wish dearly I was a schooled gear head like most of you on here. You guys are inspirational, truly.

Thank you in advance!!

 

There are a couple of screws for the door handle. Then there are quite a few of the clips around the perimeter of the interior door panel except at top. These are best popped out with a panel tool.

The top of door panel drops into opening for the window.

The plastic clips that hold the panel in place are replaceable. They are shaped like a broad head nail with the head clipping into the door panel.

 

Well, it's done!! The redneck duct tape fix is no more!! Took the passenger side door panel off, removed the damaged sideview mirror assembly, replaced with OEM, and voila, good to go. Verified the remote control and heat work as well. I did break a plastic clip, but just one. It was cool removing the door panel looking back at 28 years ago. I have some pics. Nothing glamorous, but may be useful for someone. Maybe? And the exhilaration of not driving down the road with a flopping sideview mirror. We accept all victories. Big and small.

 

Congrats.

And FYI, those panels are made of ABS plastic that means you can make repairs or add reinforcements by welding other pieces of ABS to the panel using acetone. I had to do that for my driver's door handle. You can also make a slurry with shavings of ABS to help with filling in gaps.

 

I hope this helps someone in the future.


THINGS YOU'LL NEED:

• Philips head screwdriver (for screw under the door lever).
• 7mm socket with extension (two bolts underneath arm rest)
• 10mm socket with extension (for three nuts connecting the sideview mirror assembly). There's three rubber boots that need to be removed first (easy). Be sure to put the boots back upon installation.

NOTES/THOUGHTS:

• Disconnect negative battery cable before engaging in any repair/removal.
• Careful removing the nuts to the sideview mirror assembly. They can easily drop into your door panel. Try to keep you hand out in case they do drop and/or affix some type of catch (like duct tape). You don't want to go fishing for them if they drop. A magnetic socket would be preferable.
• Door panel trim has a "catch" on top left to affix the panel to. Basically a groove to line up with a connector. Hard to miss. On reinstall, start from the top. and work your way down. Inspect clip locations and adjust accordingly.
• Don't use a flathead screwdriver if possible to remove trim. All of it can largely be removed by hand with gentle pressure. Use a pry tool set if needed. I started with a plastic pry tool set but found I didn't need it. Mileage will vary.
• Removing the electric lock/unlock connector is kind of a bear. You'll have to put some elbow grease into it to remove. I recorded the wire diagram just in case I busted it (which didn't happen). Mine didn't want to come off easily.

 

That's very, very good to know!! Crazy how acetone melts down plastic. It's like DIY JB Weld for plastic!! D