Power mirror retrofit

[Marc_986]

Does anybody know what is involved in retrofitting power mirrors to my manual mirror 986?

It would be really convenient to have these as the mirrors are the only things we need to adjust between myself and my wife. Seat, steering wheel etc are good for both of us. My current manual mirrors are hard to adjust (do seem to have a lot of play in them and / or stickyness) and as usual the passenger side is fiddly to adjust from the drivers seat.

Mainly looking at things involved in wiring (inside the door, through the car) and whether the standard mirror mounts etc can be used still.

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by Marc_986

Does anybody know what is involved in retrofitting power mirrors to my manual mirror 986?

It would be really convenient to have these as the mirrors are the only things we need to adjust between myself and my wife. Seat, steering wheel etc are good for both of us. My current manual mirrors are hard to adjust (do seem to have a lot of play in them and / or stickyness) and as usual the passenger side is fiddly to adjust from the drivers seat.

Mainly looking at things involved in wiring (inside the door, through the car) and whether the standard mirror mounts etc can be used still.

My Google research revealed that the effort is a no go... a non-starter... too much work for an otherwise 15 second manual effort.

Good luck.

[997_986]

I was not aware that a manual version exists, would be glad to have one although mine are (still) working. I like to avoid everything that can electrically fail. I imagine that taking it apart, checking it over and putting it back together might possibly resolve the issue (which I fully understand), but some parts do wear out – though they might be easy to repair. Keep us informed how it turned out!

[Marc_986]

Hmmm, doesn't sound that hopeful. I don't mind going to a good many hours of effort to get things done (the right way) as the manual adjustment is simply horrible. Granted, the experience might be better if I resolve the slop of the current mechanism...

Alright, open for further input. Will need to put some research in ;-)

[tcoradeschi]

I would propose, with no data to back up the proposal, that all the basic wiring is on the chassis, and runs to the door jambs. The wiring harnesses in the doors themselves may need to be replaced, or surrogate wiring added to run to the actuators and the switch. Or maybe the wiring is already in the doors, and simply has nothing connected to it.

Using standardizing wiring harnesses is a pretty typical method from a production planning perspective. The wiring diagrams are fairly readily available, so figuring out what that means shouldn’t be too difficult.

Worst case, you pull off the driver side door card and see what’s in there.

[The Radium King]

PET shows a different part # for power vs manual mirror door wiring harnesses. and you can't just grab +12v in the door someplace and make it work as apparently the mirror uses +12v and -12v to make the motor go in/out or up/down. so you would have to get a door wiring harness specifically for electric mirrors and retrofit it or convince two more wires to fit in the loom. and sort out whatever additional wiring needed under the dash.

[tcoradeschi]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

PET shows a different part # for power vs manual mirror door wiring harnesses. and you can't just grab +12v in the door someplace and make it work as apparently the mirror uses +12v and -12v to make the motor go in/out or up/down. so you would have to get a door wiring harness specifically for electric mirrors and retrofit it or convince two more wires to fit in the loom. and sort out whatever additional wiring needed under the dash.

Thanks for confirming. That would be the “surrogate wiring” I referred to above. Not impossible, but not (within the door) plug n play.

[Marc_986]

Little research done;

- Mirror mounting plates / mechanism etc. is all different.
- Outer housing seems to be the same
- Looks like the glass is the same
- Interior trim piece is different
- Wiring harness in the door is different

So looking at cost, it seems to be mainly in the mirror base / mechanism etc. Best bet is to get complete mirrors left / right. This appears around $100 / side. Wiring is available and cheap, not much of a concern. Trim panels and switch on the interior side yet unknown.

Let's see whether I can get a better deal on the mirrors (Say $100 /set) and we'll go from there.

(car side wiring I can likely pull from the wreck I have around, including connector pins etc.)