| DMor |
Post your ideas…improvements…whatever. This is just the beginning of a MIRROR WEEP FIX in progress. (Mjaime…this is your cue!) :)
I think everyone will agree that the key to fixing the mirror weep is to keep the water from penetrating and soaking the water absorbing gasket behind the triangular trim piece. Rail pioneered the first successful fix by wrapping this gasket in saran wrap and caulking the inside of the mirror. While we admire Rail’s fix, how many of us are prepared to remove our mirrors? Yikes! :eek:
I tried a couple of alternative fixes and these may or may not work for you. Variables will include your local weather, frequency of car washes, car wash style, i.e., hand/machine and water pressure. I hand wash my MB MDX about twice a month, and it ‘never rains in Southern California’…so this fix works pretty well for me.
FIRST FIX : (Pics to follow)
I applied my FIRST fix a few months ago by placing a piece of pipe wrap tape directly under the mirror housing. The PipeWrap is made for water, holds the water behind it, and it flows down the tab between the doors. This worked through 2- 3 washings without failure. Unless you’re industrious, you might want to stop here.
SECOND FIX: (pics to follow)
For my SECOND fix, I decided to try to block the water at its source and remove the tape under the mirror. I used RopeCaulk around the trim piece (see pics) and taped the surface of the black mirror-pivoting base (see pics). One nice thing about using ROPE CAULK vs. goopy stuff is that you can easily remove it if necessary and it cleans up with a little paint thinner. It’s fairly water/weather resistant. AND…it’s EZ to handle. If it’s visable around the top of the triangle, you could probably color it with a Sharpie or black shoe polish.
The front of the mirror has a natural drain hole, which can be seen by powering your mirror forward. This hole is designed to drain water that enters the front of the mirror. Ideally, this water enters, stays in the “pocket” and drains between the housing and the black extension arm. I also believe this may be causing a certain amount of WaterWhip against the windows when wind catches this area during turns, etc. This would probably be a temporary condition.
Rail pointed out that water can also enter the pivot assembly and gasket from inside and he fixed this by caulking the inside. This solves the problem, but requires mirror removal.
Additionally, I found a few other ways water could enter from the black pivot base. Your mirror will pivot in each direction while sitting on the base. When it pivots, the mechanism raises the mirror up. If you examine the small lines on the surface of the black platform, you’ll find they’re actually slits. I don’t know if these collect water and drain toward the door or not? Additionally, there is a weatherproof gasket/seal against the car door (behind the mirror) and water could run down there as well. Another water entry source could be the pivot mechanism itself, since this probably acts as a drain since it rises up. I taped the entire surface with PipeWrap tape. It doesn’t interfere with the mirror and seems to keep the water away from the gasket. You will need a myriad of little unwound paper clips…skinny bamboo skewers…and other skinny tools to poke the tape around that weatherproof gasket/seal on the door side. I also taped up the sides of that seal. Once completed, you can’t see anything from the outside.
These are the tools I used :) |
|
|
| DMor |
| FIRST FIX...quick and EZ. Don't know effects of PipeTape on Paint tho. |
|
|
| DMor |
| Second Shot of FIRST FIX |
|
|
| DMor |
Here's one pic from Rail's fix. Notice the small square area near the bottom (highlighted by blue circle). This is where the water drips...then runs along the channel and eventually down the door.
I outlined the areas in BLUE that I caulked by slightly prying the plastic piece up and slipping the Rope Caulk behind the trim. |
|
|
| DMor |
| This is a pic of the drain hole as referenced earlier. |
|
|
| DMor |
| Here's the area I caulked with Rope Caulk. |
|
|
| DMor |
| Area I rope caulked...from outside view. |
|
|
| DMor |
| This is where I used Pipe Wrap tape on the mirror base. You can barely see the WHITE letters. Mirror pivots both ways. I placed tape on all sides. |
|
|
| Crem de la SUV |
Dmor, Rail;
I haven't followed your threads much since I don't have (or don't notice) weeping mirrors.
One suggestion that I have, though, is that if you go as far as removing the mirrors and have the porous gasket in hand, you might try rubbing some silicone RTV rubber compound into it. Put on a pair of latex gloves; get a gob, work it in, and try to get the gasket saturated with it without leaving excess on the surface of the gasket. Pay particular attention to the die-cut edges of the gasket material. It will effectively become closed cell in nature, and not have a tendency to hold water.
If the gasket is the root of the problem, this should help. |
|
|
|
