Electric folding mirrors-HELP!

[markalex73]

HI All!!....im wondering if any of you fellow merc men out there can help me.
I just bought a 98' c280 elegance yesterday(my 3rd merc), lovely car, everythings fine, except, after i took her for a spin, i parked her into my garage and decided to fold the electric mirrors up. That was ok, but when i came out this morning to take her out again, i went to fold the mirrors back down, and nothing!!!!....after a few mins thinking, i checked the fuses, and found the fuse had blown. So i took a spare one and replaced it with that. Ignition on, fold mirrors back, fine. Worked ok. I just come back from taking her for a drive tonight and thought id be brave, (as id bought some spare 15amp fuses today), and try to fold them up again. Fine, folded up ok. Engine off, then started her up again to see if theyd go back down,, and nothing!...ive now used about 4 fuses on it, each time i try, it blows the fuse,,i cant get them back down!(
Would anybody have any suggestions, is there a way to get these things back down manually? Thanks...Mark

 

[jaymanek]

A stab in the dark, but as its moving, maybe one of the wires has come loose causing a short...

 

[miro]

I would be checking also for motor loadings. If there is poor lubrication in the mechanism then it will tend to cause a startup motor load about 5X the normal.

Sounds like a good excuse to pop the shells off and have a good look at the mechanism.

Do a search on "removing shell" and you will find a diagram on how to do it.

 

[markalex73]

Thanks for your input guys. I went out to the car last night to have another go at the mirrors, and this time i tried a 10amp fuse, as id run out of 15's now. And they managed to get back down! Phew!....Ill see how involved it is to pop the shells off and take a look. If its too involved ill have to take it someone to have a look at it. Cheers.

 

[miro]

Thanks for your input guys. I went out to the car last night to have another go at the mirrors, and this time i tried a 10amp fuse, as id run out of 15's now. And they managed to get back down! Phew!....Ill see how involved it is to pop the shells off and take a look. If its too involved ill have to take it someone to have a look at it. Cheers.

Its not involved. Folding mirrors make it simple. In the folding position the release clip is exposed.

 

[markalex73]

ok,,thanks. Ill pop em' off and take a look tomorrow. JUst going off topic for a second....Have you ever encountered any problems with the bonnet catch by any chance also? ie: not closing down?

 

[Shude]

ok,,thanks. Ill pop em' off and take a look tomorrow. JUst going off topic for a second....Have you ever encountered any problems with the bonnet catch by any chance also? ie: not closing down?

mine did that but I cured it by always pushing the handle back into position before closing the bonnet, you can do this at the same time as opening . It was also improved when I managed to clip some plastic thing back down into the slam-panel, it wasn't correctly clipped in for some reason. I can take pics if required.

 

[markalex73]

Yeah, i manage to close it back down, just by wedging the end of my vaccum between the floor and the red bonnet lever!(its just the right height!)
Just needs to be flush to the plastic, then it closes fine! weird isnt it! My girlfriend had the same problem on her slk once, i just sprayed some wd40 on the actual bonnet bit of the catch and it went back ok!

 

[Shude]

Yeah, i manage to close it back down, just by wedging the end of my vaccum between the floor and the red bonnet lever!(its just the right height!)

Not exactly mercedes-like though is it? I remember the feeling of horror when blasting down the M60 and the bonnet lifted up, onto the other catch or something, just basically popped up an inch or so! I slowed right down and pulled into the Tesco carpark at Prestwich, popped open the bonnet properly, pushed the lever back and slammed it shut, then drove back out of the carpark, much to the amusement of anyone watching.

 

[markalex73]

haha....yeah i think people like to see someone in a merc with problems dont they!Ijust checked out your website....VERY nice car mate!....im very impressed with your sat/nav system. that looks truly great!...how much did that set you back? id love one myself, but i should think its not so cheap!

 

[Shude]

haha....yeah i think people like to see someone in a merc with problems dont they!Ijust checked out your website....VERY nice car mate!....im very impressed with your sat/nav system. that looks truly great!...how much did that set you back? id love one myself, but i should think its not so cheap!

I need to update my website, that car was totalled over a year ago! A lot of the mods have been transfered to my current car though (which is a similar spec) including the satnav. Comand was about a grand for everything.