Rear View Mirror Rattle and Vibration Fix

[wreckwriter]

Hey guys, my 2001 Tibby has developed a buzzing noise which is coming from the rear view mirror (the one on the windsheid). Just touching any part of the mirror stops the noise so I figure it has just vibrated loose. Problem is I can't figure out how to tighten it. I can't find a set screw or anything like one finds on most mirrors. Any help appreciated.

[tibby01]

here is a diy for the fix

Originally Posted by tibwrcsbj on www.rdtiburon.com

Rear View Mirror Rattle and Vibration Fix :

Tools Needed :
1 Small piece (4"x4") of Dynamat Xtreme or similar product
1 Phillips screwdriver w/ a medium sized tip
1 Box cutter knife or xacto knife
6" Electrical tape
1 Pen
1 Pair of needle nose pliers
? Corona
1 Clamp (optional)

20-30 Minutes of your time, depending on how many Coronas you feel like having :-)

Step One : Remove rear view mirror

This is accomplished by pushing on the base of the mirror where it hits the windshield and pulling on it towards the engine (parallel w/ windshield)

I found this much easier to do if the mirror was turned completely around. (also note where i plan to put my Rd.com sticker)

Step Two : Disassemble mirror attachment mechanism
There are four pieces to this. One screw (gold in color), one metal ring that the screw sits in, a round pressure clip, and the actual mounting piece. Be careful pulling the pressure clip out b/c its a bitch to get back in, so try to bend it as little as possible.

Unscrew the screw from the mirror.

Remove pressure clip. Use the needle nose pliers and squeeze it and pull a little bit on one side, it should come out fairly easily.

Remove the ring.

Step Three : Dynamat
Ok, this is the most time consuming part of this whole process.

1.) Lay the ring on the piece of dynamat and trace and cut around it. Apply to ring. Use the pen to press a hole into the dynamat for the screw to go back into.

2.) Lay the mounting piece face (side where pressure clip fits) down on top of dynamat and press down as hard as possible (use a clamp if you have one). Cut out the inner part of the indentation you just made and place this into the mounting piece, flip over and cut out the circle.

3.) Take whatever dynamat you have left over and remove the foil side (should be left with a tar like substance, you may have to peel some of this off as you go.) On the side of the mounting piece that has three dimples in a triangle, apply the dynamat substance in a thin layer over everything except the hole for the screw.

4.) Get the electrical tape; apply some to each of the bent up portions of the pressure clip (I believe this is where most of the rattles come from)

Step Four : Reassembly

Put the metal ring back in (should now be covered w/ and sitting on dynamat)
Depending on how much electrical tape was used you may want to put the screw back into place before putting the pressure clip back in.

This is the hardest part of this whole process : Put the pressure clip back into place, its a PITA, but w/ a little elbow grease and a couple of tries it will go back in. It should now look something like this :


Reattach the mounting piece to the mirror by squeezing it, removing any excess of the dynamat tar, and then screw it back together.

Go put the mirror back in your car (Opposite of Step One but use more outward pressure, took me a couple of tries to get it stay) and enjoy not having any rattles from it, and barely any vibration from it either.

Finish Corona or get another

threw the worst i could at it and the little bit of vibration thats left is BARELY noticable, my side mirrors are 50x worse than the rear. BTW i'm sure this could be easily adapted to do the side mirrors too.

The worst i could throw at it :

TCM (vegas and legion of boom)
TCB (singles)
Prodigy (fat of the land)
NWA (efil4zaggin)
Dr. Dre (both chronic albums)
Luke (couple songs off a mix)
Beastie Boys (check your head)
Disturbed (the sickness)
(No SW yet, you figure it out, but i will, prob tonite 8) )

The main reasons i did this :
1.) i'd seen on other sites people complaing about it
2.) those same people said it could NOT be helped, BS
3.) b/c i was very tempted to just pull the mirror off and drive w/o it, it was rattling so bad.

[wreckwriter]

Thanks much. I'll admit I was hoping it would be easier than that though!

[wreckwriter]

One question: Where might one get a piece of that "dynamat" stuff?

[tibby01]

circuit city, walmart, best buy.

anywhere that has anything about car audio stuff. they will know what you are talking about if you ask.

[wreckwriter]

OK, thanks again!

[twospirits]

I copied this thread over here from the main Tib section and gave it a more appropiate title. You members can continue posting in here.

TS out