Hey man, that mirror is smokin !!!

No for real! My rear view mirror was smoking the other night !
I thought I had seen it do this before, but not like this infurnal plume. :disappoin

Well after disassembling the mirror, which was no easy task, I found the back of the mirror was coverd by a thin foam backing. Which apearently over time can catch fire from the lights being on to long or touching a bulb when it crumbles away.
Luckily the foam was pretty easy to remove by pealing up the sticky tape used to attach the it. though the foam was sticky and falling apart. I used acetone to remove the foam tar resisdue.

I have no idea why the foam was there. I figured to keep it from rattling.
So I used some double stick adhesive foam, for body panels, hoping it would keep away the rattle.
Seems to be fine now, no smoking, and no rattles. Works like new. :naughty:

I'll post some pics later of all the insides, just in case someone else want to tare into theirs.

nice, so when you race you can see your opponent in a cloud of smoke:cwm27:

it is good that you got it fixed before it caught on fire when you are not around

yeah a fire while Im not around would suck! :(

Here are some pics.. First one is just the melted foam.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c242/xeroinfinity/justonefix/meltd_foam.jpg

This one is of the faulty bulb holder(s) and the way it melted the foam to the metal tabs.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c242/xeroinfinity/justonefix/brok_socket.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c242/xeroinfinity/justonefix/bad_socket.jpg

Here's removing the foam
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c242/xeroinfinity/justonefix/foampeal.jpg

And my fix with the thin molding tape
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c242/xeroinfinity/justonefix/new_foam.jpg

Right before I found this I had noticed while driving the interior lights would come on and off randomly. If I went to turn on the drivers map light, all the others would come on and the drivers didnt.

So this might explain the anomalies others have had with their interior lighting turning off and on randomly. :dunno:

Also I did NOT use any acetone on the mirror back, it'll remove the silver.
It cleaned up the bulb holder(s) and other plastic just fine.