Replacing mirror on 2001 Pontiac Grand Am

General Questions
#1

Howdy folks, last week a guy in my squadron ran into my car and knocked the passenger mirror off.

Let me be clear, he did not hit my car with his vehicle. He ran into it while talking to a friend in the parking lot and physically, with his own body, knocked the mirror right off the car.

Yeah, it’s funny to me too, actually :smiley:

Anyhow, I figure I can replace this sucker myself, but I only have a vague idea how. I don’t think it’s remotely adjustable (if it is, I have never figured out how to adjust it), and I have the replacement mirror already ($25. Yay eBay!)

I went out and bought a set of socket wrenches, but other than that, my tools are a cheap pair of needle nose pliers, a screw driver which can switch between Phillips and Flathead, a Swiss Army Knife, a Stanley claw hammer, and a Blackberry Curve.

I found a tutorial online that indicates that first I should remove the upholstery panel from inside the door opposite the mirror (a little triangular piece; the tutorial mentioned nothing about the rest of the door). Thing is, I don’t have a little upholstery panel, I have a little speaker. How do I get that sucker out?

Beyond that, anything I should keep in mind for replacing this thing, or is it going to be straight forward unscrew the old bolts that used to hold it in, screw the new ones in?

#2

There should be a small triangular piece of plastic on the door by the front of the window.

Check this link

http://newpontiaccars.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/1999-pontiac-grand-am-interior.jpg

It’s the best pic I could find. Look to the left of the steering wheel at about the ten o’clock position. If you remove that small cover the bolts to remove the mirror are behind it. It’s a pretty simple process, so you should be ok. hope this helps.

#3

Well yeah, that would be the speaker I’m talking about, the proper method of removal of which is perplexing me at the moment. Can I just pry it off by hand?

#4

Are you saying that there is a speaker located here…

#5

Yes, although the mirror I am replacing is on the opposite side of the car, there is a similar speaker there.

#6

On an unrelated note, the picture of the mid-air refueling in your photobucket is pretty cool. Is that the KC-767 the Japanese have?

#7

I have no idea. I was using the image in another thread, we were at a fireworks display in the summer and just before they started it appeared that a plane flew over while refueling.

I don’t think I have seen that particular type of speaker, but there should be a screw to remove and then get access to the mirror bolts. If not, you should be able to pry it off but I would be careful prying because you cant see which way it comes off.

here is a wikianswer on how to do it, not that i am a fan of wikianswer…lol

Like I said, be careful prying if off. Let me know how you make out.

#8

OK, so the speaker does indeed just pull right off. There is a clip, but it gives just enough resistance to make sure the speaker doesn’t come out on accident. It is actually held in place by a couple of pegs that slide into a couple of holes in the car frame.

Once that was done, I just had to pull out a big wad of insulation, loosen three nuts inside,and unscrew them to remove the bolts from the old mirror (making sure not to loose the nuts, of course).

Then I put the new mirror in the old mirror’s place, replaced the nuts, and tightened them with the socket wrench. After that, I replaced the insulation and the speaker, and my car was good to go!

#9

And you didn’t post this two years ago, when I hit a guy’s trash can that was very darn close to the road at 50 and sheared the passenger mirror off like butter?
Or last year, when the driver’s side mirror came loose from the screws?
In both cases I paid my friendly mechanic to put things right. It took him lnger to wrote out the bill…
Is that a speaker? It isn’t the damn chime that bitches at me for not buckling up, leaving the keys in the ignition or not brushing my teeth, nor is it connected to the CD player.

#10

The driver’s side mirror would be more involved on my car because it has the little adjuster thing to move it around from inside (what a useless feature).

And hey, I wish I had known this back in 2004 when someone hit my driver side mirror with a truck and I had to temporarily fix it with duck tape (fixes everything, for certain periods of time…) until the dealership fixed it for me.

Anyhow, the guy who did it offered to pay me for the cost of fixing it, so I’m going to let him know he owes me $40.:smiley:

#11

I’ve got that little joystick on the driver’s side for both mirrors on a 2000 Grand Am. It appears that there is a connector, and the gizmos are inside the mirror housing. All I ever found of the passenger mirror was a servo motor about the size of a C battery.

#12

Glad you got it fixed.

#13

Me too! The day after I put it on, it snowed. This leads me to believe that doing car repairs myself causes cold weather.

#14

Just got the full instructions below on how you will be going to replace the mirror on pontiac grand am at EHOW.com… hope that would be help…

Remove the Old Mirror
1.Step 1
Disconnect the negative battery cable before you take the front door trim panel off the Grand Am’s door. Remove all screws and clips and carefully pry the panel from the door.
2.Step 2
Detach the power mirror electrical wire connector located under the door panel.
3.Step 3
Take off any wiring guides to remove the mirror. Remove three nuts from the power mirror.
4.Step 4
Disconnect the outside rear view mirror. Guide the power wire through the hole in the door.

Install the New Mirror
5.Step 1
Replace the old mirror. Put the new mirror in place. Feed the new wiring through the hole in the door.
6.Step 2
Install and tighten the three retaining nuts. Reuse the nuts removed from the old mirror.
7.Step 3
Connect the power mirror wiring to the connection located on the door panel.
8.Step 4
Put the front door trim panel back in place. Secure all clips and tighten all screws.
9.Step 5
Connect the Pontiac Grand Am’s battery cable to restore the power.

Remember folks, street lights timed for 35 mph are also timed for 70 mph.
pontiac grand am parts

#15

Thanks for the instructions tam85, but I got that mirror fixed a few weeks back!:smiley:

Also, it looks like those directions are for powered mirrors, which my car lacked, but hopefully someone will come along looking for this info and the Dope will help them find it! (Well, hopefully they don’t NEED… oh you know what I mean…)