An unusually early and heavy October 2011 snow caused a tree branch to hang out over the edge of the road and I did not see it until it was too late. From the sound, I thought for sure I broke my windshield, but it did not crack. Once I got over the initial shock, I noticed my antenna and passenger rear view mirror were gone. I turned around and went back to salvage the pieces but nothing was useable.
Circle shows where the tree branch violently snapped off my folding power mirror. The antenna mast was a simple, non-powered straight rod.
The antenna mast snapped off and it looked to me like the nub was still in the hole.
Put window down. Easily pry off the inside triangular trim cover marked with white X. All I needed to use for that was my fingers. Remove the round plastic fastener next to the arrow by first pressing in on the center plunger, then pry loose.
I do not pry plastic with metal, in otherwords, I do not use screw drivers to pry on my plastic trim pieces. I use plastic pry tools which are made for the job, and can be bought cheaply on line.
This are Eastwood glass-reinforced nylon pry tools, and a little pricey. The cheaper ones from Harbor Freight do the trick just as well. I have both.
Remove two screws, each screw is hidden behind a small hinged piece of square trim. One screw is behind the handle.
The other screw is behind the armrest.
Insert a plastic pry tool about two inches into and along the bottom edge of the door, between the interior plastic door panel and the metal door frame. Slide along the edge until you hit a clip, then gently pry loose.
Once all the prawls are loose, lift the door which is "hanging" by the top edge along the window sill. Since I was only trying to access the three bolts that held on the passenger mirror, I did not bother to disconnect the power window switch and completely remove the door panel. For the record, the power window switch garnish easily pries loose from its front edge.
With the door panel out of the way, the three flange nuts that hold the mirror in place can be accessed. The black arrows show the clips that held the black triangular trim piece in place. Disconnect the power cable behind the door panel that goes to the mirror.
Do not let the nuts fall down into the door. I stuffed a rag in the door space under the nut so in case I do drop the nut, it falls outside the door.
These were the pieces left after my mirror hit a low hanging branch. I never found the glass or the antenna.
There were a lot of choices for replacement mirrors on-line. I needed a power window that folded, no heater. I looked around on-line but decided to go OEM, since my truck was still "new." The dealer price for part number 87910-04170 was $204.52, including tax. Ouch! I justified the cost by reminding myself how much money I was saving by doing the labor myself.
Assembly is reversal of the above steps. When I tried to push the interior triangular black trim cover piece back into the clips, one of the clips got pushed through the hole and fell in between the metal door panels. Without this precision tool, I probably would not have been able to retrieve the clip.
Closed
Open
First, I carefully placed a couple of drops of PB Blaster into the antenna hole to loosen the broken off stud.
The secret to using PB Blaster is to let the stuck part sit overnight or longer. Don't be in a rush. New antenna sitting next to can.
Then I went to Sears and spent $30 on these Craftsman Drill-Out Micro Power Extractors, part number (9)52155. I was hoping not to spend so much but I wanted a set of these reuseable extractors for small bolts.
If I can get the broken stud out, then I would be able to reuse the remaining installed parts of the antenna, and not take the fender liner out to get to the antenna from underneath.
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS on the extractor. DRILL SLOW, 50-100 RPMs meaning you should be able to count the revolutions out loud. If the cutting end of the extractor is not making metal filings, stop, slow down. If the drill is too fast the hole will be too smooth and the extractor will not cut or grip. BOTH sides of the extractor bit are used with the drill in REVERSE at all times.
I used the smallest bit in the kit, and that worked great. You can always go bigger, but you cannot go backwards and drill smaller, so work your way up if you need to. The broken stud came out very easily. I believe the PB Blaster that I applied days earlier helped a lot.
Broken end of antenna mast successfully removed.
New OEM antenna "pole" cost $36.74 including tax, part number 86309-04080. Tighten gently with padded small crescent wrench on the flat spots.
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