If you are obsessive compulsive like I am then you have noticed the white spots that form on your truck when you drive it right after it’s been washed. I suspected water was getting in behind the mirror mount somehow so I took the mirrors off to see what was going on. And I was right. The culprit is aluminum oxidation.
To get the mirror off first pull the triangle shaped cover off the inside. It will reveal the electrical connector and one of the mounting nuts. The remaining two mounting nuts are revealed if you pull the door panel away from the door. Nuts are in red circles below. I suppose you could use a wood block to keep it back. (Insert wood block at yellow arrow where my thumb is) whilst you remove the last two nuts.
And low and behold there was water getting in between the rubber gasket and the aluminum mounting bracket. You can clearly see the residue on the rubber below inside the red ellipse. The water was trapped in the aluminum cavity and it oxidized. That is what was causing the white spots on the paint. This is much more noticeable on dark color paint. It is also easily seen on the aluminum bracket
I first cleaned up the oxidation from the aluminum bracket and from the rubber gasket using a wire brush. Then I got some blue permatex gasket maker and laid down a thick bead along the edge of the aluminum bracket and on the rubber gasket. See the yellow arrows. for where to put the permatex.
If you are a real perfectionist, I guess you would paint the bracket with rustoleum and drill drain holes in the bottom of the bracket, but I didn’t go that far. Let the glue cure for about twenty minutes then have someone help you put the mirror back on the truck one to hold it and the other to fasten the screws. Having the person holding, to hold it still so the glue won’t get pushed off the bracket. We broke the plastic stud fixture (in red circle below)
on the passenger side but not to worry it’s just to hold the mirror until the nuts are secure. Be careful not to drop the nuts in the door because you will have to pull the door panel off to get them out…which is easy if you have too. Put everything back together in the reverse order and you are done.
You may wonder why I didn’t take this to Toyota to get it fixed since the truck is under warranty? I didn’t have the patience or time to have them hose it up or try to put some sort of sealant on the outside of the mount which as it turns out wouldn’t have worked. And I enjoyed fixing it myself. This was the first thing I found wrong on the truck and I got is in July 2007. Cost: $0.00. Time: 25-30 minutes of quality time with my son.
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