How do you replace the mirror assembly on a 2006 Honda Civic?

Answer 1

This post is to explain how to replace the mirror assembly on an 8th generation (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) Honda Civic with automatic mirrors. It should take about an hour if you have the right tools and don't loose any parts in the door.

The window of the car door should be in the up position until you have the door panel removed for stability.

First, you need to remove the door panel. This is done in 3 steps:

1. Remove the screw and fastener that are hidden in the interior door lever area. Use a small flathead screwdriver to pop the tiny panel off from behind the interior door lever. Remove the screw, and use a Philips screwdriver to push the center of the small black fastener, which will fall in to the door. I don't think you can retrieve this piece, but could be wrong.

2. Remove a screw hidden behind the door control panel. Look at the door handle that you use to close the door when you're sitting in the car. There is a notch towards the front. Use a small flathead screwdriver there and another screwdriver to pop the control panel upwards. Once the rear of that control panel is about an inch out of place, you'll see a screw. Carefully remove it.

3. Pry the lower portion of the door away from the car and lift the panel away from the car. The door is held in place with 7 hidden white fasteners in a U-shaped pattern around the sides and bottom of the car. Use a screwdriver covered in a shirt (to avoid damaging the paint) to gently pry those loose. It will start to give a little bit, then you know you can pull the panel inward. I pulled upward and that worked too, prior to knowing how it was attached. Lift the door panel up and over the lip of the window. Then you need to softly pry the lever housing and then slowly and softly pick up the door panel and softly turn the lever housing to remove the panel. Apparently, you can also use a special panel removing tool, but it is not necessary.

After removing the door panel, you need to remove the old mirror assembly:

1. Lower the window to the down position.

2. Looking through the top of the panel, you will see 3 screws. Each of them is aligned with a hole in the metal pane. Two of those holes are covered by black plastic circles. Remove those plastic circles using a small screwdriver and pushing from the opposite side. They should pop out fairly easily towards the interior of the car.

You probably will want to put on some latex gloves for this part. Pull the white plastic liner away from the car. It is held in place by some black tar, which will get all over your hands during the next few steps.

3. Locate the wire cap connector towards the top of the door. It's blue and removes by pushing a tiny lever in. Check it out on your new mirror assembly to see how it works.

4. Tie a small, but strong string around the old connector. This will be very helpful when installing the new mirror assembly.

5. Follow the control wires back to the mirror. You'll see a white plastic fastener that ties that to the door from the inside. Pinch that so that it is released.

6. Now you can remove the 3 screws (10cm) that hold the mirror to the car. It's easiest if you use an extended straight ratchet on a drill or an automatic screwdriver (picture a screwdriver with a ratchet end). You can probably do this with a wrench, but your chances of loosing the nuts seems to be very great. If they fall into the car, it will be VERY difficult to retrieve, and you'll probably end up hearing a nut rumbling around in your car for the rest of its days.

7. After the screws are out, have someone else hold the mirror while you help guide the control wires out of the door. Make sure you keep the other end of your string from going through the door.

Now attach the new mirror assembly and reattach the door panel:

1. Remove the string from the wire connector of the old assembly and attach it to the wire connector of the new assembly. Feed the string back through the door, which will pull the new mirror assembly into place. Again, a second person is very helpful here.

2. Carefully feed the old nuts through the holes and attach them to the new assembly. Be careful not to loose them!

3. Connect the white fastener on the control wire of the new assembly as the old one was connected.

4. Attach the wire connector of the new assembly as the old one was connected.

5. Take off the dirty gloves.

6. Push the white plastic back into place using the tar as an adhesive.

7. Replace the remaining parts in the same sequence you removed them.

8. Reattach the door panel by dropping it over the lip of the window and aligning the 7 white fasteners. Bump it with your hand to make sure that they each lock into place.

9. Replace the screws. I was unable to to replace the black fastener that was behind the interior door lever. I probably could have obtained a replacement piece but was not concerned with it.