04-08 TL side mirror actuators discontinued?
 

I was looking on a few sites (including oemacuraparts and Honda's eStore) to find and buy a mirror actuator for the right door mirror, but it seems the part has been discontinued. Anyone know if there's an alternative in the works, and if so, what that part number would be? The part number that shows as discontinued is: 76210-SEP-01, which is the acutator sub assembly. The one on my wife's 04 TL is shot (barely moves when going from driver 1 to driver 2) and in reverse it tries to tilt down but just looks like it's having a seizure. I tried spraying the center section with silicone lubricant but no luck. Anyway, anyone with definitive insight on what's going on with this part, please help me out. Thanks.

Left: 76215-SEP-A01
Right: 76210-SEP-A01

Thanks SpiderX, but the part number you provided is the one that shows as discontinued, so I'm unable to order it online. I think I'll try giving Delray Acura a call directly, see what I can find there.

I can check the service ticket later, but I just had my passenger side actuator replaced a few weeks ago under warranty. They are still made, sorry I can't help right now as I am at work.

Just had both mine replaced under warranty as well.

talked with my buddy and He told me it isn't available separately anymore, you need to buy all the mirror. They dealer change them down warranty but they aren't selling it to the public. Maybe if you go directly with the part number don't give any description just say I want to order this part maybe you can get it. It worked for me once with one bushing. Same happen with some ball joint, you need to get the complete arm just for the ball joint. GL

You most likely dont need new actuators what are you symptoms? I opened a few sets and made some mods and now they run smooth as can be. Its kinda a crappy design but with a few mods they work pretty good

ah, alright. I thought you had the wrong part number so I posted that.

Wow, I just had my passenger side actuator replaced under warranty again, for the 2nd time....

What causes them to need replacing? Just the mirror not moving?

And I find it odd that a manufacturer would discontinue parts for a car that still many are under warranty. I already get annoyed when I go to my dealer looking for a part and they act like my 2005 TL is so old and outdated. I was looking for the rear A-Spec kit hardware and the parts guy was like "Oh gosh I'm not sure if we even carry those any more, it's been a while since I've seen them." My car is 5 years old, not 20. :annoyed:

^ Someone stated that the part is not exactly discontinued, only that Acura is no longer selling the actuator separately from the rest of the mirror housing.

Gee, that's fumy. I just looked up that part #

76210-STX-H03

on curryacuraparts.com and got this:
This part does not fit your 2004 Acura TL SEDAN
.
.

My actuators seems to be fine but I am concerned with the heated mirror feature. they typically stay on but is there a specific temperature that they operate at?

Has anyone else been able to confirm if 76210-STX-H03 will properly fit an '04-05 TL? I see that part is valid for '06-08 TL and for the MDX...but no mention of '04-05. I am not sure if the internals of the mirrors changed over the years or just the housing. My seat memory has stopped working and my mirrors have a mind of their own lately...so figure it is time to replace these to see if it helps resolve those issues.

Just got back from local Honda dealer...appears that 76210-STX-H03 is also discontinued. Awesome....

Guessing the H03 is just an updated version of the H02....hopefully. I found the H03 on Amazon and the reviews are stating success for 2004 and 2005 along with a bunch of other Acura models. So I ordered one and will see how it goes in the next day or two. Once I establish it fits on the driver's side, I will order a 2nd one for my passenger side.

Be our guinea pig :snicker:

First round of guinea pig'n done. I can confirm that 76210-STX-H03 will for sure fit and work correctly on an '05 TL driver's side mirror. I have placed an order for a 2nd one to replace my passenger side. Upon a quick visual inspection, I do not see any differences between the driver's and passenger's side actuators. Also to note, the repair on the driver's side brought my memory seat/mirror function back to life for now. I had to reprogram the driver's side mirror since I assume the resistance values are different.

I will update when the 2nd actuator arrives next week. For some reason Amazon is out of stock so I 't use Prime for next day, so back to Delray I went.

Technically, Amazon was more expensive...but I could get 1 day shipping for a reasonable amount and 2 day for free. Overall, the average price shipped was about $42 and Amazon was $48 after taxes and 1 day shipping. The part was cheaper via Delray, Bernardi, and Peoria....but shipping prices varied greatly between each of them. I have had pretty good experiences with both Delray and Peoria in the past and tend to go there first as long as overall pricing is at least competitive.

Mirror actuators
 

Both mirrors on our 2005 TL started having problems after it was out of warranty. I assumed it was just due to lubrication issues after years of water being sprayed in there by the car wash. I finally popped one off to see if any parts were serviceable. I started with the driver's mirror on our 2011 MDX because it was also having issues. I disassembled it and cleaned out all of the old grease, though I don't think grease is the problem as there seemed to be plenty. The actuator has two pins that are moved in and out by a worm drive screw system. The two other pins move in and out as the assembly rotates on it's center pivot. These two pins have small metal fingers that carry current and touch a strip of some sort of conductive material. Basically it's a linear rheostat and the resistance tells the mirror computer the position of the mirror. I cleaned those contacts with alcohol and reassembled the whole thing using some crazy NASA silicone grease purchased on Amazon that I use for old camera lenses. It's made to not change viscosity over a huge range of temp. So hot temps won't melt it and it won't get sticky in the cold. I put it back in the mirror and it works better than ever. The grease is very slippery so the mirror moves nice and quick. It only took me about 20 minutes so it was worth trying before spending around $50. I'll be doing the TL this week and will make a video of the process to put up on YouTube. The $50 fix is done in 5 minutes but I like to try and repair something rather than throw something into the landfill. Frankly I was surprised I could disassemble the actuator. I assumed it would be some molded part that was glued together and made to be thrown away. The simplicity of the engineering inside is actually impressive to me. The tiny motors they get to do the work are straight out of some model making kit I built as a kid. The only poor engineering was the sliding fingers, there is probably some alternative mechanism that wouldn't wear out in 3-5 years.

This is amazing to hear, thank you!

Looking forward to seeing how it works out on the TL :)
I have here a spare set of 07/08 side mirrors that I will try it out with first following your instructions.

The only tricky part is getting the disc off of the 4 pins. The tips of the pins have little balls that click into tabs on the back of the disc. They are very snug. I did not have anything small enough to pry them out with. On the front side of the disc are holes where the tips snap in to the back. You can take a very small but sturdy pin (I used a small hex key bit that fit in the hole) and pop them out by pushing through. Also the balls on the tips have a little "fin" on one side that keeps the pin from spinning (that's part of how the screw drive works). You have to make sure that little fin is turned so it falls in between the tabs that grab it or you might damage it. It's all very hard to describe but when I get the video up later this week it will be very clear. This is the grease I used:

Nice work Beartech! I look forward to the video. My mirrors were causing issues when i first got the car, but seem to have slowly fixed themselves over the course of a few months. mind you i only use one set of keys and don't have the mirror dip when in reverse. I still might take them apart again and dig a bit deeper like you did.

To note, I did a similar thing as Beartech a year or so ago with similar results. I used electrical contact cleaner to clean up the touch strip, covered it back up with dielectric grease, cleaned and re-greased the mechanicals and re-assembled.

- The popping/stuttering mirror is a lubrication issue
- The lost/wondering mirror is an electrical issue with the touch strip thingys

This got me roughly another year out of mine before they started wondering around and finally quit working. I would agree that it is worth a shot if you have the free time. I discovered that my passenger mirror had the boots torn so I knew that one wasn't going to hold up much longer. Pretty sure my drivers side one had been replaced by the dealer previously early in my ownership.

I was gona clean and apply grease like DIY in the garage but most member claim it last them about 1-2 years before the same symptom return. I just replace the whole assembly.

I didn't realize there was any question about 76210-STX-H03 working on the 3G TL. FWIW I swapped both of mine out for this new part number late last year, and they're also working fine.