Ever since I got my TL, the mirrors have creaked whenever I move them or put the car into reverse. I thought it was doing this because the motor was going bad or something, and would eventually need replaced. I was really glad when I found out that it was a common issue and all I needed to do was replace the grease inside to get rid of the creaking.

So tonight, I did just that. I followed this thread and everything went smoothly, except I took off more pieces than I needed to on the driver side. I removed the outer part of the actuator with the 4 white "pegs" on it which go into the other part of the actuator. I ended up completely unscrewing and removing the actuator and opening it up to get that outer piece back on (it's hard to explain). Anyways, I got everything put back together on the driver side, and made sure not to remove more than necessary on the passenger side.

After I finished both sides I tried out the mirrors. They were perfect! No more noises whatsoever. But it wasn't long before I started noticing issues that were not present prior to doing this "fix". For starters, my memory seat/mirror settings do not work AT ALL. I cannot program a memory setting, and I can't activate a memory setting (through the remote or the buttons inside). The green lights on the interior memory buttons never illuminate now. Also, when I have the mirror switch set to the driver side and put the car into reverse, the mirror does not tilt down, but rather tilts to the right and does not stop. It just keeps going to the right and eventually starts clicking because it can't go any further. The passenger side mirror seems to be fine in reverse. Both mirrors are still fully adjustable in all directions. One final issue that I've discovered is that my window buttons on all 4 doors are constantly illuminated now. Even if all the exterior and interior lights are off, those stay on. I even think I saw them stay on when I shut the car off.

I should add that when I unlock the car with the key fob, the dash still says "Driver 1 Detected", but the seats and mirrors do nothing.

I made sure to plug the two wires back into the rights spots on each mirror, but I don't think that would be causing these issues anyways. I honestly can't think of a single possibility for why these things are happening. Maybe it was just a coincidence that my memory module went out at the same time that I did this, but that seems very unlikely. I read about people replacing fuse #20 to fix memory seat issues. I checked the fuse and it looks fine. I also can still use my wiper fluid which was another sign of a blown fuse in slot #20. I reset my battery too.

Has anyone else had this problem when replacing the grease in the side mirrors? What are your suggestions? I'm really at a loss right now

 

My memory seats always get reset for some reason, too.

I'm pretty sure it's a problem on 04 TLs.

And yes, I've had a few occasions my side mirror does the clicking thing also when it can't go any further when I'm in reverse.

I find adjusting the mirror all the way up, then all the way down, then all the way left, and then all the way right fixes things.

 

It's not that they got reset. They do not work whatsoever. None of the memory buttons light up, and I can't program a new setting or select a preexisting one. I think the actuator in the driver side mirror has something to do with it. I must of messed something up when I had it apart.

 

You might want to do a search but if my memory serves, I think there is a fuse or two that control both. It might be possible you blew one of them. Again this is what I believe I remembe.

 

Yes, I have heard of people fixing issues with their mirrors by replacing a blown fuse (#20 I believe.) Whenever that fuse is the issue though, the wiper washer fluid doesn't work either. Mine does work, so I think it's something else. There might be other fuses I could check though.

Does anyone have list of the fuses that affect the side mirrors and/or memory seats?

 

I'm quickly scanning the service manual I have and it looks like the following fuses are tied to the power seats -

Under-Hood Fuse/Relay Box
#22 and #20
Under-Dash Fuse/Relay Box
#17 and #13

I'm also looking through the diagnostics for Memory seat module and it is obviously more complicated that simply checking fuses.......

 

I'll check those fuses tomorrow. Thanks for looking into that!

 

Issues were fixed by replacing the actuator in the driver-side mirror. I must have messed something up when I was replacing the grease. I don't think I broke anything, but rather probably didn't put something back together correctly.

 

That usually happen when you try to fix the mirror there are 2 sensor one horizontal and one vertical if one of this sensor go bad the memory seat stop working as a safety to prevent damage because the system don't know where to stop if there is no sensor input.

 

That makes sense.

 

I saw on Scotty Kilmers vids that any amount of moisture on the door lock/window control/memory systems of these things is EXPENSIVE problem to fix.
Of course you would have controls right under where a wide open window might catch upcoming rain storm, if not supervised right?? Sometimes i wonder how much variety of levels of moisture we owners have...and if its worth pulling it apart to see/possibly clean off build up of rust or corrosion in there

(I did the upgrade of amp of fuse technique on the fuse for this issue, made no diff. Ah well its 20A now regardless.)

Also read here somewhere that when the battery gets iffy (FROM ALL THAT PARASITE DRAIN this yr model has, that had lawsuit launched on it yrs ago), that the Navi unit starts a reboot or fail start sequence, going on off on off... I HAD THAT do that to me for an 1.5 hr drive, near dusk, wherethe constant on off on off kept being a driving hazard. Checked the battery, sure nuff it was corrupted and drained so much it was too low to keep the gear on. Checked alternator, it was proper stats function. It wasnt the navi disc drive in the trunk either, btw, once the new battery 'magically' the Navi stopped being a pain, until the 14-yr-clock-bug issue hit and then the time features all screwed.

Point of what Im saying is that there seems to be a lot of probs that invariably also involves the level of battery as a part of the probs of things, and I wouldnt doubt the memory for seat/mirror isnt also affected by that. New battery also seemed to make the memory module work fine for a couple months, and now Im seeing those creeping probs returning, which is why i did the bluetooth module disconnect (i dont need handsfreelink aka HFL, but i do miss the microphone for voice commands a bit)
Thing is you need an almost impossible constant level of battery quality to keep electronics running it seems. or a new battery every two yrs as one Ziner posted until that lawsuit went thru, or you pull modules known to eat power like the bluetooth module.