My brother knocked his side mirror off his chevy and the oil that makes the mirror blink has stained the whole side of truck, chevy says all they know to do is paint truck any ideas, Thanks

 

Try bug and tar remover? It shouldnt have any adverse effects on the paint. Seems a little extreme to repaint the truck, I would think the answer is out there somewhere. I thought "blinker fluid" was a farse .. hehe.

 

Ok, I asked around on a Chevy forum and it seems that there are several answers to this question but more so, several responses to oil in the mirror assembly. Many say there is NO oil in the mirror assembly at all. The mirrors have LED lights for the signal indicators (which is true with my truck). Others say that the oil may be used for heated mirrors only.

Now I believe that the outside mirrors are heated by an electric strip similar to a rear window defogger. I've never personally investigated this but it makes perfect sense.

Whether or not the outside mirrors actually have oil in them is not the question but, "how to remove" the oil stain on the truck paint. I would try either bug and tar remover, WD-40, gasoline, goof-off or maybe laquer thinner. It just doesnt seem right that a petroleum based product cannot be removed successfully from an automotive finish with some type of product versus actually "re-painting" the area affected. I would try one or all of the products I suggest prior to re-painting the truck. Even a paint shop will have to remove the oily substance prior to painting or the paint wouldnt stick. I think the dealer is trying to pull a fast one on him. I call BS.

Just trying to help. Good luck.

 

I would suggest replacing everthing attached to the mirror with Ford parts LOL I know for a fact Ford doesn't put oil in their mirrors. And to the best of my knowledge Chev doesn't either. It's either LED lights or a bulb similar to a license plate bulb. And as far as a oil for the heating element, that probably wouldn't work as gravity would keep the oil at the bottom of the glass and would only heat the bottom of the glass.

What did your brother hit to break the mirror??? Maybe something oily??

 

Maybe its grease from the muffler bearing???

 

Funny guys, the chevy mirror has a photosnsitising oil that allows the mirror to automatically dim when headlights hit it from rear. The mirror is hanging on side of truck dripping oil so were pretty sure it has oil in it but thanks for your opinions

 

I took a truck in once that had a small blemish in the paint and their idea was to repaint the whole side of the truck. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

Something about the newer paints just don't buff out like the old ones did.

I fixed ours the easy way. Traded it in. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

I'd try the WD-40 as suggested. It won't hurt the clearcoat on the paint. Provided the oil hasn't somehow ruined that.

 

Wow i do have to say... being an engineer myself that was one stupid stupid idea of GM. Im all about chevy trucks, i love everything about them. Total turn off! When my truck got "hit n run" a white paint scuff was left on my nerf bars bad enough to were i could not get it out even using a paint thinner. I took my truck down to my trusty dealer and they used a substance in a tube and it "wiped" off the paint but didnt hurt the original paint on the nerf bars at all (remember there is no clear coat either). Curious as a little boy with fire i asked what it was, they told me it was "new" and that was it. Take your truck do a dealer you trust and see what they will do for you!

 

Well he tried all suggestions nothing worked, took it to Chevy dealer in different town , his only suggestion was to paint side of truck also. After several body shops had no ideas he found one that thought he could buff it out where it wasnt so noticeable , if not he said he would paint it at a greatly reduced price. Conclusion: If you knock your mirror loose clean up oil spill immediately or your truck will always look like you just drove thru a mud hole......