The Mod:

Open up the weep hole that is blocked by a foam gasket in your outside mirrors.

What it does:

While I was waiting for our Jeep to be built I searched the boards looking for issues that I may encounter. One that I saw was that the weep hole in the outside mirror is blocked by a foam gasket. In colder climates the hollow center of the outside mirrors can fill up with water and freeze. In warmer climates the water can just sit in there and slosh around and slowly drain out over a few days.

One solution I read was to drill a small hole in the bottom of the mirror bracket so the water could come out. I decided I would just “fix” the weep hole so it would function as designed - assuming it wasn’t already fixed by Chrysler.

After we picked up our Jeep and brought it in the garage I noticed water was still dripping out of the bottom of the mirror from the wash the dealer gave it hours ago - a sure sign the weep hole was still blocked. So, I decided to fix it. Along with taking pictures the process took about an hour for both sides.

Photos:

First, I removed the mirror with a Torx T40 screwdriver:

When looking at the bottom of the mirror you can see the weep hole/notch in the plastic, but the foam gasket doesn’t have a ridge cut in it to allow the water to leak out. I guess the mirror bracket engineer and the gasket guy weren’t on talking terms:

I initially cut a small ridge in the foam gasket to allow the water to flow freely - don’t cut too deep or you will slice through the foam:

When the gasket is pressed back the weep hole can be seen:

This may be all you have to do to fix the weep hole but I decided I wanted to add a little support to keep the hole open. At Ace and bought a 5/32 aluminum tube:

I measured and set up to cut off 1”:

1” piece:

I then set up to cut it lengthwise:

1” piece cut lengthwise:

I then got my small needle nose pliers and started to make the tube into a tunnel:

Curved to look like a tunnel:

I then marked one end about 45º:

And prepared to file it down to the mark:

Part with 45º filed off one end:

I then coated the outside with some silicone I had laying around in the garage:

Then inserted it into the weep hole area:

You want to push it down far enough so it is below the lip of the plastic rim:

With your finger you can feel that is low enough. If you leave it too high it could scratch your paint:

Next bolt it back up and you are done. I squirted some water into the mirror and it now streams out:

Repeat on the other side and you are done.

If you have any questions or comments about this page click here to send email.

Last modified: December 21, 2009 06:44:11 PM