Carefree Power sun visor problem fix
My 2002 Carefree Powervisor Maxi driver sunvisor (driver side of course) recently stopped operating properly. It would only go up/down about 3-4 inches. I gave it a tug to help it along, and the left(non motor side) of the visor plastic u shaped mounting bracket broke. Luckily I caught it before it broke the center bracket. I just tied the visor to the screw to hold it until I got home to work on it.
I tried gorilla glueing the broken pieces but no luck. I removed the non-motor bracket that was broken (3 phillips screws). Then I bought some 1/2 inch corner brackets (L bracket) from lowes along with approx 1/2 in hex head bolts and plastic coated nuts. I had to take my dremel with a cutting bit and extend the holes in the L bracket to get a proper mounting. Then I drilled a small hole in the mounting bracket so that the L bracket would extend approx 1/8 inch above the flat part of the mounting bracket. (This helped to replace the broken pieces I had filed off and made mounting the visor later a lot easier). I used the hex bolt and nut to secure the L bracket tightly. Do not replace the mounting bracket into the visor yet.
This fixed the broken bracket but not the malfunctioning visor. I then removed the motor end bracket (again the same 3 phillips screws- you don't need to remove the motor cover - 2 very small black screws). I just left the motor hanging by the 12v wires). The reason my unit wasn't working was obvious immediately - A loose screw holding the toothy shaped mechanism. This allowed the jagged mechanism - I don't know what to call it- to hang up in the track of the visor. I tightened the screw and that fixed the problem.
Now the tough part - getting everything back together. I could see that the shaft sticking out of the motor had a flat part on it that had to be aligned with the flat part in the end of the visor. (Be careful not to drop the plastic spacer on the drive shaft on the motor). I laid a big towel on the dash to catch any falling parts.
This definitely takes 2 people...1 to basically hold one end of the visor and turn the inside visor itself, and the other to bust his knuckles and head. Sitting on the dash with the tv box blocking everything is no fun.
Anyway I had my wife push the inside visor towards me so that I could align the flat part of the visor with the flat part on the motor shaft. Not easy, but finally got it together. Then replace the 3 phillips screws. I then went to the non-motor end and replaced the broken (now fixed) mounting plate into that end of the visor. Then I slid the mounting bracket on the motor end into place and tightened the screw into the ceiling. Then I screwed the repaired end into the ceiling. Works like new.
Caution be careful not to lose any parts, and not to break the motor end (or non-broken end of the visor). Good luck. Wish I could figure out how to post pictures. But Irv2 will email me with any responses, so I can answer you this way. Maybe somehow send me an email directly.
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2002 HR Endeavor
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