Sun Visors

Tiny
RVIDAK
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 NISSAN ALTIMA
Interior problem 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 113000 miles

Both my sun visors have broken up in the stem that goes into the roof. You can push them back up in and they will stay for a while, but eventually fall back down. I have been unable to locate replacements for them. Any suggestions?
Thursday, January 1st, 2009 AT 8:19 PM

4 Replies

Tiny
BOBWILKINSON2
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  • 1 POST
I found myself frustrated with this annoying and potentially dangerous issue on my wife's car, but I couldn't find that part anywhere on the internet either, unless I wanted to spend a lot to replace the entire visor. Taking matters into my own hands, I have come up with a home-made solution. I just did this on my own and it works! (See photo link below) If yours broke in the same manner that mine did, leaving the back portion of the sleeve in place (see photo link below), you can do this to yours. First, you're going to need a few simple tools:

a) phillips screw driver
b) approx 1/16" diameter metal wire (I used picture-hanging wire)
c) exact-o knife / razor blade
d) needle-nose pliers
e) electric drill w/ approx 1/16" drill bit

I know it's kind of rigged, but if you're handy, you should be able to look at the picture and see what I did. Also, here's a shot an explaining the process: The idea is to re-join the bracket and the visor post using two wires, without the post slipping out of the broken bracket, so you need to have some of the part of the bracket that surrounds the post in-tact for this to work. After removing the bracket, I drilled a hole through the two little flanges behind the broken part of the bracket to hold the lower wire in place. I wrapped two 3" pieces of wire around the bracket, one on top, just under the head of the post, and one about 1/2" under that. Then, marked where the wires were touching the plastic and temporarily removed the wires. At those marks, using an exacto, I made small notches / grooves, about 1/2 of the diameter of the wire deep, where the wire touches the bracket and around the post, to help keep the wire from slipping up or down. The upper wire rests just under the "head"
of the post, so it already has a nice little place to grab. Then, wrap the wires around again, seating them into your notches and tighten with the pliers about three rotations or when it feels really tight. Then, cut off any excess wire, as there is not a lot of room for these when you go to install. Your assembly should resemble mine when finished. This is ready for installation, just screw it back in place and have a great day!
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Thursday, May 31st, 2012 AT 4:34 AM
Tiny
CHUNGJODAD
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I attempted Bobwilkinson2's solution with limited success on 99 Altima. I probably wasn't getting the wires tight enough, so the peg kept popping out of the bracket if the visor was moved. What fixed it for me was a 3/8-inch e-clip (<$2 for a pair at a big name hardware store's fastener aisle). See the attached pictures.

The e-clip, as it is, is probably a bit loose, so I compressed it with pliers to make the opening smaller and pushed it with some effort onto the peg. Also, I filed the top of the bracket down a little to make more space for the e-clip. The e-eclip snaps on, bites and stays on the peg, like a washer. With the e-clip, the wires around the broken bracket are probably overkill; duct tape would probably suffice to keep the bracket in one piece.
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Friday, August 21st, 2015 AT 3:01 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 42,878 POSTS
Great addition to this thread! :)

Cheers, Ken
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Monday, July 10th, 2017 AT 3:47 PM
Tiny
CARDINAL24
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Thank you, CHUNGJODAD! Clever, helpful solution.
Very minor point: A 3/8" eClip was too big for my 1999 Altima. My 3/8" clip is bigger than the clip pictured and won't fit through the ceiling hole. Ace Hardware sells them individually for 27cents each. I bought 3 different sizes. A smaller size (1/4", I think) worked great.
One more point: I stuck my finger in the hole and found a broken piece which I fished out and glued on. (I'll still used the wires).
Also, I removed the other visor and found it cracked, starting to break. I'll wire that one up too.
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Monday, June 7th, 2021 AT 5:56 AM

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