handcannon
Well-Known Member
Ever since I got my pickup the drivers side door jamb switch for the interior lights has never worked without me wiggling the button to make the contacts work. I know they are not expensive. Rockauto has them at $2.94 for the cheap ones to $4.93 for the AC Delco ones. And of course the shipping which would probably at least double the price.
Since I'm a cheap old goat, and having to live on disability, I decided to do something about them without spending any money. I had the dash apart for other reasons so I was able to get to them from inside the dash without needing the hands of Houdini.
I am a computor dummy and have been having problems figuring out how to get the pics posted and in the right order. It's only taken me over two hours to finally get the pics how I want them so I hope they show up in the post correctly.
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This is the interior door jamb switch. I hope this pic shows clear enough that you can see the sides of the switch body. On the side of the body is what looks like the wings of the old delta wing fighter jet. There are two of these, one on each side of the switch body. They stick out from the body and make it very difficult to remove the switch from the dash. They are in addition to the lock tabs that actually hold the switch into the dash. I couldn't see any sane reason for them to be there so I trimmed them off to make future switch removal easier.
The knife blade tip is pointing to lock tabs that hold the switch together. There are four of them. Very carefully lift the tabs allowing the end with the button to be released.
This is how the switch looks when it comes apart.
The interior of the switch and the contact bars. The contact bars are Z shaped and the offset is just barely visible in the very back.
Sorry for the out of focus pic. This is the other end of the switch where the wire loom connects. These pins are the opposite end of the contact bar. To remove the contact bars for cleaning use a small blunt object (small flat screwdriver or ?)and carefully push the pins inward into the switch body. Now you can go to the other end of the switch, grip the now exposed end of the contact bar and pull them out. I did them one at a time in case there was any difference between the three bars.
This is what the contact bar looks like. And a good example of how covered with oxidation and burn marks they were.
Here's the same contact bar after cleaning it with some very worn out 150 grit sandpaper, as seen in the background of this pic. If I would of had some finer paper I would have done a polish job on the bars. But that's what you get for being a cheap old goat, I used what I had on hand. Once they were clean I slid them back into place. You need to be careful doing this as they are held in place by part of the body of the switch. This part is like a "T" and the bar slides under the hat part of the "T". This "T" does not go the full length of the contact bar. About the outer third of the contact bar is not covered. The metal contacts on the button end of the switch ride on the contact bar providing continuity and sending power to the lights. When the button is pushed in the contacts slide inward on the contact bar until they ride up onto the top of the "T", breaking continuity and shutting off the lights.
This I think was where my main problem was. I couldn't get sandpaper down into the spot that was burned into the bar so I used my knife blade and carefully scraped the black oxidation off this indentation.
The button and the sliding contacts in the top end of the switch.
The button end showing the seperated parts. It's not really needed to go this far as the contacts can be cleaned while still together.
Now the switch can be reassembled and reinstalled in the dash. It's a rather simple switch and was very easy to take apart, clean up and reassemble.
I hope this is of some help to others who are as annoyed as I am by door jamb switches that don't work.
Don
Since I'm a cheap old goat, and having to live on disability, I decided to do something about them without spending any money. I had the dash apart for other reasons so I was able to get to them from inside the dash without needing the hands of Houdini.
I am a computor dummy and have been having problems figuring out how to get the pics posted and in the right order. It's only taken me over two hours to finally get the pics how I want them so I hope they show up in the post correctly.
--------------------------------------
This is the interior door jamb switch. I hope this pic shows clear enough that you can see the sides of the switch body. On the side of the body is what looks like the wings of the old delta wing fighter jet. There are two of these, one on each side of the switch body. They stick out from the body and make it very difficult to remove the switch from the dash. They are in addition to the lock tabs that actually hold the switch into the dash. I couldn't see any sane reason for them to be there so I trimmed them off to make future switch removal easier.
The knife blade tip is pointing to lock tabs that hold the switch together. There are four of them. Very carefully lift the tabs allowing the end with the button to be released.
This is how the switch looks when it comes apart.
The interior of the switch and the contact bars. The contact bars are Z shaped and the offset is just barely visible in the very back.
Sorry for the out of focus pic. This is the other end of the switch where the wire loom connects. These pins are the opposite end of the contact bar. To remove the contact bars for cleaning use a small blunt object (small flat screwdriver or ?)and carefully push the pins inward into the switch body. Now you can go to the other end of the switch, grip the now exposed end of the contact bar and pull them out. I did them one at a time in case there was any difference between the three bars.
This is what the contact bar looks like. And a good example of how covered with oxidation and burn marks they were.
Here's the same contact bar after cleaning it with some very worn out 150 grit sandpaper, as seen in the background of this pic. If I would of had some finer paper I would have done a polish job on the bars. But that's what you get for being a cheap old goat, I used what I had on hand. Once they were clean I slid them back into place. You need to be careful doing this as they are held in place by part of the body of the switch. This part is like a "T" and the bar slides under the hat part of the "T". This "T" does not go the full length of the contact bar. About the outer third of the contact bar is not covered. The metal contacts on the button end of the switch ride on the contact bar providing continuity and sending power to the lights. When the button is pushed in the contacts slide inward on the contact bar until they ride up onto the top of the "T", breaking continuity and shutting off the lights.
This I think was where my main problem was. I couldn't get sandpaper down into the spot that was burned into the bar so I used my knife blade and carefully scraped the black oxidation off this indentation.
The button and the sliding contacts in the top end of the switch.
The button end showing the seperated parts. It's not really needed to go this far as the contacts can be cleaned while still together.
Now the switch can be reassembled and reinstalled in the dash. It's a rather simple switch and was very easy to take apart, clean up and reassemble.
I hope this is of some help to others who are as annoyed as I am by door jamb switches that don't work.
Don
