North_of_55

Several things I have read on this forum have saved me a lot of money... so I thought I'd pass this along.

For the past few months I've had trouble with my multifunction switch. The highbeams would activate when I pulled the lever back but would not stay on.

Up until last week it would always work after a few quick cycles of the lever... then it stopped altogether!

Since they're not that cheap ($165 dealer - $85 aftermarket)... and I'm cheap... I decided to crack it open to see if it is serviceable.

Turns out the contacts for the highbeam portion of the switch are easily accessible if you remove the switch from the column. The factory grease had hardened (cooked) and the contacts were dirty.

De-greased the contacts, polished everything up with 1000 grit paper and slathered everything up with clean dielectric grease.

Switch works perfectly now!

Hope this helps someone else in the same boat to save a few $$$!

BTW: The two screws that secure the switch to the column are 'tamper-proof' torx-20... so be prepared. I 'modified' an old torx screwdriver to get them out then used a small punch to snap the pins out of them before re-installing them so that I could use a regular driver... um... next time!

Silver R/T

Thanks for the info! You're not the only one who has problems with switch. This should be stickied or posted in FAQ somewhere.

infidel

I've always been able to clean the contacts without removing the MF switch.
Just direct electronic cleaner at the base of the lever while working the switch back and forth from hi to lo.
Disconnect batteries first.

Midnite

I have to deal with this myself. I just ended up buying a 100 piece "security" bit set from Harbor Freight. Even with shipping to Alaska it's less than 20 bucks. Every once in a while I come across fasteners like that, so I figured that for less than $20 it's a no-brainer.

Robert Rausch

This is great info. I need to clean mine too.

96_12V

Dump question - how do you access it? Top of steering column removed for this work? My turn signals are INOP presently

Thanks

North_of_55

Once the screws (4?) come out of the bottom of the column both top and bottom covers come right off... you do have to pop out the gauge bezel piece first though, or the top piece won't come out!

If I remember correctly the multifunction switch is held in place with "tamper proof" torx bolts though. Either get the right driver or snap out the pins!