cleaning and lubing stalks and light switch

[davidwort 0]

Thought I'd have a stab at this last night as my stalks were pretty grubby and not particularly smooth, the headlight switch was also sounding a bit rough and plasticy.

I forgot to take any pics of the stalks apart but it's pretty straight-forward, just remove the 24mm steering wheel nut and the wheel and then the 3 long thin torx headed bolts that hold the stalks to the column.

You''ll aslo need to remove the steering column shroud plastics to get at the connector blocks to the back of the stalks (3 screws underneath, slightly different places on fixed and adjustable columns).

 

Have to say they needed a good clean, quite a bit of fluff and dirt in them and they feel so much better now with a bit of fresh silicone grease smeared on the moving parts.

 

The headlight switch has also improved loads, the repair instructions in the knowledge base give a basic idea on how to take the switch apart, but I've taken a load more shots to show and explain all the bits and where to grease it - see: Photobucket

I've found removing the switch blank next to the headlight switch first makes it much easier and is less likely to cause damage when removing the headlight switch as you can get pressure on the back of the switch to prise it out.

Book1.pdfP1010808.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

 

remove the 'internals' by gently freeing each of the plastic barbs around the back of the switch

stromlaufplan_gamma4.pdfP1010779.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

 

the contacts slider block will fall out now as nothing but a bit of grease will be holding it to the internal circuit tracks

ETKA Corrado.pdfP1010782.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

 

clean up the tracks with some very fine wet and dry if they are very corroded

 

then prise out the switch front from the main case carefully, a small screwdriver pushing between the outer case pivot hole and the switch front leg on one side and it will pop free, you don't need much force at all

stromlaufplan_gamma4.pdfP1010784.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

 

I found the round clear 'light pipe'/prism thing that illuminates the front of the switch from the two bulbs was slightly melted by the green bulb, I think this is fairly common, probably due to the bulbs not having been fitted very straight. I also had to use a couple of tiny blobs of silicone sealant to keep the light-pipe ring in place as it seemed loose in the round recess in the switch front that it's supposed to sit in snugly.

 

Corrado92.pdfP1010795.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

 

This pic shows the contact slider block in position and it's direction of movement when you rock the switch front:

passat climatronic wiring diags.pdfP1010798.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

 

this is the little sprung pin that gives the positive 3 positions of the rocker, I put a bit of grease of the end of this as it was bone dry:

climatronic wiring-Golf from May 01.pdfP1010778.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

 

if you want to, the dimmer wheel and surround pops out and seems to benefit from a little bit of grease too:

2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfP1010775.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

P1010776.jpg[/attachment:2uv5smm7]

 

the sliding switch contact, the sprung centre pin for the rocker switch, the legs of the switch front/rocker and the plastic to plastic moving surfaces of the dimmer wheel all got a little silicone grease.

 

The switch now feels more solid, less cheap-plasticy in operation and feels like it's less likely to break now, definitely worth 20 mins fiddling.

[sexybourbon 0]

Nice how to i need to do mine feels very plasticky like you said

Cheers

[delfinis38 1]

Out of interest are those LED's 2 different colours ??? I've never understood why when i turn my lights on the half the switch illuminates Orange / Green at the top and Green at the bottom.

[krnau 0]

keep in mind that the tiny springs that are in the switch are VERY IMPORTANT. I didn't put them in a switch I once dismantled, and it didn't work LoL.

 

just a thought.

 

 

good diy. I wouldn't have broken a light switch if I had had it for reference in the past..

[davidwort 0]

Out of interest are those LED's 2 different colours ??? I've never understood why when i turn my lights on the half the switch illuminates Orange / Green at the top and Green at the bottom.

 

They're actually two small capless bulbs (could be replaced if blown if you are handy with a soldering iron)

They simply have coloured caps/paint on the top of them, same idea as the ash tray green bulb

[delfinis38 1]

so one is yellow and the other green then ?

[davidwort 0]

yeah, one is a sort of grubby colour :)

the centre 'light bulb' image on the switch seems white through the plastic but with the green illumination from the bulb behind,

the 'ring' that lights up on the sidelights setting seems coloured by the plastic inset into the switch cover rather than the bulb, I think the green bulb does the inner bulb symbol and the other bulb the whole outer ring via the light-pipe clear plastic ring thing looking at it again.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Nice one David, i'll have to give the headlight switch a good greasing :norty: last thing i want is the headlight switch breaking considering how hard to come by they're getting.

[delfinis38 1]

thanks david.... good write up !

[Supercharged 2]

Very good - stickied!

[Jim Bowen 1]

excellent, i have what i think is a broken one in the car at the moment and going to try and dismantle it

[bristolbaron 10]

Whilst you have the grease out, it's worth a small blob on the rear view mirror balljoint.

Mine was solid and the whole thing came off the other day - easily prevented.

 

Good right up!

[davidwort 0]

I got a tube (not spray can) of silicone grerase from maplins this item>>, I also picked up a VW tube of silicone grease from a show autojumble stand last year.

This is what I used for the lubrication of the switches etc as it says it's suitable for plastic lubrication, I've not come up with anything exactly the same as the yellowish grease that factory switches seem to have on parts of them.

So far the silicone stuff doesn't seem to have any side effects even though I've used it on the sliding circuit tracks and on the tube it says it's got good insulating properties, I guess you get metal to metal contact for the circuits still but you wouldn't want a conductive grease anyway, that could bridge connections :shrug:

[nocrap 0]

Did my headlight switch the other day and i'm now doing the stalks...

Do you know if there's any way of making the main beam switch less stiff and operate more smoothly?

[boost monkey 0]

Would this also work with the hazard warning light on the top of the steering column? mine is really sticky.

 

Also, it's such a pain that there is a 5 images per post limit on this new forum. It was never like that before.Is there any chance to use photobucket's "direct link" URLs for pictures and put them in line with the text how? it's a bit fiddly reading text and then having to refer to the bottom of the post for the corresponding picture and trying to find your place back in the text.

[nocrap 0]

Would this also work with the hazard warning light on the top of the steering column? mine is really sticky.

 

Yeah, the hazard switch mechanism is exposed on the back of the stalk ring so nice and easy to clean up

[nocrap 0]

Right, i've taken apart and lubed up the indicator switch but i'm having problems assembling the main beam switch.

 

i didn't pay enough attention when taking it apart and i'm now unable to get the little white rocker doofer back into place...

 

 

it looks like it should sit into the top of the black bit, but it wont (obviously i'd already put the black bit behind the slider)!

 

any help would be much appreciated

Edited February 16, 2011 by nocrap

[nocrap 0]

Sorted! definately moves a lot better now