The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Repair your headlight switch...tutorial

I mentioned I had another switch needing attention and I have some nice blank formatted diskettes, a cup of tea and 30 minutes to kill. This switch was sold originally by NAPA (I bought it maybe 30 or so years ago) and like the ones sold by Western Auto was made either by Delco or the subcontractor who made it for Delco. Same exact switch made using the same dies, etc. But this one wasn't acting the same way. It:
1. no longer was smooth to use
2. turned the lights on but rather erratically
3. didn't dim dash lights anymore.

So, let's look inside. I'm pretty certain we're going to find something different and have some new problems to fix, but the broken bakelite may also be a problem.
First, a look at the switch...image 1 below
Second, I bend carefully back two tabs on one side only...image 2 below
Third, I lift off the top and slide it out from the tabs I did not bend back and...Aha! The problem you can clearly see in image 3 below. At least one of the problems. As you can see, the contacts are worn and ugly looking and there's generous evidence of dust, dirt, etc. Not pretty but not a death sentence by any measure.
Four, we see the contactor is the same exact design...image four.
and Five, you can see I've spent a few minutes with a small piece of wood and some 100 grit sandpaper wrapped around it to level the contact plate and contacts back to a like-new condition. I'll go over them with 320 sandpaper and then 600 grit sandpaper to make them nice and smooth. These guys aren't going to give us any trouble for a while now.

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