These
switches are extremely fragile and
tempermental.
It
is very common to have to "readjust" the projecting
piece of copper that completes the horn contact. It
projects outward and I think you can stare at it and
watch it bend out of alignment. This applies to both
new and used switches. It is a fact of life; mainly
that the unit wasn't designed inside some sort of
shroud to protect it.
Used
switches may come with a turn signal stalk (handle)
that is rusty. You can either clean it up or swap your
old one on to it which is screwed into the switch but
easier to deal with if you remove the pin that holds
the stalk and the pivot for the hi-beam. Do this on a
clean workbench as you don't want to lose anything. Do
it s l o w l y. You might even be ready to take some
pictures of the mechanism as you take it apart or have
somebody more skilled at such things do the job. This
is just if you are removing the stalk.
The
plug-ins that connect this to the harness of the car
go together EXTREMELY tightly. Totally unnecessary but
that's how they designed it. I would rub a LITTLE bit
of silicone or dish soap on the plastic pieces to help
them go together. To get the old ones apart it is
possible to have to pull so hard the wires are yanked
off the terminals; and that creates a messy job to
fix. In the car you can OH-SO-CAREFULLY pry them apart
with a wide screwdriver; going a little bit on one
side and then a little bit on the other side back and
forth to get it apart. Keep in mind the old plastic
will use ANY excuse to break. There is a 4 inch by 14
inch panel under the dash you can take off to give you
some working room and create some slack in the
harness. If your panel has never been off you will
have to fight the machine that originally installed
the screws or whatever Sumo Wrestler installed them as
they can be T I G H T. Anything that tight should have
been BOLTS not those blasted Phillips screws.
You
can put a switch in and it can appear "bad" or the one
in your car can appear "bad" when it is one of the
tiny wire connections that were corroded. Or maybe the
plug is not fully seated; which is a bear to do
sometimes. The switch has to be grounded (installed)
on the steering column for the hi-beam switch to work.
You can carefully spray some WD-40 etc on the moving
part of the switch to keep it moving and lubed.
Doesn't take much. Wrap a towel around the area if the
switch is mounted on the car so you don't get that
stuff on the dash or gauge faces.
I
have encountered all of this testing the switches;
finding the switch is bad then good then bad then
good; when it is other factors at play. It's kind of a
monkey puzzle as the 69s and 70s have the headlight
switch; the turn switch and the flasher switch all
tied together. Throw in a problem with the headlight
relay and contacts on the headlights and it can make
for some fun diagnostic time.
