Replacing Headlight Switch

[EX-BRAVE]

Am planning to replace my headlight switch this weekend and already tried out reaching the button to release the pull knob, that part is doable. My main question is do I remove the wiring before or after removing from dash. It is a tight fit and I know either way is going to be tough as I have a underdash a/c and very little room to work with also large hands and forearms. Is it mostly (blinded) one hand work removing the plug or plugs?? Any suggestions from personel experince will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks greatly for your help!!

 

[RJA102]

Am planning to replace my headlight switch this weekend and already tried out reaching the button to release the pull knob, that part is doable. My main question is do I remove the wiring before or after removing from dash. It is a tight fit and I know either way is going to be tough as I have a underdash a/c and very little room to work with also large hands and forearms. Is it mostly (blinded) one hand work removing the plug or plugs?? Any suggestions from personel experince will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks greatly for your help!!

When I replaced mine I removed the knob first by reaching that button on top of the switch like you stated. I then unscrewed the bezel net on the front of the dash with a screwdriver, which allowed the entire switch and attached wires to drop bellow the dash level, then I unplugged the wires. It worked well for me, but like you said it is a tight fit to even get one hand up there.

There is a spacer that fits in between the back of the dash and the actual switch, make sure you keep track of that and put it back when installing the new switch. I know mine fell behind the dash and I did not know there was a spacer, and when I tried to re install it wouldn't go back the same way. Just a heads up.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Ryan

 

[EX-BRAVE]

Thanks Ryan; I take it from what you said, that there is plenty of slack in the wiring and unpluging is fairly easy. Is it just one plug to the switch. I ask because it sure felt like more than one and thats what made me hesitate. Also does the plug have side locks or can I just pull straight out. Thanks again.

 

[oleguy74]

disc.batt just to be safe......

 

[Broncobowsher]

As mentioned, I pull the switch then deal with the wiring after the switch is loose. That spacer on the switch is the biggest PITA of the whole job. As for pulling the shaft, I think the trick is to pull it to lights on first, then push the button down, then finish pulling the shaft out.

 

[EX-BRAVE]

O.K ; got that part down , already had the knob/stem out. The wiring disconnect is what got me chicken s**t. Its just I'd like to know what I'm facing as for as the wiring plug and doing it one handed by feel. Everything else I can pretty well handle with a few choice words.

 

[NicksTrix]

unplug the switch adn plug it into the new one. put it all back up in the dash.
you can do it.

 

[EX-BRAVE]

Yea Nicky,you must be one of those that writes repair manuels. Have learned they dont tell all the S*** that one needs to know. Not trying to be a smartass but rather find out up front rather than screw something up big time. Smartness comes with age and experince which I have both.It doesn't bother me to seek help. Any more available advice is still appreciated.

 

[mustangtoby]

When I changed mine, I tack welded the spacer onto the switch. Made reinstallation much better. There is plenty of slack to pull the switch down low enough to use both hands to unplug it and plug the new one in (at least mine had enough). Good luck!

 

[NicksTrix]

Yea Nicky,you must be one of those that writes repair manuels. Have learned they dont tell all the S*** that one needs to know. Not trying to be a smartass but rather find out up front rather than screw something up big time. Smartness comes with age and experince which I have both.It doesn't bother me to seek help. Any more available advice is still appreciated.

ExBravey, i wasn't trying to be a smart a$$ nor intended it to come across that way.
the hardest part of getting the switch out is pushing the release button & getting the pull shaft out really. once you have the switch out and hanging you just unplug it and plug the other in.
some of the switches have the spacer as part of the assembly, some don't. as mentioned later you can tack the spacer to the switch. if you don't weld, you can scuff the mountiung surface and use some quick set epoxy (jbweld...) to bond it on. just pay attetntion to the orientation of the spacer on the old switch.

it's really quite simple in the big picture.

 

[Skiddy]

I used super glue on my spacer;D

 

[astark]

Good idea Skiddy

Disconnect the negative battery cable.

Remove the headlight switch control knob and shaft by reaching up behind the dash and pressing the knob release button located on the bottom of the switch, it's a little metal post. As you press, pull the knob and arm out from the switch past the two on positions to remove it.

Unscrew the chrome mounting bezzel on the outside of the dash by turning counter clockwise, there is a slot in it that will alow you to put a screw driver into and bang on if necessary.

The whole switch will pull loose from behind and under the dash. Disconnect the big wire plug assembly from the switch, you may have to pry them apart with a screw driver, if so be gental with it.

Now just plug in the new switch and follow these instuctions kind of in reverse.

My knob arm was to long, because I was missing a spacer, so I had to shim it with a nut between the switch and inside of dash.

 

[EX-BRAVE]

So what you guys are saying is that my underdash a/c as stated in my first post will not interfere, that the wires are long enough that it won't be a problem and that I can see what I'm doing??

 

[Skiddy]

you should be ok

 

[EX-BRAVE]

Thanks partner; thats what I wanted to hear. If yall ever want to know where to hide the vaseline to throw a spit ball I'll let you know the secret. Really appreciate the help from you guys and if doesn't work I'll burn the mutha. (joking) Love it to much!!

 

[RJA102]

Thanks Ryan; I take it from what you said, that there is plenty of slack in the wiring and unpluging is fairly easy. Is it just one plug to the switch. I ask because it sure felt like more than one and thats what made me hesitate. Also does the plug have side locks or can I just pull straight out. Thanks again.

There was plenty of slack on mine. Yes, there is only one plug. Mine took a little while to persuade out of the switch, but it should come out in one piece. No side lock or any locks for that matter, just keep wiggling and pulling.

Ryan

 

[sprinksbeme]

When I changed mine, I tack welded the spacer onto the switch. Made reinstallation much better. There is plenty of slack to pull the switch down low enough to use both hands to unplug it and plug the new one in (at least mine had enough). Good luck!

This is what I did too. The original switch had the spacer attached , I cussed the new one for an hour then tacked it. then quickley put it in a wet rag to cool it.

If you windsheild folds down looseing up the dash and working from top would be easy.

 

[ryan_289]

When I changed mine the slot on my switch was upside down compared to the slot in the dash. I had to slot the switch on the opposite side to have enough room for my wires to plug in. Just a heads up. Where did you get your switch? I called the vendor I got mine from and told them about the problem.

 

[DirtDonk]

The plug is such an odd shape that it might feel like multiples when your wrist is twisted into a pretzel to do it's initial under dash survey.
Then again, I've seen that black phenolic connector base broken into multiple pieces too. That might give you some interesting initial impressions!
Then again too... I've seen some light switches (not on the Broncos though) that had one additional wire plugged into the switch, independent of the main plugh.
Hey, you never know. Many Broncos are more like "mutts" now that they've lived for 30+ years and had multiple PO's (previous owners) mess with them.

I don't remember any tabs holding the Ford switch connector on. Some vehicles do though. My old GM light and ignition switches had two or three tabs to compress. But I think the Bronco uses just connector resistance to hold it in place.

Oh, and the last Bronco I did also had the under dash A/C. Still no problem, like the others were saying, but it did make it more "interesting" and you don't have quite as much slack to work with as a non-A/C truck.

Go for it. As Nick (and Rob Schneider) said "you can do it"

Paul

 

[EX-BRAVE]

Great!!! Got her done; Yep plenty harness to drop down and access. Yall are great,really!! Had to grunt very little and even surprised the old lady with no cussing which is unusual for me. Again many thanks, P.S Did remove the steering wheel cover plate (able to see what my hand was doing) which was a big help.