Hello Guys.

I've been driving around for a few weeks without high beams, they just refused to come on one day, the switch felt mechanically fine, and there was one time when the high beams came on briefly when I tried the lever but I couldn't make make it work again after trying many times.

Based on the research from other posts, I figured my combination switch was the culprit so before spending the $285 for a new one I decided to take a look and try to fix.

There are good instruction on how to remove the switch itself, I won't go into those details, but I will add that having a good set of extractor bits was extremely helpful, the previous owner or mechanic over torqued the air bags screws and I stripped one of those T30 torx, they are not in a convenient place for this to happen, if not for the right tool, that would have shot down the whole project.

Once the multiswitch is out of the car, these are the tools I used:

-Cordless drill
-1/8 drill bit
-Dremel with small wire brush (optional)
-Piece of 400 grit sand paper
-Tweezers
-Screwdrivers
-Pliers (to pull the rivets after drilling)

The pictures tell the story, but a short summary:

1. Drill the 4 rivets holding the case together
2 Open the case (carefully) and remove the metal connectors (one will fall off, the other one has to be pulled with tweezers)
3. Clean the contacts of metal parts and connectors
4. Re-install metal connectors
5. Re assemble switch, the shaft goes into the hole, keep the metal connectors on the bottom and install the shaft side from the top (gravity is your friend)
6. Figure out how you will keep the assembly together, if I had the correct size rivets I would have use that, or maybe the correct tap and screw size, as you ca see I ended up using wood screws, I had them, don't know what size they are but they worked well.

I didn't spend any money because I used what I had, but I would guess that this repair should come under $2 if you keep it very basic (some wood screws and sand paper).

So, not buying a new combination switch = $285
The feeling of accomplishment and being able to see where you are going = priceless

 

Here is another pic of how the contacts looked before and after cleaning with the wire wheel.

I used a small wire wheel for the dremel and kept the speed low.

 

Excellent write up and pics. Thank you.

I did notice that the contacts were quite pitted after cleaning them up. It is hard to stop pitting once started but may be a long while before any further trouble.

Thanks again. James

 

Plus one on James' comments, used ones can be found on eBay for $70 or so. But a repair is definitely an option by the look of it.

 

Dave, you think using a file to smooth out the pits would help for better contact and longer lasting?

 

Back in the day you could get a tool that made the points like mirrors and that is the only way to get a clean spark which does the least damage. A rough surface makes a jagged arc instead of a smooth one and leads to a rapid failure again.
I personally would get a used switch from eBay.

 

Indeed. I found the easiest way to polish up old motorcycle points is to chuck a short pencil, with the eraser end out, into a cordless drill. High speed makes short work of it. (Destroys the pencil, though.)

 

Very good diy !
Sticky please.

 

While I certainly do not disagree with your statement, the designers did not make the other surface flat and smooth, they gave it ridges. -see attached picture-

By the way, I think the most pitted surfaces were the blinkers contacts, and those were working fine. Then again I didn't check the schematics to make sure which was what.

I think the root cause of failure is not the arc, but the oxidation creating too much resistance and preventing contact.

I thought of polishing more, but removal of material seemed to me a worst plan, maybe brazing or soldering some material (some Pb solder might work) and then polishing would have longer lasting effects.

I'll let you know if and when it fails, let's see how much the repair lasts.

If someone knows what product to use to prevent or slow down the oxidation and still allow good electrical contact, I would add that to this repair.

 

The problem with a used one from ebay is that it may not last that long either.

My car is 120K, not low miles but not crazy high.
Parts selling in ebay are for the most part coming from broken down cars.

Broken crossfires being of the vintage they are. will probably be high mileage cars.

For people paying for the labor of installation, I would suggest buy a new switch.

For the rest of us who have the tools, time and inclination, if we can share our knowledge and experiences and come up with an effective and robust repair, we might end up with a switch that is twice as better than new.

Auto parts manufacturers are extremely constrained by cost and regulations, even if the designers knew that using $0.50 worth of some very special grease would have made this part last 100 years, they wouldn't be allowed to add it.

 

You have been here for five minutes, so you may not know it but the parts on eBay are mostly from cars that are not worth repairing after a crash and not from clunkers.
Many of these cars have lower mileage than your car which I would call a reasonably high mileage car. I would not be too concerned about the contacts on used parts like yours as I have not seen many fail, if any.

I have seen people on the road who I am sure have contacts on their turn signals that are perfect because they never use them.

 

It's a good point, I should stop using my turn signals and call it prevention.
And I always wondered why people don't use them, now I know.

The crossfire is the wife's car, so I'll let her know, she also likes to drive around town with the high beams on, -screw the other drivers- to think I gave her a bad time about it, now I understand her 6th sense was intuitively saving us some multifunction switch.

 

120,000 miles IS high mileage with our cars. Zach in north Georgia has bought and parted out two cars this year, both accident victims. The one car had 40-some thousand on it, the other was higher, mid 70's or 80's.

I think there are more used parts out there worth buying than new parts, sadly.

The multifunction switch is one failure I've never had on any of the three cars - and the Graphite was on the road to 116,000 miles.

 

Where are the “good instructions on how to remove the multi-function switch”?
I have a new one coming Wednesday and am excited to do the project. I found a YouTube video with two half whit boys removing the steering to install a different steering wheel (I know more than they do LOL).
I also found a Mercedes PDF .......... I know about the battery / air bag time line .......... just want to be warm and fuzzy with this.
Thanks. Love my new toy and you all are so helpful 👍

 

The good instructions are in the Service Manual. This manual can be found in the documentation thread found in the how to section. It is also in my signature ‘Index of Crossfire ...... ‘ near the start of the post.

 

Thanks,
My girlfriend was able to navigate in the "Service Manual" and we found the Install and removal section of the MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH and it's related references in 8L-112 and 8L-113. This will be most excellent!

 

Just finished the R/R of the Multi function switch and all went perfect. Excellent advice here and thank you all.
I did remove the rivets and took apart the old one. I will polish up the contact points and keep it for ................someday

 

This link (found here) was most supportive https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...eplacement.htm

 

This link for the lower dashboard removal https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...el_Removal.htm

 

That’s OK if you want to take those panels out but too much work if you just want to get to what is under the dash.
The panel can be left in one piece, the black and red pieces, as splitting it into two makes it hard to get the two screwed back together.
Also one screw is not mentioned and it needs to be taken out.
You can drop the whole panel with hand brake, OBD connector and light switch still attached to the panel.
This is all shown in the sticky ignition and other PDF’s already on this forum.