S13 Headlight Switch Repair

General discussion forum about the 240sx, and a great place to introduce yourself to the board!
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PyR0NiAk
Posts: 4447
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:29 pm
Car: S13 SR W/ T2 GT3071R .86AR, JWT S4 Cams, 810cc Injectors,Z32 MAF, JWT tuned ECU 87mm 9:1 Compression CP pistons, Manley Rods
Location: Ohio
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Medium phillips screw driver. Small flat head screw driver.

My brights have never worked on my S13, and it drove me nuts. I started out with testing out all of the headlight relays (by the driver's side fender). They all seemed to be working. I had brand new headlights in, and since both the high-beams weren't working, it left me with the switch. I called Auto Zone to price a new switch, and it was $60+. Me being me, I decided to attempt to fix it. It was actually easier than what you think.

The first thing you will need to do is get it out of the car. Remove the 2 plastic pieces on your steering column. (5-6 screws underneath and then it pops apart.)

Then, you will need to unplug the 2 plugs leading into your headlight/turn signal switch. (it's worth a shot to try unplugging the plugs and replugging them in to see if they just weren't seated correctly. This may save you some work.)

After that, remove the 3 screws (2 holding the switch, 1 holding a wire to the switch).

Now, you can safely remove the switch from the car and take it somewhere well lit with room to work. I chose my kitchen table...

After the switch is out, you'll need to remove the actual switch from the shell. This part is extremely tedious, and my lack of patience nearly caused me to break it. You'll notice there 6 snaps around the sides holding it together. Using a very small flat head screw driver, you'll need to work them apart and pull the switch out.

Once the switch is out, you'll have this:
Image

You'll need to remove the plastic cover. Break out the flat head screw driver again and start working it off. You'll notice the little +s to bend it past the notches.

Image

Now you are where the problem seems to be... You'll notice the 5 "prongs" inside. Lift up on the ends of them and use your little screw driver to scratch the surface on the contact points. (Don't forget to clean up the prongs as well.) Don't bend them up too far. If you crease them, they're ruined. It seems they build up corrosion and this is what makes you have a "bad" switch.

After you are done with that part, you still have a couple more connectors that it would be wise to clean up...
I'm sure this part already fell offImage

Since it just lays on top of
Image

You'll notice in the right side of the picture, there's a connector there. Treat it like the contact points from before and use your flat head to remove any corrosion/gunk stuck to it.

Once you're done, lay the flat piece back on top of it to make it look like this...
Image
MAKE SURE YOU LINE THE LITTLE SQUARE UP.

Once you have all of your contact points cleaned up, put everything back together like it was before, and place it back in the car. Voila, it should work. Make sure your signals and everything else work as well. If not, take it back apart and figure out what you didn't put together right. If the lights don't seem to come on at all now, you screwed up the little white square piece that just lays on it. If you want to test it before you put it in the car, when you lay the piece on top of the other, try turning your headlight knob and see if it moves for every click.

Hopefully, this will save a few of you some money. I'm sorry I don't have more/better pictures. I was simply doing this for myself to see if I could fix it when I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to take pictures in case it worked. Sure enough, it did.
:mike


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Hijacker
Posts: 15759
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:57 am
Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
Location: Fredericksburg, VA

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If corrosion is a contributor to the switches going bad, wouldn't it be advantageous to use some di-electric grease on the contacts?

User avatar
PyR0NiAk
Posts: 4447
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:29 pm
Car: S13 SR W/ T2 GT3071R .86AR, JWT S4 Cams, 810cc Injectors,Z32 MAF, JWT tuned ECU 87mm 9:1 Compression CP pistons, Manley Rods
Location: Ohio
Contact:

Post

Hijacker wrote:If corrosion is a contributor to the switches going bad, wouldn't it be advantageous to use some di-electric grease on the contacts?
I'm sure it would. I was doing this in a hurry last night, didn't have any, and it takes me 15 minutes just to get off base, and another 10 to get to Auto Zone.

RickBlaine
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:08 pm
Car: 1991 Nissan 240sx SE
Location: Chicago, IL

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@PyR0NiAk

It has been 4 years since your last activity here at NICO, and 6.5 years since you posted this excellent and well-written write-up: I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to post it, as it (and another write-up on a competing Nissan forum) helped me yesterday.

I was getting the one headlight on, and one off unless I "flickered" the hi-beam setting 3-4 times- then both headlights worked fine. At first- because I did not SEARCH first, I thought it was the bulbs themselves. I ordered two new Philips-brand ones from Rock Auto for $4 each, along with other items for various cars. Well, it was not the headlight bulbs so I searched and found your post.

You were not kidding about taking your time on removing the white plastic "inards" from the surrounding black case housing. Those six little white plastic tabs took me an hour to work- I was very gentle and used very small flat head screwdrivers to gently expand the black case housing.

I used a Dremel tool to erase the corrosion on each and every electrical contact point, and then lightly coated these contacts with di-electric grease. To re-install took five minutes.

I wanted to add a note about the three black rubber "rollers" that the 5 metal "prongs" rest onto- you can barely make them out in your second picture. They will fly off if and land under the refrigerator if you man-handle the assembly- just be gentle.

After install, the headlights popped up, each light was on, and operated like new. As of 2018, the replacement switches are $65-$90 on Amazon and Advance Auto and the like- if my cleaning and re-assembly do not last I will simply get a replacement.

Thank you!


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