Unfortunately, the wiper switch in my son's 1990 has failed in the traditional way where the turn signal switch now won't engage on the right side and the stalk just flops around. I picked up a steering wheel and lock plate puller and we're getting ready to tear into it for a repair/replacement, but I have questions about removing the airbag.

I know I need to disconnect the battery and wait at least 10 minutes to allow the DERM to fully discharge (have had the battery disconnected for the last few days, actually). The FSM says that I need to also disconnect the connector position assurance and the yellow plug under the dash near the base of the steering column. No problem so far. But then the FSM says to "Install Load Tool J 37808..." None of the videos I've seen seem to do that. Is it necessary? If so, what's the purpose?

My inclination after having discharged everything for this long is to just disconnect the connectors, then pull the unit. If the load tool serves some purpose that protects the integrity of the SIR functionality, please let me know. It seems they are still gettable for not too much money.

 

I personally have just the unhook the battery route, now in the job you'r on remove bag and plug move to the side out of the way.
Continue on when get the clocking coil take care with it not to let it move to much you don't want it to unspool or get over tightened so usually have tie wrap to hold it in place inner to outer so it doesn't get screwed up that assembly is hard to find so protect it

 

Thanks for the insight. Videos and posts I've seen suggest that as long as I carefully remove the clockspring and don't depress the center to let it unspool I should be OK. What are you talking about securing with zip ties? I know I need to have the wheels straight and the steering column locked, but didn't know anything about zip tieing the clock spring in position.

 

I sent the busted one out of my '90 out and had it refurbed.

The cost on their web site is for a replacement switch. Which they no longer have in stock because they're basically obsolete.

They charged $195 to refurb my busted one. And it's firmer/stronger than OEM.

https://www.steeringcolumnservices.c...per-switch.php

 

Thanks. I had seen your previous thread and called them this week to confirm they are still doing these refurbs. I'm going to work on getting the old one out and then assess. There's a machinist at my job with a lathe and a bridgeport mill and based on your pics and others I think there's a chance we might be able to do the repair ourselves. If we do, I'll post some pics here and provide an update on how it turns out. At the moment, I'm just looking to make sure I don't screw anything else (like the airbag) up while we extract the broken wiper switch.

 

My 1990 uses a regular cheap switch. I thought this was a 1991 to 1993 issue?

 

Yeah, you can do it yourself easy then.

I just unplugged my airbag. I didn't even unhook the battery.

The most pain in the rear end part of the whole thing, at least for me, was that dimmer switch setup. I cussed up a blue streak with that thing. Everything else was pretty straight forward. You're not going that deep into the column anyway.

Do NOT let your ignition fall out and dangle under it's own weight. Those thin wires WILL break. Best to tape it secure so it doesn't.

 

No, it's 90-93.

 

As Natty points out below, it's the same setup for 90-93. And the turn signal switch itself isn't the issue. The wiper switch (into which the turn signal stalk is inserted) is mounted on a pivot and has "rails" on the side that move the lever to actuate the turn signal switch. But the body of that wiper switch and its rails are made out of cheap cast "pot metal" and can't handle the stress due to the design of the switch mechanism and the lower rail eventually fails. And unfortunately, the wiper switches are near impossible to come by.

 

We finally got around today to trying to start putting this column back together. The machine shop at work was undergoing some refitting and so I couldn't get something made up like what the steering column repair guys make. Instead, my son measured and drew up a CAD model of something similar, I added some reinforcing details, and we printed it out of ABS plastic on the 3D printer at work. Drilled some holes, then match drilled and tapped into the wiper switch body, dabbed a small amount of gorilla glue on the back and screwed it in place. Aside from the drill bit walking on my and me having to drill an extra through-hole in the plastic part, I'm optimistic it will do the job. Once we get it back together and prove it holds up, I can put a link to the CAD file on Thingyverse in case anyone wants to print one out and try this same repair on their own.



As an aside, I fought with that stupid dimmer switch arm for - no exaggeration - several hours. I thought I had it figured out and couldn't figure out why it didn't seem to work until I realized the actuator lever had fallen out of the recess in the actual switch way down by the floor boards.

The next thing I've got to figure out is how to get the key-in chime switch and retaining clip back in. The excellent video you mentioned in another thread from @jklumpp makes reference to it, but I can't figure out the exact orientation as to how they go in - whether I push them through together as an "assembly" or if the clip goes in first.

The parts I'm talking about are 16 and 17 from this FSM snip:



Do I just pinch them together as shown here and then push them into the recess where they mount?



It seems like the front edge of that clip should hook onto something, but it's not clear there's anywhere on the actual switch where it could clip without bending someting.

Last question for now, I promise: The FSM seems to suggest that I have to insert the key and turn the cylinder to RUN before putting in this clip and switch. Does that sounds right? So far I've had the key out and the cylinder in the lock position to prevent inadvertent motion in the wheels.