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Thank YOU thank you thank you. Just got pulled over by state trooper, who I had passed... for not signaling. He however was just pointing out I had not signaled, I assured him I had, he helped me test and clearly I have a light problem, the hazards were not working nor were turn signals, until I kept poking hazard on and off then it worked. No ticket, nice cop.
Ordered the Delco version from Corvette Mods, I've used them before and happy with service.
Now, back to holding my arm out the window to signal for awhile.
THANK YOU!!!
Glad the cop let you off! But if you follow the method, you won't need to do hand signals for more than 18 minutes
Though I've ordered the part, it does seem to be working fine now. I've probably hit that hazard button 3 times in 15 years if that, so I'm guessing crud accumulated, connections got loose, whatever. Anyway, I've 'exercised' it a bit and hazard and turn signals work fine now. I'll wait till it all fails again to do the replacement, just out of curiosity. (But I'll be carrying that part with me!)
I wonder if anyone has taken a close look at a removed failed switch to see what went south, just curious.
Definitely, I am going to try this method. Easy step to do! And special thanks for the video. Last year I bought a flashlight http://tacticalflashlightguide.com/. And I had the switch problem as well. But, I got a replacement from the company.
Some extra tips/pics on the 18 minute hazard switch replacement
So, I did the replacement thanks to this GREAT tutorial but, it took me well over an hour and that's not including breaks to swear, wipe the blood off my butchered left hand, drink a beer and continually coming back to look at his steps again. I took some pics that might be helpful, just some of the detail stuff so you know what to expect when you get the various covers off.
A few tips:
0. First, remove the two (one black one white) flat pieces of plastic from the outside of the switch, that's how my new part arrived from Corvette Mods, see pic. Those must be required to fit some other vehicle, remove to use in your Corvette! They just pop off.
1. Overall, if you have big hands/thick arms this may be impossible. I have fairly large hands but skinny arms and I could barely pull this off, getting it out not so bad - I punched it HARD with the butt of a screwdriver - getting it back in was a f***ing nightmare.
2. Installing the new switch, tips: a) Take off your watch, get in the passenger seat and do it with your left arm. b) Having the hazard ON when you're putting the new one in helps, cause you can see that bulb and it helps you find and guide it back in. c) If I had to do it again (oh please no!), I would consider feeding some nylon fishing line through the dash opening and out, tie that around the hazard switch, and see if once you have it mostly aligned for the reinstall, you can PULL it into place, maybe even do that twice to give you a 'top and bottom' pull on it, because - d) I just couldn't get it to push in from the back, finally took his advice and used needle nose. I avoided that for fear of breaking it. e) Well, I did break it - it looked fine but, when done, the button will not stay in when pushed in, so while it fixed my signals (I hope), I really don't have a working hazard switch now. I'll just wedge something in there when needed I guess.
5. The knee bolster is a pain to get back in place correctly, be patient.
6. I show how the plug disconnects from the heat sensor and also the other switches you must disconnect, see pics.
7. Have another beer.
Thanks again for this excellent 'how to' which, bad as it was for me, sure beats the other method.
Last edited by DWC4; Dec 13, 2018 at 08:53 AM.
Reason: correction
Anyone with a link to the hazard switch bypass mod? Did a couple of internet searches and didn't come up with anything more than the hyperflash relay mod.
Thank you for this detailed write up. I used it to pop my switch back in after an envious brushless car wash worker pushed my hazards too hard (idk why they touch things they dont need to touch). Thankfully the snow should be gone for the year so I wont need to pull through any chassis baths anytime soon!
Originally Posted by dizzysn
Hey guys, thought this might help some people.
I had to replace my hazard safety switch in my C5 Z06, since I had no brake lights. I've read a few write ups and they all say it takes over an hour to do. I did it in 18 minutes. After doing it myself I'm absolutely shocked at the amount of time it takes people to do this and I think my way is a lot easier. With the method below, the center console bezel does not need to be removed, and the head unit doesn't need to come out either.
The steps with no video or pictures are easy and I felt they did not require visual instruction. If you feel otherwise let me know and I'll get it done.
Step 1: Pop off your trunk release switch on the left side of the steering wheel with a flat head, and your air temperature sensor cover on the right side, next to your ignition, with a flat head as well. This exposes two torx screws. Undo those screws and set them aside.
Step 2: Underneath the knee bolster there are two more torx screws of the same size. Undo those and set them aside.
Step 3: Gently pull on the bottom of the knee bolster until it pops. You need to be firm, but don't man-handle it. Be careful because there is a wire that is attached to the temperature sensor that's attached to this as well.
Step 4: I was able to gently wiggle the bolster out out without having to remove the center console bezel, and without breaking anything. I gently pried up on the bezel around the ignition and it slid right out. Once you've done this, disconnect the air temperature sensor cable, from the sensor itself.
Step 5: Pop off the hazard button. I just used my car keys to do this. I stuck them in between the button and the bezel, turned them a bit, pulled back, and it popped right off.
Step 5.5: A few people have replied to let me know that they had issues getting the hazard switch to unclip. Mine was a crappy OEM one and it just pushed right out. The general consensus to get it out is to take a small to medium sized screwdriver and give a good knock on the handle to pop it out. Alternatively if it's thin enough, you wiggle it in and use that to depress the clips. This should only add another minute or two to the total time, if any at all. (Big thanks to those who updated me with this extra step they had to take, so I can pass it on to you guys!)
Step 6:
Step 7: Shouldn't really need to be stated, but hook up the new switch and verify that you have turn signals, hazards, brake lights and tail lights before you put everything back together.
Step 8:
Step 9: Use a pair of long and skinny needle nose pliers to pull the switch forward. Looking at the face of the switch once it's in, there is an empty triangle that you can use to grab on to with the pliers. Once you've secured it in it's place, you can push the button back on.
Step 10: Reattach temperature sensor to the cables you unplugged from it, and slip the knee bolster back into place the same way you took it out, by pulling back a bit on the ignition bezel.
Step 11: Put the torx screws back in, reattach the temperature sensor cover, and plug the trunk release back in and you're good to go!
Total time took 18 minutes, not including the water and cigarette break.
There are key points in this thread that helped me replace my switch. No matter which direction you take to get to the switch, I found the following to be the key points that helped me.
1. Insert a thin bladed knife at the top of the switch to help with the top tab.
2. Us flat blade screen driver to push the bottom tab from its slot.
3. Take a medium size flat blade screwdriver or something similar to place against the front of the switch and tap it with a hammer to free the switch. Then fish it out.
From there it's using whatever technique you can to maneuver the new switch toward its home.
When you get it close enough, grab it will needle nose pliers (one point in triangular hole, the other on the side of the switch), and pull the switch into its place.
These are all points that I picked up from various posts here, and I'm very grateful. It felt good to accomplish it myself.
Add us to the list of thankful forum members. My son just purchased a 2001 Z06 and on the way home we realized something was going wrong with the turn signals.We researched it on here and found this thread. It helped us get the job done in about 40 minutes. We had to take the knee bolster off anyway as we need to install the repair kit for the the trunk hatch release. Thanks again.
I had to replace my hazard safety switch in my C5 Z06, since I had no brake lights. I've read a few write ups and they all say it takes over an hour to do. I did it in 18 minutes. After doing it myself I'm absolutely shocked at the amount of time it takes people to do this and I think my way is a lot easier. With the method below, the center console bezel does not need to be removed, and the head unit doesn't need to come out either.
The steps with no video or pictures are easy and I felt they did not require visual instruction. If you feel otherwise let me know and I'll get it done.
Step 1: Pop off your trunk release switch on the left side of the steering wheel with a flat head, and your air temperature sensor cover on the right side, next to your ignition, with a flat head as well. This exposes two torx screws. Undo those screws and set them aside.
Step 2: Underneath the knee bolster there are two more torx screws of the same size. Undo those and set them aside.
Step 3: Gently pull on the bottom of the knee bolster until it pops. You need to be firm, but don't man-handle it. Be careful because there is a wire that is attached to the temperature sensor that's attached to this as well.
Step 4: I was able to gently wiggle the bolster out out without having to remove the center console bezel, and without breaking anything. I gently pried up on the bezel around the ignition and it slid right out. Once you've done this, disconnect the air temperature sensor cable, from the sensor itself.
Step 5: Pop off the hazard button. I just used my car keys to do this. I stuck them in between the button and the bezel, turned them a bit, pulled back, and it popped right off.
Step 5.5: A few people have replied to let me know that they had issues getting the hazard switch to unclip. Mine was a crappy OEM one and it just pushed right out. The general consensus to get it out is to take a small to medium sized screwdriver and give a good knock on the handle to pop it out. Alternatively if it's thin enough, you wiggle it in and use that to depress the clips. This should only add another minute or two to the total time, if any at all. (Big thanks to those who updated me with this extra step they had to take, so I can pass it on to you guys!)
Step 6:
Step 7: Shouldn't really need to be stated, but hook up the new switch and verify that you have turn signals, hazards, brake lights and tail lights before you put everything back together.
Step 8:
Step 9: Use a pair of long and skinny needle nose pliers to pull the switch forward. Looking at the face of the switch once it's in, there is an empty triangle that you can use to grab on to with the pliers. Once you've secured it in it's place, you can push the button back on.
Step 10: Reattach temperature sensor to the cables you unplugged from it, and slip the knee bolster back into place the same way you took it out, by pulling back a bit on the ignition bezel.
Step 11: Put the torx screws back in, reattach the temperature sensor cover, and plug the trunk release back in and you're good to go!
Total time took 18 minutes, not including the water and cigarette break.
Just did it using your method, worked perfect.
You your good you.
@dizzysn Can I buy you a beer? I've been a vette owner for about 13 months and this was my first "potentially time consuming" repair. I did it in about 20 minutes and then messed with learning how not to properly reinstall the knee bolster for about another 20 minutes. Nonetheless, my intermittent hyper-flashing left signal is now a thing of the past. THANK YOU!!
@dizzysn Can I buy you a beer? I've been a vette owner for about 13 months and this was my first "potentially time consuming" repair. I did it in about 20 minutes and then messed with learning how not to properly reinstall the knee bolster for about another 20 minutes. Nonetheless, my intermittent hyper-flashing left signal is now a thing of the past. THANK YOU!!
Sorry for the late reply. Don't have a Vette anymore so I'm not on here much.
Thanks for posting. I did this yesterday. Little hard getting leverage on the tabs but with a small screw driver and little pressure on the front, it came right out. Used needle nose pliers pulling on the front while pushing on the back side and new one popped right back in. So glad not to have to pull out the console and radio.
Alright, I have a question for the hazard switch gurus. I did the replacement described here back in January and it solved my hyperflash problem. 7 months later the turn signals are intermittent. They may blink two or three times and then they just stop. It's almost like they are low on blinker fluid. My question - does this sound like a faulty hazard switch or potentially something else? Coincidentally, I'm also getting the 'Pull key, wait 10 seconds" error. I've found when voltage gets low on the battery I will see this message. Hoping that charging the battery will be the solution to this current problem but I know that's some extremely wishful thinking! Starting to think I replaced the hazard switch with a faulty one.
Alright, I have a question for the hazard switch gurus. I did the replacement described here back in January and it solved my hyperflash problem. 7 months later the turn signals are intermittent. They may blink two or three times and then they just stop. It's almost like they are low on blinker fluid. My question - does this sound like a faulty hazard switch or potentially something else? Coincidentally, I'm also getting the 'Pull key, wait 10 seconds" error. I've found when voltage gets low on the battery I will see this message. Hoping that charging the battery will be the solution to this current problem but I know that's some extremely wishful thinking! Starting to think I replaced the hazard switch with a faulty one.
It definitely could be the switch, since everything runs through that, but if you've got LED tails you might need a resistor kit for it. LEDs throw off the expected voltage and can cause tons of issues.
As for the pull key/wait 10 seconds thing, that's less to do with battery voltage, and more to do with the terrible column pin system. Just get this, take 10 minutes to install it, and never have the problem again:
Thank YOU thank you thank you. Just got pulled over by state trooper, who I had passed... for not signaling. He however was just pointing out I had not signaled, I assured him I had, he helped me test and clearly I have a light problem, the hazards were not working nor were turn signals, until I kept poking hazard on and off then it worked. No ticket, nice cop.
Ordered the Delco version from Corvette Mods, I've used them before and happy with service.
Now, back to holding my arm out the window to signal for awhile.
THANK YOU!!!
So the hazard light switch will inhibit the turn signal function?
I have recently discovered "no turn signal" as you described. IDK why, but it occurred to me I while I was driving to engage the hazards for a few flashes then attempt to use the turn signal again.
Doing that allowed the turn signals to again function normally. Does this mean the hazard light switch is failing?
I haven't been able to determine the conditions which trip this fault in the turn signal, (cold temps/warm temps ... headlights on/off) but running the hazards a few flashes seems to clear it.
Would probably warrant a question mark over a cruiser to be sure.
My question - does this sound like a faulty hazard switch or potentially something else? Coincidentally, I'm also getting the 'Pull key, wait 10 seconds" error. I've found when voltage gets low on the battery I will see this message. Hoping that charging the battery will be the solution to this current problem but I know that's some extremely wishful thinking! Starting to think I replaced the hazard switch with a faulty one.
