Replacing the turn signal switch on my 1972 bug:
I started the installation of the turn signal switch last evening but I didn’t quite finish it before the Ray’s game so I finished it this morning.
Here are a few notes on the experience. I would like to give thanks to Jerry at South Florida Auto Repair (where I bought the switch) who said to be careful of a few things. He said that as often as not a person ends up replacing the windshield wiper switch too because they are connected together and they tend to crumble when you try to separate them. He was right and I’m glad I went slow and took his advice to be careful.
If you have never done it and think you might, here are a few things I learned.
My VW is twenty eight years old and these two switches are original equipment. They both have some critical parts made of plastic. After 28 years of use crammed there inside the black metal steering wheel column which heats up in the sun everyday in Florida, the plastic parts were in the late stages of deterioration. That is what causes the switches to fail and that is what causes them to crumble when you try to separate the two switches.
To start, you get the steering wheel face (horn button I would call it) off simply by tugging at it at the corners until it snaps off. The horn wire is connected to this cover so just unplug it and set the cover aside.
Mark the position of the steering wheel on the steering column so the wheel is level when you put it back. Look into the steering column and you see a 17mm nut and a spring washer holding the steering wheel on. I used my 11/16” socket and a six inch extension to remove the nut. I used a little plastic cup for the parts as I removed them.
The steering wheel was on very tight the first time I removed it when I was replacing the ignition switch about six months ago but now it wiggles off pretty easily.
Once the wheel is off you are looking at the turn signal switch unit and the windshield wiper switch unit that are combined as a set. The turn signal sits in front of the windshield switch. They sit down inside the steering column very snuggly and each has a set of wires three or four inches long coming out the back and forming up in two separate connectors. Those connectors feed to respective connectors that come up through the steering column. Disconnect them from below. There are two small rubber windshield washer hoses that connect to the back of the wiper switch that must be disconnected from below also.
The switches come out as a set when you remove the four long screws that hold the two switches to the steering column. Be sure to take the four screws all of the way out and put them in the plastic cup. You will need all four of them on the reassembly in order to get a snug and durable fit.
The two separate switches are connected together by four pins. These “pins” are the hollow metal tubes about an inch long through which pass the four long screws that you just removed. Remember to disconnect the connectors and hoses from below, down at the base of the switch set under the steering column before pulling the switches out and off through the top of the steering column because failing to disconnect them will result in pulling on them as you remove the switch set and that could dislodge the wires from the connectors or cause the plastic connectors to break.
This is where the threat of further crumbling comes in which is one of the possible ways to damage the windshield wiper switch. This is what Jerry warned me to be careful of because more often than not people end up having to replace both of the switches in the set. That’s about fifty dollars for each switch at retail. Beyond that there is some risk of damaging the turn signal switch that you just bought by trying to salvage the wiper switch. Be careful.
I took it slow and used some superglue to fix tiny cracks in the plastic parts on the wiper switch before I tried to separate them. The plastic connector at the end of the wire harness came apart and the crimped copper ends came loose from the connector. I superglued the wires to the connector and glued the connector parts back together using the glue sparingly.
I also noticed cracks in the plastic frame of the wiper switch, especially where the four pins that hold the set together are inserted. I had determined that to separate the switches these hollow metal “pins” slide out so I did not glue them to the plastic. But I carefully glued the places that were cracked to avoid some of the risk of crumbling when I did the separation and reassembly. Let the fast drying superglue dry.
Separation of the two switches is fraught with danger. Just tugging them apart could easily be another of reasons that most people end up buying the second switch of the set. It would be easy to break the plastic frame of the wiper switch and if you manage not to, it is also easy to break the brittle plastic connectors that are married to the back of the switch set and married to each other by flimsy plastic tabs that have completely lost their flexibility. The superglue saved me.
Instead of tugging them apart you will note that there are places where a flat screw driver can be inserted between them at each corner where the pins hold the set together. I just slipped the screw driver between them and gently twisted at each corner to pry them apart. Go slow, a little at a time and work your way around and notice how the pins slip out. On mine one pin was stuck to the wiper switch and slipped out of the turn signal switch (maybe I accidently glued it to the wiper side) and the other three slipped out of the wiper switch and stayed in the old turn signal switch. I took those three out of their holes in the turn signal switch and slipped them into their places on the wiper switch.
Even though it turned out alright to have glued that one pin to the wiper switch I don’t recommend it because during the rejoining of the two switches it is helpful to allow those pins to float so that you can coordinate the process of getting all four pins into place as you reconnect and reinstall the set using the new turn signal switch and the old un-ruined wiper switch (or the new wiper switch that you might have to buy because it got broken). It might be a good idea to buy both switches together in a set if the old ones are as old as mine were. Luckily I was able to reuse the old wiper switch, so far anyway.
The reinstall is the reverse of uninstall. At first it looks like all you have to do is reinsert the pins to hold them together but let me mention that the nine wire harness that comes from the new turn signal switch must be properly seated (BTW the original switch only had six wires). There is a slot for each of the nine wires to fit snugly between the two switches. If the wires are not properly seated in their respective slots then the two switches won’t fit tightly together and this will keep you from getting the proper fit when you put everything back together. There can’t be anything out of place or the four retainer screws won’t go into place properly.
Let me mention one more caution at this point. There is a wire on the turn signal switch that goes from the horn activation arm on top (the flat copper arm that rubs on the back of the steering wheel when reassembled). This wire must not be allowed to ground out on the metal steering wheel column as you insert the switches back in place. There are two ways this can ground out. One is if the exposed copper on the connector touches the column and the other is by getting the plastic coated part of the horn wire pinched against the sharp edges of the steering wheel column when you tighten the four retainer screws. I had to disassemble back to this point because I grounded the wire the first time. If it grounds out you will notice that when you turn the ignition switch the horn will blow until you turn the ignition switch off. My neighbors politely ignored it.
The rest of the reassembly is just the reverse of the removal. Reconnect the wire harnesses and washer hoses from below under the steering column. Place the spring washer on the steering wheel bolt and replace the steering wheel nut. Mine is tightened with “a stiff twist” but if you have a torque wrench my manual says use 36 foot/pounds.
To finish up you reconnect the little horn wire to the back of the steering wheel face plate (horn button) and fit the hex heads of the four corner bolts on the metal frame of the steering wheel that the face plate fits into. They snap into their respective places on the back of the plastic housing of the face plate. Now just test everything and you are on your way.
If the horn doesn’t blow when you hit the ignition, start it up and blow the horn to be sure it is wired
. Then test the wipers and make sure they still work. I haven’t tried to repair the washer function yet but check to see if yours works. Then it is time to take a little test drive to make sure the turn signals engage and disengage properly. Good luck. Call me if you want someone to swear to while you do the job.
I also took the opportunity of getting into the steering column to subdue one of the many rattles that seem to come from all angles as I drive. The horn face plate has a corresponding backing plate the same shape but attached to the steering wheel from the back by plastic posts that have slip-on lock rings holding them in place. All four of the little plastic posts had broken over the years and so the whole backing plate just rattled away at the slightest bump. I removed the broken plastic posts and lock rings, and using a small drill bit I drilled holes into the plastic backing plate from the front. I used small pointed screws from the front, through the corresponding holes in the metal retainer which is part of the steering wheel, and into the holes that I drilled. That secured the backing plate tightly and eliminated the rattle leaving only 99 other rattles to find and fix
.