Headlight switch

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JungleCrow

JungleCrow

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So this afternoon I was taking apart my dash and I couldnt get my headlight switch out. Now I might be wrong but dont you have to push in the button to get the rod and knob out of the switch so you can take it out of the dash? Just need a little help on how to get it out. Thanks.
 
Mine has a very small allen set screw in the knob it self. Check there first. The knob comes off not the entire knob and rod.
 
yes there is a button on the side of it that needs to be pushed in then the rod can be pulled out.
 
Ya, I pushed it in and it didnt work. I can push it all the way in and when it gets on its last click the button forces out to the point I have tried many times and my thumb is raw. Is there a trick of some kind? Ill look for the Allen screw tomorrow to see if thats it.
 
My 69 cuda has the type where the button on the bottom has a small spring around it and you push it up and pull out the knob and rod. If its stuck spray it with some electrical contact cleaner. That will act as a lube and I dont think it will harm anything inside the switch.
 
Ya, mine is like that. Its spring loaded. It goes in if the rod is all the way in the switch. Then when I pull out the rod... LOL! It comes out smooth on each click or stop I guess and on the last one when its just about fully out, the button pushes back on my thumb and cocks inward a little. I cant push it in anymore and the only thing keeping it from coming back out is the pressure of me pulling on the rod. Its weird I know. I drove an 86 K5 Blazer in HS and I just pushed in the button and it came out no prob. Figured I would ask on here if there was something I wasnt doing right. Ill try again in the morning.
 
I remember mine was a prick, I think there is just junk built up in there, try the elec cleaner tomorrow and let us know.
 
it probably isn't pushing in all the way.. push it in wiggle it and try it with the know in and out in different positions..
 
I must be missing something because pushing the spring in and removing the rod sounds like a pain in the *** to me compared to removing the knob. I'm not saying that my way is better because when I had to replace my switch I didn't even know about the springed button. When I got the switch out I saw it then and was wondering what it was for.
 
Dude, yours must be aftermarket? My shift knob is like that but not my light switch. Anyway I got it out...

I was sitting in my recliner with my whittie tighties on with a beer in one hand and the remote in the other. I was flippin through the channels and landed on Days of Thunder. I was sitting there a little upset that my aftermarket gauge cluster didnt fit and now I might have to do work and make my own and this switch. Well right when I was about to take a sip of my third brew, Tom Cruise tells Robert Duvall that he is dropping the hammer. I had the bottle to my mouth where it stayed until the beer ran out the side of my mouth as I stared at the boobtube. Then I got a :sign7:

So I went out to that car and grabbed that switch by its neck. Pulled the rod out all the way and kept pressure on it and hit the spring loaded thing with a hammer. Well after a few wacks it came out. So what did my dumb *** do? I stuck it back in. :sign3: Well same problem and now I didnt have the dash to help me. But I used the hammer again and got it out again, it just took more effort to hold the switch. I think that there is too much spring under the button cuz it takes the force of the hammer to force it down that much more. So I will try to shorten the spring and see.

So thanks all!
 
A less violent method of conquering the usually-balky spring-loaded release button is to tape a penny to your thumb, index finger or middle finger (whichever will give you the most leverage on the release button as installed). The button requires a very hard push; hold it in and give the headlamp knob a hard jerk. You may have to try a few times before it pops out. Make sure you disconnect the battery before you start.

And almost all the factory knobs are not removable from the stems; there's no set screw, no spring clip, no threaded-end-of-the-stem, no nothing. Exceptions are '60-'62 cars and, evidently, whatever probably-aftermarket setup Mullinax95 has in his car.
 
slantsixdan said:
A less violent method of conquering the usually-balky spring-loaded release button is to tape a penny to your thumb, index finger or middle finger (whichever will give you the most leverage on the release button as installed). The button requires a very hard push; hold it in and give the headlamp knob a hard jerk. You may have to try a few times before it pops out. Make sure you disconnect the battery before you start.

And almost all the factory knobs are not removable from the stems; there's no set screw, no spring clip, no threaded-end-of-the-stem, no nothing. Exceptions are '60-'62 cars and, evidently, whatever probably-aftermarket setup Mullinax95 has in his car.
Click to expand...

This isn't a good picture of the head light switch knob but as you can see it matches the radio, wind shield wiper knob. The knob itself looks as old as everything else... I just find it weird that I have a set screw. LOL
 
On most of these switches you have to pull the knob all the way out (head lights on), then push the button, it should come right out.
 
T2R9 said:
On most of these switches you have to pull the knob all the way out (head lights on), then push the button, it should come right out.
Click to expand...

X2 and sometimes you have to rotate the headlight switch to a certain point and it will come out
 
Just be careful. I asked a friend to take mine out when I was doing the dash and other things. I had went to the house to get more drinks:drinkers: and when I returned he had to knob off. I was like great. Only to find out he used cutters to cut the rod to pull the switch out the back of the dash:angryfir:. Needless to say I now have a fridge in the garage.......:toothy6:
 
I was working on this today so, I thought I would take some pics. I am sorry that they are blurry.
SDC10656.JPG


SDC10657.JPG
 
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