Side mirror control switch repair

About a year ago the control for the side mirrors on the '01 lw300 started to get ornery. If you jiggled the switches enough, it might work... mostly not though.

Finally removed the switch module from the door and dismantled it. It's held together with plastic clips that can be carefully released to pull apart the switch. Cleaned off any dust and debris that had accumulated under the 'joystick' button. Cleaned the circuit board and actuator pads with a dry Q-Tip first to remove any surface dirt. Then wet the Q-Tip with a small amount of "Deoxit" and re-cleaned all the electrically contacting surfaces. Put it back together and so far it's working like a charm.

Deoxit

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removes oxide from electrical contacts. First used it to renew a relay that was no longer available. Was a simple fix!

Reply to
Oppie
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I love little fix it jobs like this. I once had a similar problem with the 4 way toggle switch for the mirrors in my 91 Mustang. Although the reasons for the intervention were different than yours (I had spilled a bit of pop on the center console and I had not realized the spill had reached so deep into the switch until it stopped working).

After dismantling and cleaning the parts I found I needed to make a few little wire jumpers to bridge some areas where the cola had eaten away the circuits on the small board.

That repair lasted a dozen years... and it was still working on the day the driver of the Chevy Blazer decided to run the red and T-Bone it...

Reply to
Ned Flanders

Sorry about your Mustang but luckily you survived. My wife's brother sold his 1968 Shelby Mustang a few years ago for a totally outrageous amount. Were only 9 of them remaining at the time.

Next door neighbor (a PhD) did almost the same as you with his Saab. Spilled his light and sweet coffee into the center console. Saab wanted something in the range of $1200 to replace all the components so he asked for my help. Stripped the whole thing down and took all the modules to soak in warm water. Rinse and when possible, open all accessible components to dry out. Left to bake in the sun for the afternoon and then reassemble. Good as new and still working.

Reply to
Oppie

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