peterls

1. I took my master switch apart, and found out the contacts were burned out. I cleaned them up and now the switch should work.
However, as I worked on cleaning the contacts, a small steel ball fell out. You can see it in this picture, the red arrow points at it.
I have no idea where the ball came out of, except that it did come out of the switch. It doesn't seem to have a natural spot for it. Could it be that it's just a ball from some bearing that fell into the switch somehow, maybe while in factory? Or am I supposed to put it back in there? Where?
2. While assembling it back together, the window lock switch fell out. I managed to put it together (it's quite a little puzzle), but a little part that looks like staple. only a little smaller, fell out too. I can't find where it fits. Is that even a part of the switch, or is that another piece that's not supposed to be there? I reassembled it without the staple part and it seems to work just fine.
Anyone have any ideas? Anyone took this apart too?

CELSI0R

I don't believe that ball is part of the window switch. I've taken mine apart before to repair the lock button, and I did not see that. I have seen similar metal ***** in some sort of packaging before.

My guess is that the ball fell out of something in the past and ended up in the switch. I wouldn't worry.

wahaus

That ball is important. It has a home. I recently did the same but don't remember how it all went back together. I got a used door switch from local pick and pull and swapped out the offending switch. Think I paid $8 for the part. I'll see if I have any old photos. Sorry, not much help other than, "don't throw that away".

peterls

Thank you!
BTW, anyone who has a problem with window up/down switch, in my case the reason the window would go down but not up was the switch. It is easy to open, but it is even easier to screw it up. So, if you want to fix the switch yourself, here is what needs to be done:
1. take the switch apart - you will need to use a fine flathead screwdriver to do so, the gray bottom is VERY tight there. There are six black screws and one tiny gold one. And then you need to pry it open with a flathead.
2. once opened, be SUPER gentle with it. The main window off/on button can fall apart and it is impossible to figure out how it goes together. There are also five tiny springs there, don't lose them! They will fall out easily, nothing is holding them in place. There is also a small steel ball somewhere in there - it should stay in its place if you don't shake the switch too much.
3. It is easy to figure out how the contacts work and what needs cleaning. I used a firm bristle tooth brush first, to clean the black soot and then used 600 grit sandpaper to clean the contacts - just put the sandpaper in between them and slide it back and forth. At first resistance was 2.5 Ohms, now it is 0.8-1.0, so definite improvement.
4. Put it back together, don't forget to put back the 5 little springs.

CELSI0R

@wahaus - do you have your old window switch that you can take apart to photograph?

From what I've noticed, 90s Toyota products pretty much use the same switch parts to make up the master switch with slight variations.

I watched this video from a 1992 Land Cruiser. Never saw the metal ball in my switch and it's not in this video either... I wonder if there was a revision(?). Now, I'm curious

peterls

Sorry, only saw your post now. I don't have another switch, but am planning on taking this one out again to improve the contact - it takes too much pull to close the window.. Once I do that, I'll post pictures here.