kreativ

The items you have to remove to get to the switch...does it take a decent amount of experience to do this without screwing something up (e.g. breaking off a piece of plastic)?
Or safe enough for anyone to attempt?

lasearcy1

I did the swap of the courtesy light switch. You really have 3 solutions:

1. Pull the interior apart and replace the switch according to the manual
2. Clip the wires and solder the wires of the new switch on the old wires
or my favorite
3. you pop out the wires, clean the wire connectors, and use a new switch (you can't clean the plunger side of the connector very well)

When you pull the 10 mm bolt on the switch, you can pull about 4 inches of wire out



If you clip the tie-wrap, and then pull outward at the end of the white tab, the wire slips out of the connector



This will help with #2 & #3 above. I pulled the wires out of the switch, cleaned them with steel wool (pre-cleaned picture shown below),





and reassembled the switch but it still was intermittent. So I went for the whole replacement.

lasearcy1

T0 actual replace the switch the way the manual says, you have to carefully pry the interior apart, starting with the the first clips on the door threshold of the front and rear doors. If you look at the close-ups of the panel holes below, you can see where they are inserted.







Then you have to go where the seat belt adjuster is and pop the 2 lower clips of the upper pillar cover. Next move to the bottom pillar panel and pop the 6 clips from bottom to top and slide the bottom panel down.




This shows the 6 clips. Notice the hole at the top of the piece. That is why you need to pop the lower clips on the upper pillar piece. The left top hole has already been broken off. I have a close up of the 2 bottom holes that the front and rear threshold pieces clip into.

lasearcy1

Next, remove the two 10 mm screws that hold the motor that adjusts the height of the seat belt and pull towards the rear to slide it free of the black forward mount



disconnect the blue wire and move the motor towards the rear to get it out of the way. You will see the connector inside the pillar behind the motor. You can also see the wiring bundle for the rear door in the same area.

lasearcy1

I took the old switch apart by breaking off one of the white plastic side clips that retains the wiring to figure out what happened. I think if I had run a screwdriver tip over it and then pried it upwards, I might have resolved my issue. From the picture, you can see exactly where you have to clean the contacts. I think when I cleaned it, I must have pushed the contact down.



and another picture of it. You can see the corrosion and the little copper piece that slides up and back in the center of the track.




Finally, I would have to push the switch in and then pry it upward without breaking the white plastic retaining clip. I tried it on the unbroken side and it is possible to do that.

Dobie77

Check the bolt that holds switch in place, it also is the ground for the switch. I thought that my passenger & driver side switch was going bad due to inconstancy. Turns out bolt needed to be removed, cleaned with wire brush from debris and reinstalled making good contact. All is functioning perfectly now!