Tweet
Today I changed the turn signal switch in my CJ7. Now I will be the first to admit that I'm no mechanic! In fact I suck at mechanical work. Gimme a skil saw & nail bags any day! But I'm 1/2 Scot & 1/2Swede so you know how cheap I am. 
I ordered a new turn signal switch & a dimmer switch from Morris 4x4 (for the 10% discount). My order promptly arrived and I was ready for the blessed day of installing it.
My Cj has an after-market steering wheel - a Grant that is attached with 5 allen flathead screws. This is where it started to get fun. One of the screws was stripped out. So I ran out and bought a screw extractor For $15.00 USD. That didn't work, so I drilled it out to where the head popped off and left 1/8" of thread sticking out. I was able to remove the screw remains by claming it in my big bench vise.
The adaptor for the steering wheel required a 3 hole wheel puller where my Haynes book showed two. So I couldn't use the puller I borrowed from my son. So I called my father-in-law to borrow one and he said no problem. So I ran down to his house and he couldn't find it. So I ran down to NAPA and paid $25.00 USD for a new one which I will probably never need again.
So I finally removed all the pieces including brackets under the dash and put the new switch back in. While reassemblying the parts, I needed to push a couple of parts in against a spring that was held in by a keeper. What a struggle that was! I could have used a third hand.
Oh and I was really good about putting all the screws, bolts, etc, in a plastic carton. It is not good when you bump it with your elbow and they all go flying around the Jeep and landing on black carpet.
I finally got everthing reassmbled and tested it. Everything worked great including the fact that I now have two brake lights.
Many of you informed me on various runs that I only had one brake light. I think it was Dirtman 13 - Chuck from Santa Ana that told me if I wiggled the turn signal switch up & down it would fix the brake lights. Chuck's remedy only lasted a short while and always reverted back to One brake light operation. Based on Chuck's remedy and the fact that my original turn signal switch never felt right, I decided to change it out.
I should mention that I started this project at 8:30 AM and finished about 3:45 PM with a break for lunch.
Next time I have a project like this I think I'll ask around if someone wants to trade for carpentry work. But all's well that ends well... But it was pretty stressful! Oh yeah, the dimmer switch only took 5 minutes to replace!
I ordered a new turn signal switch & a dimmer switch from Morris 4x4 (for the 10% discount). My order promptly arrived and I was ready for the blessed day of installing it.
My Cj has an after-market steering wheel - a Grant that is attached with 5 allen flathead screws. This is where it started to get fun. One of the screws was stripped out. So I ran out and bought a screw extractor For $15.00 USD. That didn't work, so I drilled it out to where the head popped off and left 1/8" of thread sticking out. I was able to remove the screw remains by claming it in my big bench vise.
The adaptor for the steering wheel required a 3 hole wheel puller where my Haynes book showed two. So I couldn't use the puller I borrowed from my son. So I called my father-in-law to borrow one and he said no problem. So I ran down to his house and he couldn't find it. So I ran down to NAPA and paid $25.00 USD for a new one which I will probably never need again.
So I finally removed all the pieces including brackets under the dash and put the new switch back in. While reassemblying the parts, I needed to push a couple of parts in against a spring that was held in by a keeper. What a struggle that was! I could have used a third hand.
Oh and I was really good about putting all the screws, bolts, etc, in a plastic carton. It is not good when you bump it with your elbow and they all go flying around the Jeep and landing on black carpet.
I finally got everthing reassmbled and tested it. Everything worked great including the fact that I now have two brake lights.
Many of you informed me on various runs that I only had one brake light. I think it was Dirtman 13 - Chuck from Santa Ana that told me if I wiggled the turn signal switch up & down it would fix the brake lights. Chuck's remedy only lasted a short while and always reverted back to One brake light operation. Based on Chuck's remedy and the fact that my original turn signal switch never felt right, I decided to change it out.
I should mention that I started this project at 8:30 AM and finished about 3:45 PM with a break for lunch.
Next time I have a project like this I think I'll ask around if someone wants to trade for carpentry work. But all's well that ends well... But it was pretty stressful! Oh yeah, the dimmer switch only took 5 minutes to replace!
Comment