Dismantling Switches

Is it possible / recommended / feasible to take dashboard switches apart? I would like to change the bulb in one - maybe even upgrade them all to bright LEDs

It is possible but they are full of tiny moving sliders, ball bearings, clips and springs. Years ago a headlight switch jammed half on/off and I had to pull it apart to fix, the ball bearing used to positively lock it in the open/closed position had manage to come adrift.  

On some of the swicthes the light fits from outside so no need to disassemble the switch itself?

You don't need to disassemble the switch to replace a bulb in it.

I took the rear demister switch apart to see if I could put an LED in it, my conclusion is "no user serviceable parts inside"

it is doable but you have to cut up the factory bulb holder inside the switch till you can squeeze in an led. some are easy, some require a lot of faffing. tip: a soldering iron can be used to sculpt the plastic in the switch to make an led easier to fit

Thats what ive done, basically taken apart all my dash switches and replaced them with LEDs.

Ive also replaced the lights on the heater control, ciggy lighter and on the dials.


Most or all of the old bulbs had blown so now I have switches light up that I didnt know lit up

I would say the most difficuilt of them are the fog and rear screen demister switches. You have to take these apart to get to the lights but if your a dab hand with a soldering iron you will have no problems with it.

The rest of the other switches - hazzards and headlights etc had seprate lights that you can twist out and replace (or in my case solder in leds).

Hopefully that should last another 27years!


Cheers,

James.