So the lightswitch on my '95 Aerostar AWD is failing. When the switch is pulled, it must be jiggled to get the headlights and the dash/tail lights to come on together. I shot a little contact cleaner in and that helped but a replacement is in order.

My question is how do I access the switch? I see two screws at the top of the instument cluster bezzle but don't see any obvious way to get the other trim off the dash. The light switch cover seems integrated into the main dash face piece. Also how do I remove the ****? I tried unscrewing and just plain pulling but it doesn't want to budge. Is there a release clip up under the back of the **** that needs to be nudged? If so what pray-tell do I use for that, just a bent paperclip or something? If I also have to pull off the centerdash ***** do they just pull off or are they held down by clips too?

 

The following info is based on my own experience and I can't garuntee that this is the correct way to do it but it worked for me.

Yes there is a clip in the **** that keeps it on the shaft. There is a slot on the **** that you use to access the clip, just put something in there and apply pressure towards the front of the ****, it doesn’t take much force. You may have to work the clip with one hand and pull the **** off with the other. I did not have to pull any other ***** off when I changed out my switch.




This is how I removed mine using the probe of a multimeter. Sorry for the lack of focus.




There are indeed a few more screws. The left A\C vent snaps on and off. Pull on the top of the vent. It should come out about half an inch and then stop, and then carefully pull the bottom part off. Try to make sure you are working the right and left sides evenly.


I think you have to take off the big plastic piece below the steering wheel. It's held on by screws on the very bottom and snaps on the top.
The center section of plastic hides a couple of screws that you need to remove.

The center section is held on by snaps and 2 screws hiding behind the ash tray. Remove the ash tray (push down on the spring loaded piece of metal and pull the whole thing out)



I don’t have any more pics but the rest is not too hard to figure out.

I found out the hard way that the white ceramic ring on the switch reaches incredibly high temperatures. Don’t touch it. Better yet, disconnect your battery. My switch had gotten so hot that it had melted the wiring harness that plugs into it.

I believe you have to reuse the shaft that the **** mounts onto. After removing the switch, release the shaft be pressing the small release button on the bottom of the switch and pull the shaft out.

good luck.

 

The reason that the headlight switches end up breaking on the Aeros is becuase unlike most cars that use a relay to activate the headlights (and the switch you use just connects a mere couple of volts to a coil to activate the relay which in turn connects the circuit for the headlights which is a much larger voltage in comparision) the Aeros switch is directly switching the lights on and off. The switch also tends to heat up since its carrying so much current which messes up the contacts.

Thats also the reason why the Aeros headlight switch feels so rigid unlike other vans since their switch is connected to a relay so their switch doesn't have to directly switch the headlight current but connect the much smaller voltage of the relay.

While your in there it wouldn't hurt to add a relay for the headlights your new switch will last longer that way.

 

This is more than I could have expected and in just 2 posts. Thanks for the pics Aeromac! I'll be tackling it ASAP. Good point Krankshaft, any pointers on the relay specs I could use?

 

I think the entity you're talking about is current, not voltage. The thing that kills the headlight switch (and the high/low switch in the column) is the 10 or so amps of current required to light up the headlights (at approximately 14 volts).

I think I wrote this up before, but I'll repeat the basics: I used these 1" cube relays from Radio Shack. They are made for automotive applications, will switch up to 30 amps, but the actuation current is only a couple hundred milliamps, so they present much lower loads on the contacts in the switches. Bosch makes some that look the same, and the places where I saw them for sale also included an inline fuse. I installed 3 of them, one each for low, high, and some fog lights I installed. I had to get separate fuse holders. I mounted them on the panel next to the battery. I intercetped the wires coming from the switch and going to the lights at the wiring harness near the battery. I connected the wires coming from the switches to the actuating coils on the relays, and ran heavy gauge wires from the switched contacts of the relays to the light sockets. They work really well right now; the lights are brighter because they're now fed with much shorter runs of bigger wires, and the switches don't overheat anymore.

 

Follow-up: Aeromac's instructions made this a 20 min. job. The only comments I'd make are to remove the kick panel first, then pop off the far left AC vent cover, then pull the center panel and finally remove the cluster surround. The cluster surround is held in by 5 screws, 3 of which are hidden by the other panels.

When I got in there, it is clear there's been some arching across the contacts. The plastic wiring connector housing showed worriesome heat damage, especially around the centermost connections. Has anyone seen this as well? If the lights act up, I'll be looking to find a repacement for that too. I fear that may be a dealer-only type piece.

Thanks again!

-Mike

 

Melting the wire harness connector when the light switch overheats is a common problem. The parts counter guy at the local dealership said replacing the harness is recommended as part of the repair. The connector with about 8 inches of wire cost me about $12 Canadian from Ford. I soldered it in (I wouldn't recommend crimp connectors on an application like this one). It was 4-1/2 years ago and I have not had any trouble with it since.

Cheers,
Eric

 

I used female spade connecors, instead of the factory harness. Without the plastic connector there, the switches ability to dissipate the heat is improved. Howwever, I agree, the best long term solution, is to install a relay that takes the current draw off the switch.

 

I don't know what I was thinking there yes I mean't current.

I really don't know why they didn't use relays for the headlights was this some type of oversight?

As far as I know its standard practice to equip the headlights with both a high beam and low beam relay.

 

I think Ford was able to save about 2 dollars per vehicle with this method. They believed their switch was adequate. However, they failed to see the durability 5 to 10 years down the road.