Re: Replacement for PW switches?

[Kneale Brownson <knotnook@traverse.com>]

Have you tried a chemical electrical contact cleaner (other than the $45/oz
Stabilant), followed by a dollop of dielectric grease?  Might make the
clean-up work longer than a few months.

Kneale Brownson


At 04:17 PM 11/17/99 -0800, Scott Fisher wrote:
>Well, it's happened again -- the almost 17-year-old power window
>switches have gone out in my 1983 Coupe GT.  And after I cleaned them up
>only a year ago...
>
>Actually, what I did shortly after the initial cleanup last Thanksgiving
>(reported on this list) was to replace the worst of the two (passenger's
>side) with a junkyard pull that the previous owner included in the box
>of parts that came with the car.  It went out last week (in the down
>position, in a rainstorm, of course), so I pulled it, swapped
>connectors, and rolled the window up.  
>
>A day or two ago, the driver's side stuck (in the down position also, in
>a rainstorm also, of course) and I am now faced with the same task.  
>
>(My wife, this car's driver, also said "Oh, and my blinkers have gone
>out too, they just flash at double speed and make this weird noise..." 
>Ah, one circuit's out, bet it's the left one.  She then tells me a
>story, ending with "But the right blinker was ON" and finding out that
>this second story was because someone had pushed the hazard flasher, but
>only the right-hand circuit was flashing.  I haven't even looked yet,
>but I'm betting a dollar that this is because the left rear light
>cluster harness has slipped out.  Yet again.  AMHIK.)
>
>So... as I see it, my options are:
>
>1 - clean up the switches, something I remember quite well (carefully
>pop the cover, catch the little ball bearing before it skitters under
>the dryer, scrape off the oxide, put the cover on, put it back in the
>car and hope you remember which connector is the driver's side and which
>is the passenger's side).  That may last a few months.
>
>2 - replace the switches with Genuine Audi Parts.  Are they still
>available?  If I knew I was going to get another 17 years out of 'em,
>that wouldn't be such a bad thing.  
>
>3 - replace the switches with Something Else.  My natural tendency is
>towards a pair of big-ass knife switches, the kind that make you want to
>say "It's ALIVE, it's ALIVE" and give orders to a hunchback every time
>you throw them.  I can figure out the wiring, I'm sure, once I pop the
>old switches out it's just a matter of tracing the wires to the
>contacts, and I have four switches (the two broken ones in the car, and
>the two broken ones in the parts box) to play with so I can certainly
>cut one up and still refer to an uncut one if I get confused later.
>
>4 - have the internals of the switchgear powder-coated with a compound
>made of equal parts Imolagelb paint and Stabilant-22.   I figure if I
>can't make it work any better, then powder-coating it yellow will at
>least make it incredibly cool the next time I have to fix it.
>
>5 - Strip the guts out of the car and make it an IT racer, and buy my
>wife something with back doors for loading and unloading children.  (We
>will probably actually do this, but not till spring...)
>
>Thoughts?  Suggestion?  Ridicule?  
>
>Thanks,
>
>--Scott Fisher
>  1983 CGT