light knob? please read

[Stang67401]

hey its late here and i just got back from a 6hr drive. i went to shut the lights off and it feels as though actual knob is stuck, with my lights on! so i had to take my battery terminals off so i wouldnt wake the neighbors with my lights. what should i do i need to get this fixed asap. maybe take the knob off and then put it back on? <<---and does anyone got a how to on how to take it off?

 

[Slykin]

I "think" that you just pop it off with a screwdriver.. but you should probably look that up first. I know there's some threads somewhere on the internet about how to get it off.

 

[VooDoo95Cobra]

there is a release for the knob, its on the shaft.. if you shine a flashlight in the hole there will be a tab, pull the tab away from the shaft with a small screwdriver and it should come right off..

 

[Slykin]

^^^ Thanks.. I knew I should have looked that up.

 

[Stang67401]

kk ima take a look at doing that first thing when the sun comes up. i still dont understand why the knob wont even budge in. someone said a bad switch but even with a bad switch it should still be able to go in right

 

[VooDoo95Cobra]

it should..i would take the knob off and then take the bezel around the gauges off so you can get to the switch and check it out.. there are 2 torx screws in the top on the underside of the dash panel. t-10 size i believe.

np sly

 

[BOS-94-003]

I'm thinking your switch is melted. A 6hr drive would definately be enough time to fuse the shaft to the internals. It's common for the switches to burn up. I'm on my 3rd.

 

[CC'S95GT]

If you switch is FUBAR then make sure you look at the pigtail also.
They are also known to melt.

 

[Stang67401]

thanks for all the info guys it makes my life so much easier! im far from a mechanic and in school as well so any time i can get the chance to save money im on it!

i got the piece out that looks like this and i think its the one i was suppose to.... http://www.1aauto.com/1A/HeadlightSwitch/Ford/Mustang/1AZHS00007/302499?utm_source=google_base&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_campaign=gb_api_nobr&utm_content=ZHS

is the dimmer switch pictured in that pic? because i want to replace that as well.

 

[Stang67401]

okay i take part of that back i think i may have found the problem, sorta. the electrical connector that hooks up to the headlight switch burnt and melted. it was only in one area but still bad enough

 

[CC'S95GT]

okay i take part of that back i think i may have found the problem, sorta. the electrical connector that hooks up to the headlight switch burnt and melted. it was only in one area but still bad enough

That's what happened tp mine too. I replaced the switch as well as the pigtail. (they're both cheap enough)

 

[Venomous96Cobra]

Year's ago my 94Gt kept doing this! I got so tired of changing the switches all the time went to a junkyard once and all the had were 96-98 switches and pigtail's got one of those! spliced it in and guess what?!? it never happened again.... thicker wire's on the 96-98's

 

[Stang67401]

i went to the dealer and bought both the connector and headlight switch for 100$ something tells me thats a little pricey. how do you go about replacing the pigtail?

 

[VooDoo95Cobra]

dont get me wrong. i love ford.. and i use to work at the ford house.. but i dont buy parts from there unless i have to. junk yard or oreillys..

 

[CC'S95GT]

i went to the dealer and bought both the connector and headlight switch for 100$ something tells me thats a little pricey. how do you go about replacing the pigtail?

I was able to push the wires backwards out of the old connector by using a jewlers screwdriver to unlock barb on the end. I was able to swap all this way with the exception of 1 wire because the plastic was melted so bad it wouldn't push out. (that one I cut and spliced in)
Only do 1 wire at a time so you don't get them in the wrong place. All of the colored wires on the oem pigtail have an exact match on the replacement pigtail.
You'll have a couple extra wires too on the new pigtail so after everything is switched over either romove the extras or tape up the ends.
I got pigtail connector and light sw from O'reilly's.