S30Z Combination Switch / Wiper And Indicator Rebuild

[gav240z]

Hi Folks,

 

Just following these so far as a guide.

 http://www.jdmjunkies.ch/wordpress/2016-02-27/240z-headlight-switch-rebuild-pt-1-bodyshop-work-on-rear-quarters-started/

 

 http://www.doyouevenhoon.com/datsun-240z-gtr/how-to-rebuild-datsun-240z-headlight-switch.html

 

So in 1 of them it mentions a ball bearing, but I've not found any ball bearings yet.

 

Here are some reference photos of me disassembling it.

 

In this photo you can see these little "nubs" with a spring behind them. Which actives the contact switches. I only have 3 however and I suspect 1 popped out somewhere on the floor in amongst the thick carpet, or was missing before I got to it. Since this switch has 1 de-soldered wire on it already.

 

 

Questions so far:

1. Can anyone confirm if there is meant to be ball bearings in here somewhere?

2. Should I have 4 of the little nubs I mentioned above? Or did AU market (RHD) cars only have 3?

3. I got stuck last night trying to undo the circlip here. Anyone got suggestions?

[TDoherty]

G'day Gav,

 

I know there is a ball bearing in the indicator stalk assembly but haven't (yet) disassembled the lights/Wiper stalk.

Unfortunately all my efforts to refresh the indicator switch were unsuccessful, it's still a cow and only works with pressure and lots of attempts!

 

I'll follow this string with interest, good luck!

 

Cheers Tony

[PB260Z]

Hi

3. I got stuck last night trying to undo the circlip here. Anyone got suggestions?

ButtonRetainer.jpg

Hi

 

Hard to tell from the photo but that looks like you need to push down and slide the nylon, or am I missing the point ?

 

Cheers

 

PB

[gav240z]

Yeah I push the wiper washer button in, which reveals the circlip but I can't for the life of me get the circlip off..

[zeds4ever]

It's not a ball bearing that I have encountered when pulling one apart & re-building it . To try & explain it it is more like a BB gun pellet shape which has a smooth exterior # hollowed out on the inside to accept a small pressure spring . From memory there are three of these in total .

 

                                                  Try prizing the circlip off with a very small screw driver & a bit of patience Gav .

                                                                   

 

                                                                   Regards : Alan .

 

                                                        

Edited July 26, 2017 by zeds4ever

[gav240z]

It's not a ball bearing that I have encountered when pulling one apart & re-building it . To try & explain it it is more like a BB gun pellet shape which has a smooth exterior # hollowed out on the inside to accept a small pressure spring . From memory there are three of these in total .

 

                                                  Try prizing the circlip off with a very small screw driver & a bit of patience Gav .

                                                                   

 

                                                                   Regards : Alan .

 

                                                        

 

Ok I only had 3 of those bb gun pellet like things and thought 1 went missing, but from the sounds of it I have all of them.

 

As for the circlip think I've run out of patience. Must be an easier way...

[Cozza]

G'day Gav,

 

I know there is a ball bearing in the indicator stalk assembly but haven't (yet) disassembled the lights/Wiper stalk.

Unfortunately all my efforts to refresh the indicator switch were unsuccessful, it's still a cow and only works with pressure and lots of attempts!

 

I'll follow this string with interest, good luck!

 

Cheers Tony

I have recently rebuilt my indicator switch and found it to be quite a delicate peice.

I also found that if you try and close the switch up too tight, the switch will bind and is a little notch to use.

After my 3rd attempt, I found that if I left the bakerlite switch board a little loose from the metal housing, the switch worked a lot smoother.

 

Fiddly work though.

Mick

[260DET]

What sort of circlip is it? That dictates what tools are needed for removal although it sounds like you have encountered one that has no ears or tool access holes, something sharp like a fine flat bladed screwdriver or a dental type pick tool or scriber in that case.

[gav240z]

What sort of circlip is it? That dictates what tools are needed for removal although it sounds like you have encountered one that has no ears or tool access holes, something sharp like a fine flat bladed screwdriver or a dental type pick tool or scriber in that case.

 

Yeah I've been trying that, no joy yet.

 

Better photos of the circlip. It has no real "ears" to grab at. The only reason I know it's possible to remove it as others have done it. Otherwise I'd think it impossible.

 

I am also trying not to break anything.

[Riceburner]

Looks like an E clip.

 

I normally use a very small flat blade driver. Push it in between the bottom/middle of the clip and lever against the pin it's retaining. Much easier said than done though, that pin looks plastic and who knows how brittle it is.

[260DET]

Yuk. Try using some CRC on it, this will help it let go and also be slippery for your tools. Worth a try though.

[gav240z]

So I asked Dave irwin on Facebook for some tips. His website is: https://www.datsun-240z-upgrades.net/

 

You don't remove a circlip here, you press the washer button which will expose the plastic nub at the end. Grab it with pliers and turn the assembly which will unscrew the plastic end from the washer button shaft.

 

See the threaded bit at the end?

Removed with spring.

 

[gav240z]

Lots of circlips to remove.

Another here.

The plastic switch part can be slowly removed from the shaft (but leveraging it up with a screw driver). It took me ages to realise this.

See the top 1 is missing here.

Basically coming apart now.

More circlip madness..

[Enzo]

Damn those small Japanese production line workers and their tiny hands. (Just Joking !!)

[gav240z]

Damn those small Japanese production line workers and their tiny hands. (Just Joking !!)

 

Everything is easy once you know how, I feel sorry for the poor bloke / woman who had to churn out 100s of these each day. Quite a tricky task. If this goes well I only have 3 more to do lol...by the end I'll be an expert, might see if I can shoot a very short video documenting how to rebuild them. It certainly would have helped me.

[gav240z]

Well not much to update, except that I've polished up the plastic. Looks great now.

 

I have disassembled the switches and cleaned all the carbon build up off them. Using a green scotch brite pad and contact cleaner I got from JayCar. I also bought a good soldering iron and fixed the broken solder joint, preparing the join before hand with flux (you can apply with a texta like pen). The flux helps it stick (the solder).

 

Now i'm a bit stuck getting the circlips back on, I'm going to buy some circlip pliers rather than wrestle with it like an idiot for ages.

 

I've spent far more on materials, tools etc.. than it would have cost to send it to the US for restoration but... you don't learn anything that way and now I have tools I can use again.

 

Finally 1 of the switches had a broken plastic tab. So I've tried some product called Bondic which you set using a special light.

 

 

 

[Linton]

good one Gav, a little trick I learned somewhere with the lettering that is recessed and letters arn't real crisp, melt a white crayon tip and swipe it across the letters while molten brings up the letters like new.

[gav240z]

I got tired of wrestling with circlips and bought a pair of circlip pliers (highly recommended these kingchrome ones in particular as you can change the head of it to suit different styles of circlip). It really made the whole thing 10x easier.

 

 

I managed to get the switch back together.

 

However I am yet to test it out, I'm not sure if it will work.

 

1. If you refer to this picture you can see the little plastic tab on 1 side here is broken (top right corner)

 

2. I originally tried the Bondic material, but it requires a wax/grease free surface and even though I tried a couple of times and the material would set hard, it would break off when you applied pressure on it. Inserting the plastic nubs with the spring behind them was difficult also as the material bled over a bit, so I had to "force" it into the 'cup' area and this caused it to break off.

 

3, Since this side was broken I assumed the little nubs I took out had to go in this side. When I pulled the switch apart I only found 3 of those little nubs with the spring behind them. So I assumed the broken side (was the side in use), but when I put it back together the switch wasn't working correctly as it would "fall out" and into the switch.

 

Hmmm.. so for now I've put the 3 nubs back in and haven't put it in the fourth slot.

 

4. At a guess what happened is the previous owner of my car attempted to repair it pulled it apart and the forth nub fell out (and is lost) and wasn't able to repair it (possibly broke the solder joint when trying) and then decided it was easier just to find another second hand unit. (don't blame him).

 

As per the end of this article, it may be a common problem.

http://www.doyouevenhoon.com/datsun-240z-gtr/how-to-rebuild-datsun-240z-headlight-switch.html

 

I will have to wait until I'm next in Melbourne to test the switch on my 240z, unless there is a guinea pig wanting to try it before that? In the interim I'll see if I can get my hands on another to rebuild for comparison sake.

[gav240z]

good one Gav, a little trick I learned somewhere with the lettering that is recessed and letters arn't real crisp, melt a white crayon tip and swipe it across the letters while molten brings up the letters like new.

 

Thanks Linton, I actually tried using a permanent marker in white but you gotta wipe up excess around the markings quickly as it can be a pita to remove from the black plastic. I was actually thinking of going to Office Works and looking for a white out style pen that is quite thin for the trickier areas. However I'll try that last once I'm satisfied the switch is rebuilt correctly.

[Cozza]

Good job on the rebuild Gav

Sounds like a drive day may be in order so you have a range of cars to test it on.

You're welcome to test it on my 9/72.

[gav240z]

Good job on the rebuild Gav

Sounds like a drive day may be in order so you have a range of cars to test it on.

You're welcome to test it on my 9/72.

 

I am only worried that I'm missing 1 of the little nub pieces for the headlight switch. Hence that switch may not work correctly. I might take the other 1 I have out of HS30 00150 and compare it and rebuild that 1 also, just to see if indeed I am missing anything out of that switch.

 

I also have to rebuild the indicator stalk, which I think is going to be a little more difficult looking at it.

[gav240z]

Might be worth looking at 3D printing these plastic pivot arms.

https://www.thingiverse.com/groups/datsun-makers-group/things/page:1

[gav240z]

Ok so I spoke to a company in Sydney about potentially reproducing these plastic components.

 

 

Hi Gavin,

 

We can 3D model the component in a CAD software. Charges are $250+GST.

 

I can only guess the 3D printing charges as we need the 3D model to calculate the printing cost.

 

I am guessing between $20 to $30 for one 3D printed part. If we can print 10 number together it will be much cheaper.

 

Please let me know if you would like to proceed.

 

Regards,

 

Vivek.

 

There is actually several plastic components in these switches, and I'm thinking about cloning them all to create a "rebuild kit" but also I may investigate other components like this hazard switch i pulled apart yesterday to discover the plastic switch mechanism inside was broken.

 

 

 

I also have other options such as a couple of colleagues at work who may be able to assist with 3D modeling and printing etc.. so perhaps I can design and print these on my own.

 

However I'm not sure how much demand there is?

[PB260Z]

However I'm not sure how much demand there is?

Gidday

 

Sorting out the unrelaible wiper switch is one of the things on the to-do list for my bus.

So I would be interested.

 

 

Cheers

 

PB

[gav240z]

Talking to a friend at work and he told me he used his Phone camera as a scanner to scan an object and print it.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1762299

 

He used a lego train track set up in his example, but referred me to this turn table you can use to get all angles of an object.

 

I'm thinking it might be worth trying this out and see how durable the printed versions are.