Column switch mystery!?!

[Chrome_thangs]

O.k. now i'm pissed!
I was just out riding and i smelled a heavy wire burning smell. I took it home and parked it, an hour later i got in to go to the store and my headlights wouldn't flip up or come on. If i put the lights up w/ the other button they come up. Also the high beams work but the lows don't!? I heard that it could be the combo switch. I can get one of these for free but i don't know where to begin. Could somebody PLEASE give me a step by step on how this is done?(taking off steering wheel, plastic cover,& removal of switch) Help me out guys, i need your infinite wisdom!!!

[winkie45]

ok, ive done this before. a little plastic piece broke in my combo switch, so my blinkers wouldn't work. so to do this, you need to take off your steering wheel. you should turn the wheel straight before you take it off so that you can put it on straight. Then just take off the center nut, not too hard, but i used a torque wrench.
And when you take off the steering wheel, you need to unplug the wires going into it.

After that, i think theres a black circular thing, which makes the horn work, so you take that off too. and then there's 4 little screws that you take off from the combo switch and then it should just slide right off. and just remember how you took everything off and put it back on the same way. sorry if i forgot anything, but i did this a while ago so i may have forgotten something, if so, let me know and it should come back to me. peace.

[DBMaster]

Did you leave in those high amp fuses in and the high wattage headlight bulbs? I remember your question about this burning smell before. It probably has nothing to do with your combination switch. Very low amperage goes through it, just enough to energize the headlight relay.

If you continued to do what you were doing when you last asked advice you will most likely have to check everything inside the car that connects to your headlights as I'll bet you have melted something, or possibly burned off some wire insulation resulting in a short.

Good luck with it.

[Chrome_thangs]

No i took them out and replaced them w/ the original size. No, now that i think about it the burning smell was their before the h4 conversion and the fuse situation. I think the hyper whites and the fuse advance accelerated the burn out on the switch.

[DBMaster]

Still not sure it is the switch. I recall looking at a pair of Hyper-White bulbs a t Pep Boys. There was a warning on the package talking about "severe damage to electrical systems."

I guess when you look at the wattage of the factory bulbs compared to the Hyper-Whites you have to be careful not to use them in too many different places at once.

You should HOPE that it is the combination switch. It is pricey, but a hell of a lot easier to replace than trying to track down burned wires.

Makes me wonder about the wisdom of my 50W halogen backup bulbs and 50W front turn signal bulbs. I guess since they are not on very long I won't worry too much at this point. Sorry to hear baout your troubles.

[Chrome_thangs]

I took all that off and got to the switch and wondered this question, Do i have to replace the whole piece (turn signal, hazard button, and windshield wiper control) or can i just replace the turn signal/headlight handle. I was able to get just the handle out so i hope that i can go this route.

[Sabz5150]

PIAA hyper plasma bulbs every where

That could have something to do with it... our light wires were never designed to handle bulbs of that caliber.

Time to rip through wiring harnesses methinks.

-5150

[DBMaster]

Chrome thangs,

If you get a combo switch from the wrecking yard you can do whatever as far as pulling pieces goes, but Honda only sells the entire assembly (for, like, $130 I think).

I fixed a problem with the spring on the wiper stalk once myself.

Like I said, though, very little current goes through that switch regardless of the bulb wattage you are using. The switches are light duty because it takes less than an amp to throw the relay. It is the relay and fuses and related harnesses that handle the big draw. Based upon your comments about the burning smell that preceded your lights going out I tend to agree with Sabz.

Maybe you'll get lucky and the damage will be obvious.

Peace.

[Chrome_thangs]

Went to the junk yard today and picked the entire piece for $30. Went home put it on, plugged it up, & it works again beautifully!!!

NO, i won't be going through any wiring harnesses, thank you!

But, to be sure i don't run into that problem i think i'll step down my sidemarkers and "citylights" to a lower wattage bulb

[TeKKnoTeKK]

Sounds like a wise idea....better safe than sorry eh? :p