This 1996 Chevrolet C3500 came in with the complaint that the tail lights had started turning off while driving down the road. When it arrived at my shop the park/tail lights were not working at all. I pulled the end of the dash loose to get a quick look at the headlight switch wiring.
I could see some heat damage so I went ahead and disconnected the harness from the switch by first depressing the locking tab with a pocket screwdriver.
You can see the damage better if you click on the picture below. The top left terminal has been pretty hot as evidenced by the melted plastic.
The wire color has also changed due to the heat. The burnt wire in position “H” was originally orange in color.
To get deeper into the repair, I had to remove the dash trim panel. It has multiple spring clips that have to be unsnapped around the outer edges. Once it is loose the switches that are located to the left of the radio have to be disconnected. They can sometimes be quite difficult.
Once the trim panel was out, I had to flip it over and use two pocket screwdrivers to release the locking tabs that secure the headlight switch to the trim panel. Be careful the tabs can break. With the tabs released, the headlight switch can be pushed on from the front side.
You may need to do the same thing at the other end of the switch. There are four locking tabs in all.
Now that the tape is removed you can see the original wire colors.
The new harness connector comes with all of the wires pre installed. It is usually not very wise to splice all of the wiring so I do things a little differently.
First I remove the TPA (terminal position assurance) clip. There are locking tabs on each end that have to be depressed.
Next using an angled terminal removal tool, I lift the plastic locking tabs for each terminal.
I remove the wiring from all of the cavities that I want to transfer the old wiring to.
Click on the picture below to see the locking tabs for the terminals.
All of the good wiring is now installed in the new connector body.
Time to splice the remaining wires into place one at a time.
A little heat to shrink the tubing in place.
Wrap the harness back up to secure the wiring.
A new switch and now all that needs to be done is to assemble in the reverse order.
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