Multi-Function Switch Cleaning Additional info

From Taurus Car Club Maintenance and Modification Wiki

My Multi-function switch was not operating correctly - the windscreen washer would only operate if pushed in and the wipers were in the off, low or high position - it would not work on any intermediate wipe settings. I took some additional photos to the earlier article to help the installation/removal.

Ignition switch removal - disconnect battery, ignition switch on 'run', push a wire in the small hole on the underside of the column housing adjacent to the switch - if you look from under the steering column you can use a torch to look up into the hole & see exactly what it is you are trying to depress - otherwise its a bit of a stab in the dark!

This photo is the underside of the ignition switch housing - its taken after removal of the switch but shows the little hole that you push the wire into:

This photos shows the little locking lug that you are depressing to release the ignition switch from the housing

You need to remove the steering column tilt lever - But just before you do, tilt the steering column to its lowest position (enables removal of the top column cover later!!). The tilt lever unscrews, you need an adjustable wrench - say a 4 or 6 inch size and you can use it on the flattened part of the tilt lever (see photo). The lever is reasonably tight - mine had a thread locking compound on it.

Undo the 3 phillips head screws from the underside of the column which hold the 2 halves of the column cover together - then remove both halves. Now the multifunction switch is exposed. Next, use a Torx T15 bit to remove the 2 screws that hold the multi-function switch in position. Once these are removed the next mission is to pull off the 2 connectors to the multi-function switch. They are not easy to remove - you need to prise apart the connector retaining clips so that as you pull the connector it slides off the retaining lugs. I used 2 short flat screwdrivers to lever the 2 retaining clips on each connector outwards simultaneously to allow me to lever/pull the connector off. Photo below shows the lugs that the connectors clip over:

Next - we are going to dismantle the multi-function switch. The earlier Wiki article covers this well. The following is just some additional info & photos

Removing the end-cap - photo shows construction of the cap - use a very small screwdriver or knife to slide under the end cap and lever it off:

After removing the screw, carefully slide off the rotating part of the switch (its spring loaded, careful!) - hold your hand around the switch as it slides off - you are wanting to avoid the 2 lock pins and spring 'pinging' off into oblivion. You'll now have access to the inner part of the switch - remove the spring, pull out the plastic contactor. You can see from the next photo that mine was well gunked up with grease, but aside from that was in good condition.

A contributor had requested photos of this contactor as their's had had the copper pins misaligned in removal. So here are multiple views of the contactor as removed from my car. I did gently lever the 4 end pins out a bit more to make better contact and same with the semi-circular contactor - but slight adjustments only!!

Cleaning - I've heard several different variations on a theme here - alcohol etc. I used a paint brush and mineral turpentine - just gently cleaned the contactor (take care that the bristles don't disturb/bend the contact pins) and also inside the switch barrel. I did not clean anywhere else. Seemed to me the only issue was excessive grease in here so I used a q-tip and applied a small smear of grease to the switch barrel contacts then re-assembled.

One of the things to watch is how the white contactor bit of plastic goes into the barrel - here's a view so you can get this right:

Before fitting the spring - just slide the outer switch barrel on and make sure it engages correctly in the contactor - then rotate it all the way to the high wiper position. Remove the outer barrel again - carefully put on the spring, insert the locking pins/spring and depress, then push on the outer barrel again (you'll know how to align it as you simply line up the marks for the high wiper position!) Keep holding in the outer barrel while you fit the retaining screw. That completes the re-assembly. As for re-installation - from here it really is a reverse of the removal process - just make sure you do not cross thread the torx screws that retain the switch - these screws go into pretty soft muck metal which I think would be easy to strip!

As for my repair - well, clean up and re-fit of the switch was successful - the multifunction switch works exactly like a new one now. Good luck.