My Multifunction Switch Nightmare (56k Warning Goes Here.)

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 10:56 pm

Alright, I've been having some strange issues with my headlights and parking lights... Last year, I did the fog light/parking light mod (jumping the parking light wire to the power on the fog lights) to make the fog lights come on with the parking lights. I've never had any problems with it nor have I read problems from anyone else that's done it and recently I've started getting some issues. I'm not sure if it's related to that mod or not, but for a while the mod quit working. I had to turn on the fogs with the multifunction switch again. I also noticed that if I didn't turn the headlights on and just left the switch at 'parking', no parking lights and no taillights, and no dashlights. It started getting more screwy almost depending on the weather...

Anyways, it got to the point that the fog lights would come on with my headlights, but not full brightness, then when I'd pull out on the multifunction switch (to turn on the fogs), they'd get brighter and I'd get my parking lights, taillights and dashlights. It's pretty fricking weird and tonight when I got into my car to go to work, I couldn't get my parking lights or the taillights to come on. The headlights and the fog lights are working like normal, but now, no parking lights or taillights.

HELP! I'm late for work because I don't want to risk someone rear ending me on the way in the dark.

kornholio788 · Post by **kornholio788** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:06 pm

well i dont know from personal experience but from i have heard of ppl having problems like ur where headlights wont work and other random lights wont work and it is like u where they act wierd at first and then all of a suddon shit dont work and from what i remember they say that ur mutifunction switch is bad and to get a new one. Now dont come back to me and kill me if it aint it cuz im not sure but i think that is it. SOrry i cant give u a temp fix to get to work cuz i dont know of one

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:10 pm

kornholio788 wrote:well i dont know from personal experience but from i have heard of ppl having problems like ur where headlights wont work and other random lights wont work and it is like u where they act wierd at first and then all of a suddon shit dont work and from what i remember they say that ur mutifunction switch is bad and to get a new one. Now dont come back to me and kill me if it aint it cuz im not sure but i think that is it. SOrry i cant give u a temp fix to get to work cuz i dont know of one

That's the only thing I can come up with at the moment - Since I've heard crazy stories about multifunction switches. I've been playing around with it outside trying to figure something out and I've found that there's no power at all going to the parking lights even with the switch on. All fuses appear to be good, too.

This sucks. Flippin' Neons. Well, I guess today's the first requested emergency vacation day at work.

oklamopar · Post by **oklamopar** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:21 pm

I would say multifunction switch.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:41 pm

oklamopar wrote:I would say multifunction switch.

Yeah, I'm thinking that's gotta' be it. How many places are there where you supervisor will leave work to come get you?!

My supervisor's on his way to pick me up.

Hopefully I can find a dealership tomorrow that has a multi-function switch in stock.

Post by **Diablo0** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:06 am

No excuse... you're going to work! hahaha

I'd say it sounds like the Multifuction switch also and I have an extra one here somewhere

rOniN · Post by **rOniN** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:56 am

Check by the maltifunction switch. It sounds like you burnt the wire connector that goes into the switch. I burnt mine out in the 00 when I added fog lights like you did. It overloads the wires and they melt the connection. You could have melted the switch also, which I did. The wires and the switch aren't meant to have that much current going through it. It seems we found out the hard way.

If you did burn out the wires you have to go to the junk yard and start pulling some wires. The dealership wont sell you just the part that you need. They sell you the whole package which isn't cheap.

Hopefully that makes sense. And I hope you didn't melt the wires but that is what it sounds like to me. Also watch out for the airbag wire, it's right around where you will be working.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:53 am

Diablo0 wrote:I'd say it sounds like the Multifuction switch also and I have an extra one here somewhere

Jason, let me know what you want for it.

rOniN wrote:Check by the maltifunction switch. It sounds like you burnt the wire connector that goes into the switch. I burnt mine out in the 00 when I added fog lights like you did. It overloads the wires and they melt the connection. You could have melted the switch also, which I did. The wires and the switch aren't meant to have that much current going through it. It seems we found out the hard way.

If you did burn out the wires you have to go to the junk yard and start pulling some wires. The dealership wont sell you just the part that you need. They sell you the whole package which isn't cheap.

Hopefully that makes sense. And I hope you didn't melt the wires but that is what it sounds like to me. Also watch out for the airbag wire, it's right around where you will be working.

That sounds like a f*cking pain in the ass.

I didn't think that the switch would have issues with the jumping of the fogs since I already had factory fogs on the car - I just made it so they come on with the parking lights.

Is there a How-To anywhere on removing/replacing the multifunction switch that anyone knows of? I'm not even sure how to gain access to the steering column innards.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:01 am

Alright, I went out this morning and removed the steering column cover and gained access to the multifunction switch. I removed the two screws for the multifunction switch but now I can't get the big wiring harness connector off the back... Is this bad news? It looks like the one side is working free but I just can't get the remainder of the connector to come off and I don't want to break it using pliers, etc... Any ideas? Anyone share the similar experience removing the multifunction switch? Also, is this whole unit actually one part? I thought maybe the headlights/turn signal switch would be separate from the wiper controls, too... But they appear to be the same part.

Here are a couple pics of my issue now...

I also noticed the cracks on the connector after uploading the high-res pictures to my PC.

Hopefully this bish will unplug okay.

neonpla · Post by **neonpla** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:33 am

^^^ best illustration EVAR!!!, lol.. good luck i need one of those too. my hazards stop working.. :/

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:09 am

Glad you liked that.

Just got off the phone with 'Chris' from the parts department at a local DCx dealership and first off, he's probably the most helpful/nicest parts person I've ever spoken to at a dealership... To make a long story short, I have a new multifunction switch and a new connector for the harness coming tomorrow morning which will take a total of $133.16 out of my pocket.

And here's why I ordered the new parts...

Here's the backside of the multifunction switch:

Here's the connector that plugs into it:

I'll be writing up a How-To tomorrow and get some detailed pictures for everyone else that will come across this nightmare...

I can't believe there was never a recall for this issue.

So, to be able to use my car today since I have some pretty important things going on, I went out and reinstalled the faulty multifunction switch with the fried connector and now I have taillights and parking lights, but now no headlights.

Now it's the direct opposite from last night... I had to wiggle the connector just right to be able to get the damn thing working again, though... I'm surprised I haven't blown a fuse yet, but then again... Judging by the connector, I could short out and melt a bunch of shit before fuses will blow with a damn Neon.

[/rambling]

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:40 am

Another one. Man this really seems to be a common problem.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:41 am

fixitmattman wrote:Another one. Man this really seems to be a common problem.

Yeah buddy. Have you replaced yours yet?

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:53 am

Damn that sucks, foglight mod For The Loss, glad you figrued everything out uber quickly.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:46 pm

-CgPeon- wrote:Damn that sucks, foglight mod For The Loss, glad you figrued everything out uber quickly.

Yeah, but I'm not too sure that the fog light mod did this. If I recall correctly, other people (that haven't done the fog light mod) had the same problem. And it's happened to enough people for DCx to start selling just the connector for that wire harness...

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:27 pm

03sxt wrote:Yeah buddy. Have you replaced yours yet?

Not since I've owned it. Could have been done before but I doubt it.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:29 pm

fixitmattman wrote:Not since I've owned it. Could have been done before but I doubt it.

Ruh roh. Knock on wood.

magnus · Post by **magnus** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:01 pm

I had the same exact problem with my car a few weeks ago. As a temporary fix, you can pick up switch at your local parts store, and wire the constant power source and the parkign light source so that you can get power to have driving lights.

I went 2 weeks with no lights

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:30 pm

I think I know why most these go bad. It seems that people that use there fog lights seem to melt. I have no probs with mine and neither does my 00 ES. Everyone I know that uses there fog lights alot have this prob.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:19 pm

cough PT multifunction swap cough

I used my fog lights every single morning back when I had the stock Neon multifunction switch and I continue to use them every day with the PT Cruiser switch. No issues with either switch (other than the dimmer not working with the PT switch, but I already knew that), but damn that friggin grey connector is one fragile mofo! I cracked mine just slightly, but luckily not enough to render it useless.

neonpla · Post by **neonpla** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:39 pm

thumbs up for the how to!!

rOniN · Post by **rOniN** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:48 pm

You have exactally the same problem as me. At least they are selling parts to fix it now. I had to dig through 3 neons before I found the stuff that I needed.

You will have to most likely cut the wires and splice the new connector in if you can't pull out all of the wires since it is melted. I had to look up each color to wire mine in since the neon I got the connector from was a different model.

If you need any help pm me

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:14 pm

rOniN wrote:You have exactally the same problem as me. At least they are selling parts to fix it now. I had to dig through 3 neons before I found the stuff that I needed.

You will have to most likely cut the wires and splice the new connector in if you can't pull out all of the wires since it is melted. I had to look up each color to wire mine in since the neon I got the connector from was a different model.

If you need any help pm me

Yeah, that's what the parts guy said. The new connector will have to be spliced to the new wires, etc... Sounds like a pain in the ass - Like when you don't have a harness for a new aftermarket CD player

, but you gotta' do what you gotta' do, right? He said it comes with everything I'll need to splice it all. It's just going to be a pain in the ass trying to get my big hands in there to connect wires.

Eh well... Like I said, I'll let you guys know exactly how it goes tomorrow morning shortly after 9am.

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:28 pm

i had to replace the whole thing on the silver car when i had it. P.I.T.A. good luck with the fix.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:37 pm

teamliviD wrote:i had to replace the whole thing on the silver car when i had it. P.I.T.A. good luck with the fix.

What all did you replace? Just the connector or the whole harness?

And thanks, by the way.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 9:26 am

03.....
http://forum.2gn.org/viewtopic.php?t=31 ... sc&start=0

I still have yet to have a problem with my pigtail or switch since I did the above.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 12:06 pm

BlackRoseRacing wrote:03.....
http://forum.2gn.org/viewtopic.php?t=31 ... sc&start=0

I still have yet to have a problem with my pigtail or switch since I did the above.

Bah. Too late.

Parts were already at the dealership this morning...

I'm taking a break from the project right now and I actually only have 6 wires left to splice. I tried to take some good pics, but probably not enough for a complete how-to, but I'll post them anyway since they'll definitely help others out that need to do this in the future.

Be back in about 30 minutes with some pictures!

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 1:05 pm

Well, all fixed!

I just finished installing the new multifunction switch and the new pigtail/connector that was completely scorched.

1x #5073045AB Multifunction Switch $66.93
1x #5183442AA Multifunction Switch Wiring w/ Connector $58.10

Total cost (from my dealership) was just a little over $133.16 (After tax)

Here are a few pics with the new parts from DCx:

New Multifunction Switch:

New Wiring & Connector:

Some assembly required.

I ended up actually trimming the wire because they give you about 20 pieces of each. I was expecting them to at least be color coded, but no. Two colors - Orange for the heavier gauge (About 10ga) and Purple for the lighter gauge (About 16ga). Installation was fairly self-explanatory.

This is what the connector looked like after the wires were placed:

And the little brass wire connectors that they supply you aren't worth a shit. Do yourself a favor and go grab a couple packages of plain old butt connectors for the wiring... And if you don't have a pair of automatic wire strippers, now is definitely the time to buy a pair. Unfortunately, I didn't have a pair and DAMN do my fingers and fingertips hurt.

Here's a pic comparing the new connector to the old one... Definitely looks healthier.

Time for the connecting...

After connecting all the new wires to the existing harness, this is what everything looks like... Now it's time for re-assembly.

Questions?

Estimated project time: 1.5 - 2 Hours.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 1:13 pm

5073045AB - $60.85msrp (40.15cost)
5183442AA - $58.10msrp (38.34cost)
Total w/ tax and shipping $91.87

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 1:16 pm

BlackRoseRacing wrote:5073045AB - $60.85msrp (40.15cost)
5183442AA - $58.10msrp (38.34cost)
Total w/ tax and shipping $91.87

I didn't have time to wait.