So i finally got around to swapping in a headlight stalk with fog toggle (95-96) and it turns out that the high beam function is broken. The stalk movement to the front and back is messed up - instead of having a nice, healthy "click" when you pull it forward to flash the highbeams, it just slides into position withh zero resistance. Infact, its so lose that it will bounce in and out of that position at the tiniest bump. As for the "locked in" high beam position, the stalk does not want to go that way - its extremely stiff and takes WAY too much force to get it to toggle the high beams when pushing the stalk back, and even then its not clicking and staying there, it just immediately falls back into lowbeam.

Obviously the problem lies with the mechanism that controls these functions. My question is, is there a way to open the stalk up to repair its innards? Is there simply something that fell out of alignment and needs to be realigned, or is the mechanism simply worn and fubar?

I know the simple solution would be to just get a new stalk, but id like to hear if this is a fixable issue rather than spending more money.

 

Typically the way these switches work is by using a tiny spring and ball bearing that rides in a groove. The groove will have a detent or notch for the ball to fall into and the spring holds it there. Operate it enough times and the metal ball wears out the plastic. Or somebody might have opened it up and lost the spring and/or ball. Last one I worked on was in my '96 Quest, but it was a Ford design. On that one, you could pry the end cap off, remove a screw and slip the workings out. But if not careful, the spring would pop out and fly away! Yours may simply be worn out or a plastic piece is broken internally.

 

Thanks dude, very informative. Ill try messing with it later but based on how it felt in my hand trying to move it, id assume the plastic is worn.

Somewhat unrelated - but would anyone know what the differences are between 95-96 and 97-99 relative to this? I think they have a different shape so they arnt interchangable.. But if i was to swap over the whole plastic "shield" that goes around the steering column along with a 97-99 stalk, would it fit on a 96? Or will it not fit due to differences in the actual column itself? Pretty sure its the later but hey its worth a shot to ask.