Both my '98 VDPs have duff switchpacks ... one wonky and one completely dead. Here's how I went about disassembling them.

NOTE:
I'm not saying anything about fixing it. You're on your own there. This is just how to disassemble & inspect.



Here's our unsuspecting victim.



A couple philipps head screws and a plastic clip release the face plate.



The housing snaps together, but is a real tight fit. You'll need a thin blade to begin the separation, a small screwdriver blade to continue. Best to start at the larger "memory" end of the switch as in the next pic.



Three clips down on this end. Once you have a little gap, some toothpicks can be used to maintain it while you switch positions. Sufficient time and cuss words and it will start coming apart.



Once that end is off its clips, you can continue prying gently on the sides.



Houston, we have separation!



Remove the base with the switch upside down. Otherwise, you end up with a jigsaw puzzle. Ask me how I know!



But it's really no problem. If you just look at it, it's easy to figure out.
* The clear plastic piece goes in first, will only fit one way.
* The 8 white pegs next. T shaped bases will only fit correctly.
* 6 black pegs next, 4 around mirror adjustment button and 1 on each end of the mirror selector slide. Ditto on the T shaped bases.
* The tiny spring goes in the center of the mirror selector slide, with the little metal cap over it. (Toothpick pointing at it.)



* "Memory" bar is next, direction is self evident.
* "1" and "2" buttons go in next. 1 next to door, 2 next to driver. You'll note they have little tabs sticking out that go in corresponding slots in the housing.
* "3" button goes in last .... done deal!



The grey rubber membrane can be carefully pulled away from the circuit board. Seems to call for extra care around the light bulbs, possibly from the heat of the bulbs. In the pic you can see that some of the rubber stuck, in spite of my best efforts.



Removing the circuit board from the switch base reveals lotsa nasty lookin' spooge. Hopefully some cleanup might help this switch.

Hope this helps someone out.
If anyone has any recommendations about actually repairing these switches, feel free to chime in!

Regards
retro

 

Excellent post. Detailed pictures are always good. Since my car is my daily transportation. I get a replacement on Ebay and then fix it that way. Faster but not cheaper and then I save the old part and repair it as a spare. I wish
I had a place to keep a parts car. Having a good sense of humor helps when working on these older cars.

 

Great write up and pics, I got to do mine as well but I will be repairing it.

The Jaguar is actually my 5th car so there is absolutely no hurry for me to get it back together in no-time.

If I succeed I will put my findings, together with pics in this topic.

 

I forgot to add ... for test purposes you can plug the switch in without completely assembling it. Like so.

Most, but not all, switch functions can be checked by simply pressing the appropriate "knob".

Unfortunately, after cleaning the crud from both my switches, they both act exactly as they did before.
Switch from #1 car weird and half-assed, switch from #2 not at all.

 

I don't remember where I saw it once upon a time, but I've had marginal success at repairing the switchpack. Marginal, meaning it only lasted a few days. However, since it did fix it temporarily, I would assume doing it over a second time probably would have fixed it again... but for how long who knows. I ended up just buying a used replacement from an Ebay reseller.

The fix is to go buy a $10 rear window defroster repair kit from your local Autozone, Pepboys... what have you. Use the materials provided within to first clean the PCB area your trying to fix, then re-paint the gold traces in that area that look suspect.. think lighted, magnified headlamp and real steady hand. The paint in the kit is a conductive copper paint.

I have a few PC CPUs that I've successfully overclocked using this method, but with CPUs, you only have to connect a few dots. The traces on the switchpack PCB however, are very thin, little winding roads, leaving little margin for error. I recall several breaks in the suspect areas on mine, and I addressed every thing I saw.... so that's how it goes: Hunt and seek and cross your fingers.

 

Thanks, that's good info you posted.

Unfortunately in my case, decent vision and a steady hand are but fond and distant memories!

 

I hear ya. It's almost an impossible task I think unless there's just one or two small fractures that you can just dab a blob on. Trying to re-trace an entire thin little line is *really* tedious.

Excellent write up, BTW, and great pics. It brought back many unpleasant memories.

Also, apologies if someone on these forums documented this procedure already, and if it's what I vaguely recall using as a guide. I certainly cannot take credit for the idea. I did a quick forum search, but didn't see any old posts on the subject, or I would have pointed to it.

 

Hah ....!
That got me thinkin'. My wife is a quilter, and a while back we got her a real spiffy Ott light with magnifier. (See, it pays to do nice things for your sweetie!)



Looks like it will do a great job. The smaller magnifier in the pic will let you get really up close and personal.
I'm gonna break out my multimeter tomorrow and see what I can figure out.

Probably end up tearing the rest of my hair out ... all seven of 'em.

 

Remember to do a 'hard-reset' with the battery whenever you disconnect/reconnect the switchpack.

Dangling messages on the network make strange things happen. Clear the network with a battery disconnect.

bob gauff

 

Since you're going to pursue this insanity, here - I had my old switch stashed away... *ahem*... (just 'cuz, that's why)... and I took a crappy pic of it, not as good as your awesome pics, but you get the idea of what you're up against. I believe I used a toothpick as a paint brush. It shows.

 

Thanks motorcarman.

Well shucks, since you more or less brought it up I'm gonna try and pick your brain while you're here.
Been meaning to broach this subject, but put it off because the symptoms are weird and it's complicated to explain.
But here goes.

* The "memory" light on the switchpack stays on all the time, even when the car is parked. I wasn't aware it was on 24/7 until it cost me a battery, so currently I'm disconnecting the battery every time I use the car.
* No apparent memory functions available.
* The switchpack operates all the windows except the driver's window.
* Mirror selection and adjustment work properly.

After my first hard reset:
* The memory light went off, and blinked when the memory button was pushed as described in the owner's manual. Didn't try to set or select any memory functions, so don't know if any of that was working.
* No windows operate from the switchpack except the driver's window, which for some reason was suddenly controlled by the switch for the passenger side rear window!

The next day, the switchpack operation had reverted back to the original conditions described above.

Several subsequent hard resets have had no effect on the switchpack at all.

Even though the driver's window has only operated from the switch for a short period of time, it has twice decided to roll itself down at arbitrary moments. First time it happened, I was boogieing along at a pretty good clip on a curvy back country highway. Damn near ran off the road!

So that's my deal. Clear as mud, right.
I find the driver's window operating from the (switchpack) right rear switch position interesting. I've seen the same phenomena mentioned twice in other threads. Gotta be some kind of connection there, but damn if I know what it is!

Anyone got any thoughts, lets hear 'em.

 

Same reason I do almost everything!

Ah, another toothpick aficionado .... cool!

 

Just occurred to me that, in spite of the thread title, as of a couple posts ago we have indeed ventured into the realm of rocket surgery.

God help us all!

 

I would have thought non opening windows on a rocket would be a good thing, same as the space station.


But hey what do I know ? I aint a rocket scientist.

 

Much like screen doors on a submarine, "user discretion advised".

Well, I suppose all the rocket surgeons have already left the building.

 

Hey Retro, did you get underway with the fix attempt for this yet? Just curious 'cuz after digging mine out and looking at it under magnification again, I got a reminder on what my original plan was, and what it actually evolved into. Let me 'splain that.

The gold traces are actually under the topcoat layer of PCB. I'm sure I didn't know this myself until I began my attempt at fixing (2 years ago), and I had forgotten it when I first replied to your thread. Being 2 years ago, forgive me if I lead you astray in believing the traces were just laying on top, my memory was fuzzy on that point. I'm betting you already know this though, after looking at yours with your super-duper magnifier. Anyway, when I realized it 2 years ago, I went ahead and proceeded with trying to paint the copper traces on top of the PCB, following above the gold trace channels that didn't show continuity with my VOM. Obviously, continuity is checked by putting your VOM pins on the gold circles that are connected by a trace.

Anyway, just wanted to clear that up, and didn't want to get'cha all jacked up thinking the procedure was something different, perhaps, easier than it really is. At any rate, I do know that it can work, since it resurrected my switchpack for a few days. And I'm 100% sure it did, because my driver's side window absolutely was screwed up for a looong time before my attempt. And yes, I was aware of hard-resets and all - tried all that. I was at the end of my rope with it, and had plans for buying a working used one, and it was more or less an experiment to see what I could do.

So there ya go. Hopefully, you've kept your 7 hairs intact. Got me beat by a couple, 'ya braggart!

 

Nah,
Got involved in real life stuff all day, (or what jokingly passes for real life!)

But I'm following what you're saying about the continuity. I might just take some meter readings off my two switches just to see if I can determine if the switches themselves are bad, or if there are problems elsewhere.

Since I have the all advanced electronic skills of your average gerbil, it should be a real hoot!

(Well, OK ... maybe I exaggerate some. How about a really determined gerbil?)

 

If you have lost continuity along 1 or 2 lines on the circuit board, an easier way to resolve the problem is to solder in a link wire between the solder dots, as in your nice photo in post #8.


A lot easier than trying to replicate a conductive path made by a laser/computer with a tooth pick and some conductive paint.


This of course is assuming you have enough clearance for a thin wire or two, and are still able to refit the board.


Never having taken a switch pack apart, I bow to your superior knowledge, and if I am talking out of my **** please let me know.... I may have the same problem down the line .

 

That sir, is a great suggestion.
Whether I can actually accomplish anything with it is the question.
(See my previous post re skill level.)

But be assured I'll have it in mind.
Regards,
retro

 

Yep, same principal. Small, teeny-tiny wires and a deft hand with the 'ol iron and small gauge solder wire. I do believe there is enough space for little wire(s) sitting on top of the PCB, soldered in place, but would have to be test fitted first I guess to be sure.

All in all, it's a hell of a lot of work for a banged up switch either way. The cost of materials alone ($10 - 15) if you go the defroster repair kit route, is probably 1/3 the cost of a used working one from Ebay. Actually, switches are plentiful, I've seen, and you might be able to score one for just a little more than fixin' materials. I think I paid $40 for mine, and also, I was out $10ish for my failed attempt up front.

Retro has a good chance at ferreting out his issues though, since he has two switches to compare testing with. Even though both of his are squirrely, they probably don't have the exact same problems. My money is on him finding and fixing the problem if he gives it a shot.