Headlight switch problem.

[Jalic]

My girlfriend's 99 Cavalier has a problem with the headlight switch. It wont turn on the healdlights. It'll only go as far as the parking/courtesy lights. Is this common problem for Cavaliers? My girlfriend's father's Cavalier hd the same problem.

Anyway, how would I go about fixing it? It'll be a day or two before I'm able to take a look at it and/or buy a repair manual/Chilton's book, so I figured I'd ask here first.

[mike2004tct]

They're fairly easy to replace. 1 or 2 Torx bits as I recall. It cost me $35.00 at Napa for a switch. Took about 10 minutes to replace it.

[Jalic]

That's good news. Torx bits... I'll have to see if I can get ahold of a set. Anything I should be wary of when I'm replacing the switch?

[mike2004tct]

Originally Posted by Jalic

That's good news. Torx bits... I'll have to see if I can get ahold of a set. Anything I should be wary of when I'm replacing the switch?

You might want to disconnect the battery before you do it, because the connector on the switch has live current.

It's been a while since I did my daughter's Sunfire, but I think I removed the steering column cover so I could get at the switch mounting points.

[Jalic]

Ok, thank you. I took a quick look and I will have to remove the cover. I was going to disconnect the battery just to be ont he safe side anyway. Looks like it'll be a good move.

As soon as I get a break from work and class work I'm going to replace it. Probably in 1 or 2 days. One more question though. Will the switch be the whole stick off the steering column? Headlights, turnsignals, and all?

[shakewell]

Originally Posted by Jalic

Will the switch be the whole stick off the steering column? Headlights, turnsignals, and all?

yeah. i dont know about a '99, but you might want to make sure you know if it has cruise or not before you order the part.