I like a man who can grasp the essential parts of a story!  ;)

On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 9:14 PM, Joel VanderKwaak
<joelvanderkwaak@gmail.com>wrote:

> Did you get the beer?
>
> Sent from myPhone
>
> On May 2, 2011, at 8:48 PM, mark drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET> wrote:
>
> > I went down south for several days to do some roofing. I took my around
> > town hauler since I needed to carry 16 sheets of plywood as well as a
> > bunch of other materials and tools. Since I really only use that van for
> > local hauling I haven't bothered to do much to it other than keep
> > everything mostly working. In 4 years I have never had it more than a
> > hour or two from home until recently. I started down late and ended up
> > driving about 3 hours during darkness. Most of that was with the
> > high-beams on since it was a somewhat desolate route. No problems,
> > everything fine, until the next evening when I needed to go get some
> > beer for a dinner/BBQ I was invited to. Started her up, NO HEADLIGHTS.
> >
> > Usual story, holding up the dimmer lever made the brights come on,
> > letting go, no headlights. I tried the wipers, no go, unless I held up
> > the dimmer lever, then the wipers worked too. Ok, bad X contact in
> > ignition switch, easy work-around.
> >
> > I looked in the glovebox and with some sense of relief pulled a spare
> > switch out, took the lower cover off the steering column, and tried to
> > pull the wiring connector off the old switch. It was good and stuck, so
> > I disconnected the battery ground side so I could safely pry it off with
> > a screwdriver. Came off, along with some melted plastic from the old
> > switch that had been gluing it all together. I pushed the wiring
> > connector onto the loose spare switch and connected the battery. I used
> > a flat blade screwdriver to turn the bare switch, engine started and
> > lights worked fine. Good enough to run errands and get me home. Today I
> > properly installed the switch and added headlight relays so it will
> > never happen again. Should have done that all along. At least I had the
> > spare switch when push came to shove.
> >
> > Mark
>

--
Jake

1984 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX - 'The Grey Van'
1986 Westy Weekender/2.5 SOHC Subie - 'Dixie'

Crescent Beach, BC

www.thebassspa.com
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27