4 Wheel drive switch melted

[Logan]

I was driving the other day and i noticed my 4 wheel drive switch has fallen off. I found it and it looks like the plastic piece that connects it to the inside of the switch to make it function has melted it....

Has anybody else had this problem and if so where can i get a new switch without spend my whole E-3 paycheck just to get it in install it. or am i going to have to do that?

[Gordinho80]

How the hell did it melt?? Might want to start there. Take off switches can be had on eBay for little money. I'd find out WHY it melted off first...

[MrSmithsTB]

How the hell did it melt?? Might want to start there. Take off switches can be had on eBay for little money. I'd find out WHY it melted off first...

if that one melted, what is going to stop another from doing the same?

[Logan]

When i looked in side it looks like the little light that illuminates it was cause. I'll try and up load a pic later on this evening. but it wasnt melted like a candle but the heat from that little light is packing some heat.

[Gordinho80]

I'll say it again... HOW??? All of us with 4x4 have that switch... with the same bulb in there to illuminate it... I have not heard of another member's switch melting.

[MrSmithsTB]

When i looked in side it looks like the little light that illuminates it was cause. I'll try and up load a pic later on this evening. but it wasnt melted like a candle but the heat from that little light is packing some heat.

Even that could be caused by some kind of voltage surge that would affect a replacement switch as well. You've got to get to the root of the problem.

[The Roadie]

First time in over four years on trailvoy.com I've heard of this. I'd love to see the switch and analyze it if you could send it to me at my expense? I could also use the guts to design an emergency $10 replacement to at least make sure people could get around after a failure like this.

Cheap replacements on Ebay.

[The Roadie]

Even that could be caused by some kind of voltage surge that would affect a replacement switch as well. You've got to get to the root of the problem.

That's why I volunteered to apply my 36 years of engineering experience to it. There isn't any reasonable external source of a higher voltage for that lamp that wouldn't take out a lot of other lamps in the dimmable BCM circuit. What I *have* seen a few times in decades is a lamp where the filament breaks, lays across the wires that formerly fed the whole coil, and now the filament has a lower resistance and dissipates more power. Or the capsule breaks and oxygen gets in and it flares up and melts things in a few seconds.

[Logan]

Yeah i could definitely do that. I have no electrical knowledge so i'm explaining it the best that i can. But i just got an appointment at my dealership to take a look at it.

[The Roadie]

"Dealer" is a dirty word around here. Why let them get their hands on it? Just get the Ebay switch and slap it in yourself. Its failure was a fluke, and not the vehicle's fault. Or do you have a rare really good dealer and a relationship with them?

[Logan]

Yeah i gotta contact at the dealership i got my TB from. they popped it out and explained that what caused it to basically break off was that little light inside of the switch. so i just gotta keep an eye out on this switch and if the same thing happens then i'll go from there. but other wise there didnt seem to be any other problems. just that tiny light bulb from hell

[Doratus]

I'd love to see the switch and analyze it if you could send it to me at my expense? I could also use the guts to design an emergency $10 replacement to at least make sure people could get around after a failure like this.

That would have been great.