Hi guys, need a hand with this one:

I'm trying to remove the combination switch so I can clean the contacts. However, in the Haynes manual the instructions get a little vague:

"Remove the stop ring, cancel cam and spring from the end of the shaft".

Well, that's not much to go on, and I'm afraid I might break something if I try to force it. The cancel cam already has a couple of cracks in it.

If anybody has already been there/done that, I could sure use some pointers. I think I'll be alright if I can just get the switch off of the shaft. Thanks for your time....

Here's a shot of where I'm at right now, if that helps;

 

By the way, I believe its the stop ring that I need a hand with. How does it come off?

 

it should come off once u have the stop ring off...according to the FSM

 

LMAO....
Yeah, so, er, umm, how do you get the damn stop ring off?

 

I went to radio shack and got a can of contact cleaner. Ten freaking bucks for that little can. This sucks.

Anybody know how to remove the stop ring?

I'm considering just hosing it off from here and putting it back together to try it. That'll give me something to do until one of the pros stops by I guess.....

 

Which one of those bits is the stop ring? If its waht I think it is you just need a set of snap ring pliers.

 

I don't believe it. The **** worked.

I just sat there for 15 minutes switching them on and off, brights to lows, all of it. Not one single miss out of probably 1000 switchings!

I am so lucky nobody explained how to get the damn thing off, because I just saved a whole lot of time! I took lots of pics and will post a new thread. Doing it this way would probably take less than five minutes with proper instructions, so everybody that was afraid to tear into their combination switch finally have a new option. Er, well, at least it worked for me. If I'd known that it was this easy I'd have done it the day I bought the damn car.

Only way I had headlights was to wedge a screw in behind the stalk so that it stayed in the flash-to-pass position!

 

Yes, the haynes manual is very vauge about this.
What you need to do is only loosen the 'retaining clip' ring via the screw on the bottom. The combo switch clicks into place with a little plastic clip on the top. It goes into a hole on the top of the steering column. Just lift up on that section and pull it off. It's the very center top.
Taking it apart is somewhat straightforward, it's pretty easy to get at the contacts once it's apart, I used a small screwdriver to get the buildup off.