In this post I show how to disassemble and refurbish a seat switch. The seat switches you find on a Range Rover Classic were also used on Discovery 1’s from 1994-1999 and BONUS tip Mercedes in the 1980s. My switch was made in WEST GERMANY. If you don’t know what WEST GERMANY is you are probably less than 40 years old. Check it out at this post [Britannica] from the old days of the Cold War.
You’ll need a few tools for this project.
- #2 Phillips screwdriver
- Needle nose pliers or a hemostat
- Old t-shirt
- razor blade or sharp pen knife
- Q-tips
- Toothpick
- Dielectric grease (optional but highly recommended)
- Steady hands
- Patience
- Faith
The t-shirt is so when you drop a spring or ball bearing it doesn’t go anywhere. These are small and if it travels more than 2 feet from the switch casing it will fall into a worm hole and disappear from your current plane and travel to another you are unable to reach in your corporal form. So take heed and work on this on a t-shirt or a dish towel you will certainly get yelled at by your significant other for using to work on “that damn dirty Rover”. You’re welcome.
If you have big gorilla fingers, like I do, that are riddled with hard use and arthritis, I recommend you get a hemostat or some needle nose pliers to fetch the contact rockers and springs and ball bearings. They are difficult to grab and even more difficult to drop in the precise location you want.
My final PRO TIP is to use some grease. The last time I did this job I used just ordinary bearing grease. It seemed like a good idea at the time mostly because I didn’t know about dielectric grease, or didn’t have any on hand. A little grease goes a long way to keeping the precariously balanced ball bearings atop the springs on the rocker toggles and in the toggle.
I said you might need a toothpick. I used the toothpick to remove the old nasty grease that had deteriorated into basically an earwax substance. It was still sticky and all that, but was not in its best condition, so I removed the chunks with a toothpick.
You’ll need a razor blade if you have never opened your switches. There is a substantial security tape there and it will need to be cut.
If you are a rookie, I suggest taking a picture as soon as you have the top off. And if you remove a rocker toggle, orient it on the t-shirt just like it came out of the switch.
There may be carbon build up on the contacts. You will need to get that off. I used Q-tips and the hemostat to scratch it off. I also rubbed the rockers on the t-shirt. Don’t go crazy on this cleaning. Just get the big chunks off.
Shout out to This Old Tony and his video style. https://www.youtube.com/@ThisOldTony
That’s about all the tips I can muster.
Good luck.
Thanks for readying an Happy Rovering.
