Replacing the wiper switch on a Ford Econoline E250?

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

I’ve had a Ford E250 for a while now that’s had a fairly annoying issue, at least when it’s raining.

The wiper switch/turn signal armature to the left of the steering wheel has a short in it somewhere (or a loose connection) and when I try to run the windshield wipers, they some times go and sometimes don’t. I frequently need to jiggle or rotate the end of the control switch to get the wipers going again.

I can get a replacement switch at a decent price, but having never replaced one of these before, I have no idea how complex a job it may or may not be. To those of you that have worked with replacing switches like this, how big of an ordeal is it? Do I have to pull the steering wheel or anything major, or is pretty straightforward?

Thanks

2

Don’t sweat it

DO NOT REMOVE THE STEERING WHEEL. IT’S NOT NEEDED

Now that we’ve got that out of the way . . .

Remove the upper and lower steering column trim. There’s 2 or 3 screws connecting the two halves.

Once you have those pieces off, you’ll see that the switch is attached to the column with 2 screws

Don’t worry about the airbag. As long as the ignition is off, and you don’t do anything stupid, like purposefully banging on the airbag, you’ll be fine.

3

Thanks! I was hoping it wouldn’t be too bad.

4

@Gooch‌

No problem

Please let us know when you’re done

5

You just need to peel the covers off the column, then unscrew the switch and remove the wire connectors. The whole job takes 15 minutes.