COmbination switch MB382800 //382802 is it junk?

[Not a real meme]

Hey everyone! So i have and 85 Dodge Ram 50 (royal) 2.6;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma9S...ew4UBrandNew4U // link if you want to see it briefly, yes I still have it, and repainted (i got rear ended and guy bent the metal bumper 2 inches down and bent the frame!) and changed many parts :
1. Tail light wiring (brake lights 2. Streering stablizer suspension...
3. spray Paint
4. Headliner Headlight "highs" and rear bulbs seat cover
5. Tint
6. Clutch full kit // couldn't dam near shift b4 at some point
7. New Tires
8. Carbs cleaned with fuel filter install
9. Exhaust pipes fixed w/ b4 patching // very much holey
10. New Air filter heater hose ect...
11. Radiator caps // blowing first sign of my poor h gasket but at first I didn't drive too far i had bike as main.
12. Coolant hoses w/ antifreeze
13. Stock Radiator cleaned twice and sealed
14. Clutch cable // yeah did it too soon
15. Aftermarket head rebuild with gaskets no jet valves
16. Rethread themostat bolts // get literelly not threads leat
17. Battery
18. steering gear box; right tie rod
19. Full paint and repair bumper + other damge // I'll be posting hopefully vid or pics later it looks clean as hell.
20. spray electric cleaner on headlight switch // here is the deal now

Of course any older vehicle should require a bit more of maintenance now, I'm definitely seeing that mainly my headlight switch on the combination cluster is started to slowly not turn on as instantly, the front light will turn on right away but the running lights stay off ( dash lights; rear lights; license plate lights.)

From what I see the thing functions okay (for the time being) and still will work intermittently (I really mean that I flip it on and it takes about a min or so for it to go on for running lights) , I used some electric spray cleaner and that made a difference night and day (I also suspect it could also be dirty since I think the body shop didn't cover the interior very well and get a lot of dust or particles inside of the vehicle. (I've seen this occur b4 I had it in the body shop so perhaps I should also consider cleaning it some more.)

Also, we looked at fuses and wiring is good since it still will function so the end result is the dang switches.

I'm wondering if I should get another new switch or get someone who can rewire it to a new button or what not, the dam switch is quite expensive last time I checked (close to $200-$500 may rather have all functions somewhere else better.) What is worth more for the bang of buck I suppose, I got the current one I have from a junk yard for around 30 bucks at the time (since the other one it had was broken on the turn signals switch just not good shape overall and don't have it on me any more Gdammit, perhaps I should look again for it mabey idk.) I hear these things tend to break often to sadly.

Anyways she still runs very well for an old mitubishi if you ask.

[tortron]

open the switch up and clean all the copper contacts

it will also help if you rewire the lights to run off relays, that way you are not relying on the full power to run through the switch

[geezer101]

Hi and welcome to mightyram. You have been pretty busy resurrecting your Ram 50. It would be easy enough to bypass the faulty headlight switch but there are alternatives. I found this - https://www.ebay.com/itm/32435143505...0AAOSwGYZfl8tf

It's listed as a replacement part for Mitsubishi L200 (LHD) which is the same vehicle and there are a bunch of other listings once you start following the recommendations on eBay. It 'looks' like it's the right part but you'd need to check out the listing first. The Standard aftermarket part is hard to track down and I saw some steep prices on it (if it is even available/in stock)
Hopefully this is a win for you

[Not a real meme]

True that, I may consider just doing a rewire if it would be "too hard" or "too costly" to get a standard part.

[Not a real meme]

True that, I may consider just doing a rewire if it would be "too hard" or "too costly" to get a standard part.

So i've just gave it a much better cleaning and took off the plastics surrounding the wires on the steering wheel and sprayed it and saw the copper contacts. After a good spray I saw a whole lot of brown and black substance exactly near the coppers, need less to say it looked like I was cleaning a dirty motorcycle chain. After this it looks promising.

[SubGothius]

So i've just gave it a much better cleaning and took off the plastics surrounding the wires on the steering wheel and sprayed it and saw the copper contacts. After a good spray I saw a whole lot of brown and black substance exactly near the coppers, need less to say it looked like I was cleaning a dirty motorcycle chain. After this it looks promising.

Once you get those contacts back down to shiny brass/copper -- dry-buff with a green Scotch-Brite pad if needed to remove tarnish -- I'd coat them in a good electrical grease like DeoxIT L260D -- better yet, you can order a free sample tube of it here.

[Not a real meme]

Guys thought I'd repost on this thread and add that cleaning did in fact help out with my switches functioning a whole lot better; even went ahead and greased up a bit as well. BUT I have to admit that the reason that my tail light and running lights were turning of randomly were because a two wires near the fuse box on my model and causing a bit of shorting. The major fix has been (and been working for a about a year already) was just zip-tying the two wires together so they don't move and no longer short. As it turns out the switches are in fact not as junk as I may have thought (knock on wood).

[Not a real meme]

Guys thought I'd repost on this thread and add that cleaning did in fact help out with my switches functioning a whole lot better; even went ahead and greased up a bit as well. BUT I have to admit that the reason that my tail light and running lights were turning of randomly were because a two wires near the fuse box on my model and causing a bit of shorting. The major fix has been (and been working for a about a year already) was just zip-tying the two wires together so they don't move and no longer short. As it turns out the switches are in fact not as junk as I may have thought (knock on wood).

pic upload