Window switch - able to fix or just replace?

[Greg@PacePerformance]

Darnit... I was gonna do all the pictures...

Okay, how about I take pictures of how to pry off the panel and swap the switches out then? When I get the switch from Greg that is.

LOL it is really pretty easy to take the switch apart so I did it on Friday in under 5 minutes

[Jaybob]

Looks like I'll be doing this soon. About a month ago, I stopped at Taco Bell, and they super-filled my drink. Ended up with little drops of Pepsi everywhere. Couple days later, sticky switches...

[Bob the Noob]

I just got the new switch and it's very close to the grey in my 09. Granted I'm looking at it from memory 'cause I'm not in my car right now. I'll post up some pictures tonight when I get home.

[Greg@PacePerformance]

I think it will be slightly lighter in color. Post some pics when you can

[Bob the Noob]

Preliminary results... it does look a shade or two lighter than stock. I'm going to try and swap it out tomorrow if I have time.

[cstmg8]

Greg , can you get the switches in black?

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[Doug Hilliard]

Greg, thanks so much for the instructions on how to get the switch out; mine's on order!

[Bob the Noob]

Update: couldn't pull off the center piece by hand. I could get it pulled up a little around the window switch but the rest of it wouldn't budge. I'm going to try to get to a Harbor Freight for a set of plastic trim removal tools. They're on their site for 12 bucks so it's not a big deal, plus I'll have them for other projects. (Thank you to Jay for letting me know about them)

[Greg@PacePerformance]

Greg , can you get the switches in black?

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I CAN get the black ones but the price is about $120. There is another vendor on here selling repops for about 1/2 that price.

Update: couldn't pull off the center piece by hand. I could get it pulled up a little around the window switch but the rest of it wouldn't budge. I'm going to try to get to a Harbor Freight for a set of plastic trim removal tools. They're on their site for 12 bucks so it's not a big deal, plus I'll have them for other projects. (Thank you to Jay for letting me know about them)

haha yea Doug called me last night asking the same question I kind of walked him through it. It is held down by 6-8 of those white clips used on the G8 interior. I start at the cup holders and work my forward slowly.
I need to get a set of those tools also.

[Bob the Noob]

Alrighty... finally got to Harbor Freight and picked up the trim tools. For what it's worth I got the blue set that's a harder plastic with 'sharper' edges to get into the gaps easier. I used the one that was like a little crow-bar and pried up the center trim part just ahead of the cup holders as noted above. It took some wiggling/prying but it wasn't to bad. The center left clip and the front left gave me the most trouble. Honestly there were a few times I wasn't sure if I was going to break the trim or pop it out, but this shows you where the clips are so you shouldn't have to worry as much.



After you pry the piece up you can press the clip on the two plugs that go into the window module and pull them down. Then there's just a few clips to pry up that are similar to the switch disassembly and it pops out. In the picture above you can see the small rectangular holes where the clips snap into. Here's a shot of the underside of the trim piece so you know where to apply a little muscle.



After tearing down both switches I found that it was the plastic part of my switch that was bad. Figuring it may have been gummed up I soaked it in some water for a while, swished it around a bit, then blew it out with some compressed air. Further evaluation of the old switch showed that there was some wear on the actual electrical switch so I still used the new board/contacts.

To confirm the color difference before starting everything, I took a picture with the new one in the cup holder in sunlight. You can see the new one is certainly lighter by a few shades.



All in all it took an hour, mainly because I was taking my time and being careful. Put it all back together and everything works fine. All four windows work, mirror control works and door lock works. Come to think of it I didn't try the window lock but I can't imagine why it wouldn't work if everything else does.

Hopefully this will help you when you do it.