Stuck ignitioin switch/upper steering shaft bearing housing

[vegiguy]

I'm trying to get at the ignition switch of my '73 RR so I can replace it but I cannot for the life of me get the part of the steering column it's in off. Is this housing - which has the upper steering shaft bearing in it - supposed to slide off of the steering shaft when the three #10 machine screws that hold it in are removed, or does it take a special puller to get it off, or is there something else that has to be removed to free it up?

I thought it might have a snap ring on the steering shaft hidden by the rubber upper bearing seal that needs to be removed first, but after studying it carefully I can't see any such thing. The only other thing I thought is that the ignition lock cylinder might need to be removed in some mysterious fashion to get it off. It's a real puzzler and I can't seem to find any information anywhere on how to do this.

Thanks for any help.

 

[idrivemopar]

Have you removed the key/lock cylinder? If not, that has to come out before you can remove the switch. To remove that, the cylinder should be in the locked position, on top of the housing there is a hole, the cylinder release is in there and you have to poke it down and hold it and remove the cylinder. Once that is done you should be able to remove the switch.

 

[flypaper]

i believe you need to have the key in the cylinder also

 

[idrivemopar]

Key should be removed according to the FSM.

 

[vegiguy]

Key should be removed according to the FSM.

Okay, I'll give that a try. Thanks.

 

[vegiguy]

While we're on the topic of replacing switches in the steering column, there is a discrepancy between which turn signal switch the parts sellers say a '73 RR takes and the one I took out of my car (which looks original to me). They say I need a switch with an extra 3-wires (and connector) in addition to 8 wires terminating in a long (white) connector. My car's turn signal switch just had 8 wires terminating in a long blue connector and nothing else. The parts places show a switch like this for pick-up trucks from the same era, but not cars. The wiring diagram for the car only shows the 8-wire switch. I suspect both switches will work and the three extra wires aren't needed, but it always bothers me when all the parts places show a part for my car that appears to be wrong.

 

[idrivemopar]

So, the wires in the steering column are as follows, The blue connector is all for the turn signals, flashers, and horn, on the blue connector, its 8 wires. The other connector, White, is the ignition switch, it should have 8 pins, but 5 are larger and are for the ignition, battery, and start circuits. The 3 smaller pins are for the key in buzzer, two, and 1 for the gear selection light. Also, the key in buzzer switch is separate from the ignition switch, so if you get a replacement, it will not have the smaller wires as part of the assembly. Classic industries has MD1285, and YearOne has NG1007 if you need a reference for the ignition switch. Classic industries also has the turn signal switch MD2094 if you need a reference for that.

Also, wanted to mention, the pin hole for the cylinder release is under the plate that is held by two Phillips screws, and is triangular shaped, if you haven't removed this already.

 

[crank]

there is a snap ring right on top of the upper bearing.that top collar usually needs to be pried off.

 

[vegiguy]

there is a snap ring right on top of the upper bearing.that top collar usually needs to be pried off.

Is that snap ring hidden by the rubber that's on top of the steering shaft bearing? I thought about taking that rubber seal off to look for a snap ring but was afraid it was part of the bearing and was afraid of ruining it. Otherwise I looked at it really closely and couldn't see anything resembling a snap ring on my column. As I mention above I even tried to drive the housing downward with my lock-plate compressor to try to expose any snap ring that might be there. I might run a small screwdriver blade or awl point around there to see if I can detect a ring that way.

 

[vegiguy]

So, the wires in the steering column are as follows, The blue connector is all for the turn signals, flashers, and horn, on the blue connector, its 8 wires. The other connector, White, is the ignition switch, it should have 8 pins, but 5 are larger and are for the ignition, battery, and start circuits. The 3 smaller pins are for the key in buzzer, two, and 1 for the gear selection light. Also, the key in buzzer switch is separate from the ignition switch, so if you get a replacement, it will not have the smaller wires as part of the assembly. Classic industries has MD1285, and YearOne has NG1007 if you need a reference for the ignition switch. Classic industries also has the turn signal switch MD2094 if you need a reference for that.

Also, wanted to mention, the pin hole for the cylinder release is under the plate that is held by two Phillips screws, and is triangular shaped, if you haven't removed this already.

The turn signal switch Classic Industries MD1285 is the one everyone else is listing for a Dodge pick-up, which is like the one that I took off of my car. Year One shows the turn signal switch with the extra three wires on it that all the parts vendors have listed for a '73 RR.

The IGNITION SWITCH Year One sells you mentioned above looks identical to the NORS Sorenson switch I got on eBay with the wires fused together in a ribbon as original and is US made. The new ones you can get from parts stores have loose wires contained in a plastic sleeve and are made in China or Tawain.

 

[UKPlymouth]

I did this just recently and it was easy.
This video shows how

 

[vegiguy]

I knew most of that, but as my original post states my switch housing was stuck - I couldn't just "wiggle it off" as stated in the video. I made myself a special puller yesterday copying the puller Chrysler says to use in the service manual for my car, so I'm going to try using that today to get it off.

 

[UKPlymouth]

Ok, mine was stiff too and did take some shifting although a puller wasn't needed. Once the housing is off it's easy.
I'm also replacing the switch wiring as replacing just the lock barrel and key didn't solve my ignition issue.

 

[vegiguy]

The home made puller did the trick and the upper bearing housing finally came off. Now I have to figure out what to do about the lock plate which is apparently pinned onto the shaft. Chrysler had a special tool to press the pin out and it states in the service manual NOT to hammer it out. The guy in the video just pried the lock plate and shaft out together a ways and didn't bother to take it off, but he only changed the lock cylinder. Something tells me that won't work to get the ignition switch out and the lock plate needs to come off to do this.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

The should be a snap ring on both sides of the upper bearing, remove the lower snap ring. Then the lock plate needs to be removed, remove the roll pin sleeve, drive out the roll pin. There was a special tool for that to avoid driving it out with a drift and hammer.

The turn signal switch with the extra three-wire lead is a C-body replacement, commonly offered as an aftermarket replacement for other models. Part of a front turning lights system, disregard on other models not so equipped.

 

[vegiguy]

The should be a snap ring on both sides of the upper bearing, remove the lower snap ring. Then the lock plate needs to be removed, remove the roll pin sleeve, drive out the roll pin. There was a special tool for that to avoid driving it out with a drift and hammer.

The turn signal switch with the extra three-wire lead is a C-body replacement, commonly offered as an aftermarket replacement for other models. Part of a front turning lights system, disregard on other models not so equipped.

I don't know why you can't drive the lock-plate pin out with a drift punch if you support the other side of the steering shaft with a dolly or something solid. I can't see the difference between doing that and using the special Chrysler tool for driving out the pin.

For some reason my steering column didn't have the upper snap ring as shown in the service manual; it just had the snap ring in front of the lock-plate.

I figured the Standard Motor Products turn signal switch with the extra three wire connector on it wasn't the exact one for the car and you end up just cutting off the extra wires to use it on a B-body. The other switch that is sold as a replacement switch is one with a blue connector and the correct number of wires fused together in a ribbon, but the wires are the wrong colors (whereas the Standard switch at least has the correct colored wires): apparently this switch is actually for a Dodge Pick-up as I stated above.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

No reason why you can't carefully support the shaft and drive the roll pin out with a drift, I wouldn't attempt to do it without support. I was just indicating there had been a special tool designed for dealers for that specific task.

 

[vegiguy]

Finally got the lock-plate off and the ignition switch/lock cylinder out and the new one in. I drove the retaining pin out with a drift punch backed up by a dolly on the opposite side of the steering shaft and it worked just fine (there is a thin sleeve over the pin that has to be pried off first to access the pin). I'm going to spray some white lithium grease on all the contact surfaces and put the screws back in with blue locktite on the threads so this job never has to be redone!

Thanks for all the input, everyone. I hope this helps someone else that might be doing this difficult task and runs into the same issues I did - like the stuck upper bearing housing. The key seemed to be to make the special Chrysler style puller to break the housing loose from the steering shaft.

 

[Tori]

whats this special tool look like ? That would have helped. ;)

 

[Nacho-RT74]

I never have used any special tool, aside the steering wheel puller itself