In sci.electronics.repair, on Thu, 26 Oct 2017 21:01:17 -0400, rickman
wrote:

John Robertson wrote on 10/26/2017 2:39 PM:
On 2017/10/25 7:02 PM, micky wrote:
In sci.electronics.repair, on Wed, 25 Oct 2017 21:26:58 -0400, rickman
wrote:

micky wrote on 10/25/2017 9:15 PM:
I need to put a momentary on switch in my dashboard, and the one I
bought doesn't have a hex nut for the top nut but a round serrated ring
to hold the switch in place.

How do you tighten this? I don't see how fingers can do as good a job
as a wrench did with the hex nut, and pliers will scratch it up.

I could find an old hex nut, but I'd rather use the pretty round one,
if I can.

Use some cloth to cover the nut and then use pliers. Just don't grip too
tightly or it can tear through the cloth.

Okay, I'll do that. Maybe I can just hold the nut that way and turn the
hex nut behind the dash next to the box below the radio and above the
consoleradio. In this case, I'll have access to it.

It's interesting to learn, Tom, that there is a special tool

Thanks all.


The cloth is more to protect the surface of the panel the switch is mounted
to than to protect the knurled round nut you are trying to tighten.

I'm not sure what that means. It will protect whatever you put it over. I
use a cloth when tightening plumbing hardware that often is chrome plated.
That can require some heavy tools and a cloth works great as long as it is
not too thin and tears.

I'm glad you reminded me about that, because it's been a long time since
prior experiences. It was in high school I think that I changed a
washer or two in the bathroom and I used a fairl heavy cloth, but
squeezed too hard and scratched the chrome. I think it was only a
little, but memory plays tricks on mpeople. And it didn't tear the
cloth but it still scratched, and that surprised me.

If you
can tighten the hex nut underneath that is better of course! A split or star
lock washer is good between the hex nut and panel...

Yes, if you can get to the back nut, that would not only prevent scratches,
but let you set the switch protrusion from the panel to exactly the right
amount.

It was a new switch, and I have a set of bits by the 64th of an inch,
and I found one, probably a 64th less than what is normally used, so
that I had to force the switch into the hole. Then I tightened the
round nut fairly tightly just with my fingers, but I can see it whenever
I'm driving and if it gets loose I'll notice it and use pliers or
something.

Everything went well, this switch to open the trunk** when the key is in
Acc or On, a third cigarette light closer to the driver, a fourth
cigarette lighter that is always on, for charging the phone etc. without
leaving the keys in the car. And I cut the wire from the speedometer
to the convertible top motor, so I can put the top up or down when going
5 mph, instead of being limited to zero up to now.

Everything left of the kick panel was really hard to get to, even to see
what color wire was on a relay. And especially the wire to the trunk
motor. The book said it was white with a blue stripe, but first I
couldn't find the connector. When I did I couldnt' see the farthest row
of wires, except for the one on the end. After 10 minutes I decided to
cut open the harness near the floor, and once inside, there was no white
wire with a blue stripe, but there was an all white wire. Unfortunately
there was an all white wire in the other sheath also, a little thicker.

I pried away all the wires to the right relay just to look at the wire I
wanted and it appeared to be all white also. So I stuck a pin in one
of the two at the floor and measured the voltage when I used the remote
to open the trunk. The first one, the thinner one, showed an impulse
every time, reaching iirc 12 volts, but almost a second later than I
heard the clunk of the trunk opening. Digital meter.

Anyhow, I cut the wire and, as urged here, put a diode in between the
two halves so that when I gave it a 12v jolt from the new switch, it
wouldn't get back to the body control module.

And one more thing, the constant beeping when the driver's door is open,
the key is in the ignition, and the engine is not running. Someone on
ToyotaNation said he put a switch in, and I guess that would have been
no harder than the trunk, but I decided to take out the door switch to
look at it, and all I had to do was turn the screw 2 or 3 full turns and
the beeping stopped. It seems the screw's head is part of the ground for
the switch.


so I fixed everything that was wrong with the car except that it doesn't
run well. :-)