01 2.0 Indicator stalk replacement - Haynes manual - DP
This is just for advice/info for others, and I suspect also applies to the V70 and S80 of similar vintage.

My S60's indicator stalk was becoming intermittent, so with a guaranteed secondhand part delivered this week, set about the task this morning, with my trusty Haynes manual in tow.

According to the Haynes manual, you have to remove the steering wheel and airbag, itself a convoluted procedure which can easily damage the contact unit if not done correctly. You then remove the column shroud and switches as appropriate.

I could not see any reason for the steering wheel or airbag to be disturbed, and sure enough it doesn't. This makes the whole thing about a four minute job instead of the hour plus if you follow the Haynes instructions! If you want to do this job, all you do is:

Adjust the steering column so the wheel is as close to the driver as possible.
Undo the three Torx screws on the lower column shroud.
Carefully separate the two column halves (they lock together with a series of plastic tabs).
Once the lower column shroud is free from the upper, manouevre it carefully down over the steering lock and pull it towards you to free it from the steering column adjuster lever.
Lift the upper shroud out of the way. It is attached to the bottom of the instrument panel by means of a flexible leather/plastic "gaiter". There is no need to disconnect this, as it has enough slack to allow the shround to be moved out of the way.
Undo the two phillips screws on the relevant switch, and using a thin flat bladed screwdriver, gently prise up the small locking tab , (not mentioned in the manual at all) on the top corner of the switch body nearest the instrument panel. Then simply pull the switch straight off the column. The connector is a multipin jobbie which breaks automatically as the switch is withdrawn.
Refit is a direct reversal of removal, but align the screw holes on the switch first to ensure the multipins line up (you can't see them at all so you have to do this blind. It is typical Volvo though in that everything seems to slot together naturally correctly, but you could in theory line it up wrong and bend the pins.
The most difficult bit of the whole job is ensuring the rubber gaiters on the stalk engage properly with the holes on the column as you refit it. It took a few attempts to get this right.

Hope this proves useful to someone. Turns what Haynes suggest is an hour + job into literally a few minutes.

Now my indicators don't switch themselves off at random! :-)

Cheers
DP





Edited by DP on 19/12/2009 at 13:16