Hazard Switch 1988 420 SEL
 

Hi, does the wood panel need to be removed first or does the switch just plug in/out without panel removal? Just crurious about how much work is involved. Thanks.

Panel comes off

Peter, I'm in agreement with you. I have been having a discussion with the shop that services my car. Long story short, they claim the panel does not need to be removed since the hazard flasher switch is a plug-in. They claim they have a thin tool that can pull the switch out without damaging the panel. I find this hard to believe since the reason the switch needs to be replaced is because it was cracked (and the wood edges of the cutout for the hazard switch chipped) when other switches were replaced during the last service appointment. In the past this shop has provided top notch service but when I look at the hazard switch and see how it fits snugly and flush with the face of the wood panel I cannot fathom how the switch could be removed wthout damaging the wood if the panel isn't rmoved. Am I missing something? Thanks.

the hazard switch sits in the vertical panel above the push buttons and can be pryed out with a sharp tool [i use a pick] the ends are spring loaded to hold in place.

Hi Peter, OK that is what I was told. How do you do it without damaging the wood? There is a hairline gap around the edge of the switch. Thanks for the feedback.

Tell the lazy SOB's to do it the right way and pull down the wood. The switch clips on the wood from behind. It takes like 20 minutes to pull that wood off, come on.

Removing switch panel
 

Hats right. Do it the right way. If you try to pry, you will chip the wood or put a nice "dent" in the switch body.

Pull the ash tray out, remove the two screws holding the tray in. Remove the ash tray. Now from underneath the wood panel, remove two screws.
Pull the wood from the bottom out and down at the same time just enough to access the switches. The top of the wood panel is tucked in. May have to wiggle the wood a little to release.

cdplayer and Hatterasguy, I agree with you. I was told, the first time around, when my pristine wood panel was scatched/chipped, that it was removed but a bit differently from what cdplayer describes.

Ashstray and radio were removed. Then, they said they had to remove the switches since the wood panel slides down (i.e. the panel can't be pulled out and away from the switches). In fact, they said the damage happened when trying to remove the switches before sliding the wood panel down.

Like I said, the panel WAS in perfect condition. The shop also said they are worried about removing the panel since it's 20 yrs old...said the wood gets brittle over time. They are willing to replace the panel with a new one if they can find one but even in this scenario they claim new/boxed wood panels have carcked on them during installation. Needless to say it creates plenty of doubt in my mind..even just replacing the switch and living with the chips (not to sure if the chips could be touched up with stain?).

Bring it to a new place, its not that hard.