Convert 1983 dash w-wiper-floor dimmer to turn signal stalk?

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CORVAIRWILD

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I just put a deposit on a 1983 K5 Blazer, and I usually prefer to buy 1984 and newer because the windshield washer and dimmer switch is mounted on the turn signal stalk. Has anybody ever tried to update the 1983 and older floor mounted dimmer and dash mounted windshield wiper to the turn signal stalk? Obviously a new steering column from a 1984 or newer is required, but what about the wiring harness, is it plug and pray?
 

77 K20

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Pursuant to the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles Act No. 97-12, all motor vehicles sold in the State of Ohio after February 15, 1992, will be required to have the headlight dimmer switch mounted to the floorboard. The dimmer switch must be mounted in a position accessible to operation by pressing the switch by the left foot. The switch must be far enough removed from the left foot pedals to avoid inadvertent operation or pedal confusion.

Included in the above act and beginning January 1, 2003, all other vehicles with steering column mounted dimmer switches must be retrofitted with a floorboard mounted dimmer switch of the type described above. The steering column mounted dimmer switch must be disabled or removed from the vehicle.

Vehicles which have not made this change will fail the forthcoming Ohio Safety Inspection program which will begin on this date.

It is recognized that this will cause some hardship for the driving public. However, this change is being made in the interest of public safety. Ohio DMV Act 92-13 will revert all Ohio motor vehicles to the prevalent dimmer system in use prior to the influx of foreign market vehicles. A recent study entitled the "Inflation Sequence in Ohio Nightime Highway Traffic Accidents" was conducted jointly by the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles and the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicle Research. It has shown that 96% of all Ohio nightime highway accidents are caused by a blonde getting her foot caught in the steering wheel........


(sorry, just remembered this joke from years and years ago...)
 

CORVAIRWILD

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Oh vay...
 

CORVAIRWILD

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I can't do it, I'm no 12 volt electrical genius, just household Electric. I just bought a commercial building with 550 volts, too many wires, and everything is in really bad delapidated condition, the bottom of the boxes are all rusty, but I bought it, it's mine
 

CORVAIRWILD

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I renovated apartments for a living, it cracks me up when people say, "just do some demolition and install new insulation, sheet rock and you'll be all set. Except it takes me months to do what takes them 3 seconds to say.

I was wondering if anybody had ever done this update, and if it's a matter of cutting and splicing, or removing the wiring harness from a newer truck and plugging and praying...

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yevgenievich

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I renovated apartments for a living, it cracks me up when people say, "just do some demolition and install new insulation, sheet rock and you'll be all set. Except it takes me months to do what takes them 3 seconds to say.

I was wondering if anybody had ever done this update, and if it's a matter of cutting and splicing, or removing the wiring harness from a newer truck and plugging and praying...

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I did a full cab harness swap before, and would prefer to pick up couple of wiring diagrams together with some cutters, heatshrink, and soldering iron and go for it. The pinouts for the new vs old connectors should be available. Some color matching wire if need extensions is a plus. Reference library section on this forum has a lot of schematics posted in sections.
I made full ecm adapter harness before just to avoid searching for a correct ecm, but things might be different for you.

I have not done this particular conversion as I was going from 85 to 91 harness, and someone else might have more details on exact wiring regarding extensions needed and coloring. But generally following wiring diagrams should get it done.
 

86Peter454

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doubt the harness is plug and play but i really doubt its that hard.

or just put your lights on dim and never switch to brights and you dont need any switch at all.
 

CORVAIRWILD

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I'm a high-beam maniac, and my girlfriend's 2001 Mercedes ML has the most nothing high beams, I'm not sure if they're miss-aimed, because the plastic isn't too yellowed. I'm reluctant to adjust them, because everything is crappy plastic. I got a spare assembly from the junkyard, it's really chintzy looking. Leave well enough alone in the winter (brittle pieces).
My 1989 V12 BMW has ultra bright high beams, too bad they went away from glass. Nothing lasts forever...


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chengny

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I just put a deposit on a 1983 K5 Blazer, and I usually prefer to buy 1984 and newer because the windshield washer and dimmer switch is mounted on the turn signal stalk. Has anybody ever tried to update the 1983 and older floor mounted dimmer and dash mounted windshield wiper to the turn signal stalk? Obviously a new steering column from a 1984 or newer is required, but what about the wiring harness, is it plug and pray?

Just saw this on another thread and I thought it might be of interest to you. The years have been changed to protect the innocent and you can skip the part about the dimmer switch feed because it is YEL on an 83 and then stays that color all the way up:

Just saw your post about wanting to have a column mounted MFS, H/L dimmer, etc. If you want to drop your 84+ column in the 83 dash (and I don't even know whether it will even be a mechanical fit) the wiring switch over shouldn't stop you.

The 83 harness will only have a steering column connector for turn signals, hazard switch and horn button. As you know the leads for the wiper controls and dimmer switch will be routed elsewhere. But it is really NBFD to bring those over to your 86 column. The wiper wiring is identical and the dimmer switch is too. The only difference is that the common lead from the H/L switch to the dimmer is LT BLU in the 79 and YEL in the 86.

So to integrate a 84+ column - and it's additional associated controls - into the 83 cab will require...get ready...cutting and splicing 8 leads. I think you can handle it.

Just be sure that the new column comes with both halves of the wiper switch connector (12004147) and also the plug for the dimmer switch:

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Those two things will make your life much easier - when you go to splice the existing wiper/dimmer leads into the late model column.
 

CORVAIRWILD

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Interesting... I have an '88 or so parts Jimmy, and maybe 2 or 3 Suburban actually...
 

1987 GMC Jimmy

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I'm a high-beam maniac, and my girlfriend's 2001 Mercedes ML has the most nothing high beams, I'm not sure if they're miss-aimed, because the plastic isn't too yellowed. I'm reluctant to adjust them, because everything is crappy plastic. I got a spare assembly from the junkyard, it's really chintzy looking. Leave well enough alone in the winter (brittle pieces).
My 1989 V12 BMW has ultra bright high beams, too bad they went away from glass. Nothing lasts forever...


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Maybe @Honky Kong jr can give you a pointer here. He used to work with Deutsche autos professionally.
 

Honky Kong jr

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@CORVAIRWILD Make sure the inside of the light isn’t broken away from the housing. Unfortunately it’s common on Hella plastic light assemblies. This will render them unadjustable.
 

CORVAIRWILD

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Good call Honky Kong, the spare I purchased from the junkyard was indeed broken inside, thus my reluctance to tinker with the assemblys on the car. It seems that the headlamps shine at the tree tops on hi beam. I must admit I haven't watched a ytube video in an attempt to figure out how to adjust them. It should be a simple matter of turning an adjustment screw, but judging by the flimsy construction of the spare assy, I suspect it'll be a situation where I wish I wouldn't have touched it...
 

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