Wipers/Dipswitch changeover to Uk style - NOW DONE !

[Anonymous]

Here's an interesting one. Maybe somebody has already been here and done it! I apologize if the ground has already been covered here.
I have just bought a 2001 import and am finding that as I regularly drive , as well as the MR2, a Smart and a Tigra, and various hire cars from time to time, that the MR2 having indicator on the right and wipers on the left is a pain in the proverbial, so.......
I ordered and paid up front for the equivalent stalks from the UKversion, expecting/hoping they would plug straight in. (£63.79 the dipswitch and £56.68 the wipers, BTW).
Wrong.
I am hoping somebody can help with the wire colour codes as fitted to the two stalks, as fitted to a UK supplied car. Then I just have to swop the wires about to do the trick. Maybe....
Only noticeable difference is that the light switch actually has a differently moulded/shaped socket, and incorporates a foglight twist switch which I won't need to use (unless I buy/modify the rear lamps as well).
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Markiii or SteveJ would be your best people to contact. I believe they both have copies of the workshop manuals and should be able to help you out.

[Peter Laborne]

indicator on the right and wipers on the left is a pain in the proverbial, so.......
I ordered and paid up front for the equivalent stalks from the UKversion, expecting/hoping they would plug straight in.

I'm not sure it would be an easy switch. I may be wrong but I believe that if you do swap them then you will have a problem with a non-resetting indicator. Basically the pins and noggins that reset the indicator will be on the right, but your stalk will be on the left.

As for the colours, the easy way is to open everything up and take a picture (very easy if you have a digital camera) or write it down. You will also need to make sure you have enough spare wire on the loom to reach the opposite side and allow for excess incase of cock-ups. Remember you will have no problem if you have too much wire, but too little and you could end up with no wipers, indicators, lights, fog lights etc

IMHO if it aint broke......................

[Anonymous]

I have had a good look at each stalk and these are the findings.
The connections are exactly mirrored on each side. That is to say all the wires on the Jap version go right to left, on the UK version go left to right. There are actually a few pins that are not connected to the pcb (on both versions of each) so are just dummies. There is an extra connection on the UK dipswitch one - presumably for the foglight.
The wiring harnesses are plenty long enough to be fitted on either side. I just need to cut all the wires and solder them back together in their new positions, covering them all with heatshrink tubing, which should be a doddle.
The lug which flicks the indicators off is no problem. It projects out of the switch into a slot in the steering column top - and guess what? There are TWO identical slots, one on each side of the column, and inside there are TWO identical cams which turn with the column, equidistantly placed. This means that both dipswitches will operate the indicators, no matter which side they are fixed and nothing more has to be changed except the wiring sequences.
Will do the job at weekend when I get back home and report result.

[Peter Laborne]

Will do the job at weekend when I get back home and report result.

Make sure you take lots of piccies as you will probably be the first of many to attempt this mod and it will help others.

[Anonymous]

I've now done this job, and for a hell of a lot less than I first thought.
Found a Y reg Corrolla in a breakers yard and everything was exactly the same!!!
I bought both wiper and headlight stalk, plus (importantly!) the plugs plus 6 inches of wiring loom that joined them. Cost? £15 all up both sides.
Had to cut all the wires to my own plugs, and connect them one at a time to a connector block, then add the wires from the breakers yard which are (almost) mirrored connections. First laugh was that the indicators worked the wrong way to expected - push for left and right indicator came on, push for right and got left - so just swopped two wires over; then the dipswitch wouldn't work - swopped two more which should have been obvious as one was white and other red in each case - result!!! all working.
Wipers were no problem at all, just used the mirror idea. Finally cut all the wires back so they were shorter and soldered them with heatshrink tubing over the top of each wire - bound with electrical tape and a super job for FIFTEEN QUID !
I have some piccies and will put them up when I find out how to do it.