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I've got a 1998 Subaru Outback with a broken driver's power window switch. The plastic switch just cracked and it will no longer stay in place; it falls out. If I hold it in place, it can still operate the switch mechanism below. I'm leaning towards just putting a big gob of JB Weld in there and sticking it back on, but before I do that I'd like to hear if anybody has other ideas or experience replacing these kind of switches.

The whole unit can be replaced for about $50-80, but I'm pretty sure it's a pain to take the door apart, and I'd rather not replace a perfectly good unit just because a piece of plastic cracked. Here's a photo I grabbed off eBay of the whole unit; it's the plastic knob on the driver's window switch that's broken:

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Update: I've added the following two photos, which show where the switch is broken off and the broken part. The rest of the plastic is missing; it must have fallen off inside the panel or gotten lost elsewhere.

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  • I'd like to know if the glue worked. I have similar problem. Thank you.
    – user22142
    Sep 3, 2016 at 23:40
  • @PatriciaCudsko: Sort of. It didn't take too long to break back off, but the epoxy stayed on the broken-off part in the shape to fit snugly in the holes in the white piece depicted above, so if you're reasonably careful and don't actively pull it out, it stays in place well enough to use.
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Sep 4, 2016 at 15:19

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Can you post a picture of how it has cracked? It is hard to propose how to repair without seeing the specific damage.

As for taking the door apart. Taking an inner door panel off isn't a very difficult or time consuming task in most vehicles it may take 30minutes if you are new to it. It shouldn't be required usually power window switches can be accessed by popping off the armrest in the door in some way. It will be different for every vehicle but most dont require removing the door panel to access it maybe check the service manuals for your vehicle. You can usually find them online.

As for repairs. If you want quick and simple either use super glue or JB weld to glue the broken pieces back together or if you want a professional repair you could could secure the pieces together then bondo, sand, and repaint the piece. Again it all depends where the piece was cracked.

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  • I'll take some photos and add them to the question.
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Mar 16, 2013 at 12:33
  • Posted. As you can see there's nothing to fix with the JB Weld or other epoxy; what I was thinking of doing is putting a gob of it on the white piece the black knob is supposed to snap onto, and sticking the knob on top. I'm not sure it would match the way the mechanism is supposed to work, but provided it's strong enough, I think it would at least allow the switch to operate.
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Mar 18, 2013 at 0:48
  • Yeah that will probably work just fine. It would be nice to be able to just find the switch cover piece separately and then it would porbably just snap in. But if you have already looked just go ahead.
    – Mike Saull
    Mar 18, 2013 at 14:10
  • I ended up doing just that - attaching it with a gob of JB Weld. It doesn't work as smoothly as the other switches, but it stays in place and looks fine.
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Jun 10, 2013 at 1:05

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