At a glance
- The switches are about 20 years old and members call them a long-running pain. Sticking, no click and dead indicator lights are the usual complaints.
- Most faults were fixed by cleaning, drying out or re-seating the plugs, not by buying anything.
- The switch fronts have two tiny springs each. They fly out. Take the fronts off slowly and vertically.
- A dead warning light is hard to repair like for like. Members swap in a Vectra B facelift air con switch, or fit LEDs, or fit a whole new panel.
- Check the pin count before you buy: side, head and front fog 4, rear fog 5, hazard 7.
Symptoms members reported
- Several switches intermittent at once, or lights stuck on. One owner found the side, head and rear fog switches worked on and off and the front fog switch didn't click in or out at all. A hair dryer fixed the three intermittent ones (moisture), and the front fog one needed cleaning.
- The little indicator light stays off while the lights work. One owner found the lights came back once the car warmed up, and sometimes the light was on when the switch was off.
- The button sticks and won't switch off. One owner said it jammed against the left edge of the fitting. A slim knife blade slid down the left side and pushed towards the right freed it, and switching the ignition off and on sometimes did too. We don't know why that works.
- No click at all from one switch, usually the head or side light. In two cases the missing click was the missing springs, and in others the switch was just worn out.
- Everything dead after the car sat. In one case the plugs on the back of the switches were almost out. Pushing them home fixed it.
Check the plugs first, then the fuses and relays, before you take the switches apart.
Getting the switch panel out
This was described the same way by several owners and takes about five minutes.
- Peel off the silver surround. It is held on with double-sided tape only, but it is tight. Go carefully: one owner said they'd expect to snap it in half.
- Release the black frame. The switches sit in a plastic frame held by four clips round the edges. Press the clips in towards the switches.
- Pull the frame forward. Use the switches themselves to ease it out gently. One owner said the frame then grips the aluminium dash structure behind the surround, so it will be firm.
- Unplug the switches from behind. The wiring is short. Don't pull too hard or too far.
- Note which coloured plug goes where if you take more than one out. The cable lengths made the order obvious on one car, but photograph it.
- Each switch pushes into the frame and can be pulled out singly once the frame is out.
One member who pulled a switch out of a Vectra at his garage found it came out without any tabs to release. On the VX220 the plugs are loose and the switches push into the frame, so don't expect it to work the same way.
Cleaning and freeing a sticking switch
This fixed more switches than anything else in the threads. One owner said "99 times out of 100"; that is his figure.
- Take the switch out of the frame.
- If it's damp, dry it. A hair dryer brought three intermittent switches back on one car, which was being checked before an MOT.
- Spray without removing the front. There is a small hole where the pin on the cap operates the switch. A little WD-40 (or contact cleaner) squirted down it, then a cocktail stick pushed down it to work the switch on and off, got a seized front fog switch working.
- Work it a few times, spray again if needed, then refit.
One owner asked whether GT85 would be better than WD-40, as it contains PTFE and might help the action. Nobody tried it in the thread. A 2026 poster planned to use WD contact cleaner.
Swapping the faces: the Vectra B air con switch
Since 2009 the standard fix has been a second-hand Vauxhall Vectra B air con switch from eBay or a breaker. The VX220 front lifts off and goes onto the Vectra switch, so you keep the original look. Points from the threads:
- It has to be the facelift Vectra B (2000 on). Two designs were reported, and a member warned to pick the facelift one. One owner asked whether pre-facelift buttons (1996 to 2000) would work, and the answer was that nobody had tried.
- It's the air con switch, not the air re-circulation switch.
- Side and head switches are identical and interchangeable with each other and with the Vectra air con switch. The front fog switch has the same 4-pin layout. Swapping the side and head fronts over got one owner home in the dark.
- Avoid the heated rear window switch. It is a momentary switch.
- One owner tried a Vectra heated seat switch and a heated window switch. The window one fitted but its arrow pointed the opposite way and it didn't work on the car. A heated seat button (one owner found a heated seat label inside a switch with an air con front) was suggested as a gamble.
- Used switches may have dead warning bulbs. One owner bought a used one and the light didn't work, another said the bulbs on two used ones blew within a month. Buying a used one is a gamble.
- The 5-pin rear fog and 7-pin hazard switches have no known like-for-like swap. An owner thought the hazard switch came from the Omega B (the Vectra hazard seems to be 4-pin).
- Look at the pin layout before buying on eBay. Some switches look the same and aren't.
By 2020 the supply of Vectra B air con switches was drying up. One owner suggested the switch is also fitted to the Astra H, Corsa B, Agila A and maybe the Zafira A, but only the part numbers matter: don't buy on car model. Don't assume any of this is still easy to find.
Part numbers quoted
These are single posts, not checked. Compare them with the pin layout.
| Quoted as | Number |
|---|---|
| GM part numbers for the air con switch | 09134509, 9138054 (also written 90 134 509) |
| Opel catalogue number | 1240067 |
| Cross-reference number for the same switch | 501.779 |
A 2020 owner who asked the manufacturer was told the air con switch might be orderable new but they couldn't check, and another poster found no stock in Europe in April 2020 but stock overseas. Check before relying on this.
If the warning light is dead
The bulbs are inside the switch and the bulb holder (a small purple or blue piece) is not meant to be changed.
- Some Vectra bulb sections slip out. One owner who bought a job lot of switches said the bulb part comes out of some, so you only need the one switch with a working bulb section. All but one of his were the same.
- Replace the bulb with an LED. This needs a soldering iron, and each LED needs a resistor. You twist the old bulb until the copper contacts break, then fit the LED and resistor. One owner did all four switches for about £4. LEDs are polarised: the long leg is positive. A kit for the Vectra B switches was sold by an LED specialist, with a manual, and it's ten LEDs to a pack. An owner who over-ordered said one pack covers every switch except the hazard, which has a larger lamp. Another owner had his switches rebuilt by that supplier. Two owners disagree on whether this is worth doing: one called it a lot of hassle for little benefit, another said his time was worth more than a £5 switch.
- Coloured LEDs. The switch front is coloured to give the yellow, green or pink glow, so a different colour LED behind it won't look the same. One owner said blue LED switches he had were poor.
- Phone repair shops. One owner whose other car had faulty console switches had a phone and PC repair shop fit new microswitches on the circuit board. That's a possible fix if you can't find a replacement. Not tried on a VX220.
MOT
A broken light switch can fail an MOT if a light won't work. One owner said the tester only checks switches that are fitted, and front fogs aren't essential, so a dead front fog switch could be removed and the gap filled with a blank. Another owner who had taken off his front fog lamps swapped the redundant front fog switch with the dead headlight switch. Check with your tester, as we haven't.
If a Vectra-based repair isn't for you, see aftermarket light switch panels and wiring.