turn signal switch quick fix pictures

[Won]

Hi everyone,

my car had the symptom of a worn out turn signal that both low beam and high beam coming on at the same time, without the stalk in high beam position. It used to be a slight push on the stalk that caused this, but lately the problem got so bad that everytime after a turn when the stalk was sprang back to center, the high beam would come on. I searched the forum and learned there was a quick fix, so I got myself a 1-1/16" (26.9mm!) deep socket for the steering wheel. 30 minutes later, the job was done. The purpose of this post is to highlight just how easy the task was.

Here it is; simply pull off the horn pad, and undo one nut and 6 screws. The center contact is almost touching the high beam contact, turning them on simultaneously.


This is when the stalk is pushed towards the front of the car, in proper high beam position. Note the position of contacts.


I bent the high beam contact down a little so everything isn't touching at the same time.


... and for those who are wondering this is when you "pull" the stalk to "flash"


search keywords highbeam high-beam lowbeam low-beam headlight head light turn signal switch

[bigrubberjeep]

Good tip - Thank you, nice car by the way.

I had the same issue, however I just used a small thin piece of a box of matches.

[Dan Owens]

Thanks for the pics on the switch contacts. This has come up a number of times but usually all you get is the explanation on the fix but no pics showing the contacts. I know I've explained it several times on the board.

Welcome aboard

[CrossT]

Good picts. I had the same exact common issue two yrs ago where bumps in the road caused the hi beams to engage. I fixed the same exact way as you have. No issues since. There is an old post or two on it somewhere, but as Dan said, the picts are really useful. Thx for documenting. This extra effort is what makes this board so good.

todd
86 coupe

[VFR750]

I had the same problem, but solved it a little differently. I bent the actuation arm a little.

The big problem was, I never thought to look here. So I bought a new switch, and while swapping the switch gear, I figured out the problem. I kept the old one and returned the new switch. Unfortunately I paid for shipping (twice) and a restocking fee.

Cost of learning how to fix it myself: $25

Cost to learn it here: FREE

Value of Pelican Tech Forum: Priceless.

Moral of my story: Look in the Tech Forum First!! Great help from everyone.

[aigel]

Cool post! Thanks. Mine got real bad, so I figured I better look in a search on how to replace it. I expected to spend money on a new switch. This is great news!

George

[HarryD]

George,

Thanks for bringing this up to the front! This may fix my problem too! I posted my question on the Early 911 BBS and got an interesting answer but this post really fills in the gaps (http://www.early911sregistry.org/forum/showthread.php?p=69644&posted=1#post69644).

One thing to note is that if you fix your switch, installing relays should help prolong the life as well.

[kqw]

Yea, they tend to go bad about every 5 years or so.

[HarryD]

I just looked at mine today. Great article! They are working better but still a bit stiff.

One thing to note, beside the triple contact you can see in the picture, there is another single contact behind that one which activates with the high beams. You need a very thin file (or a bit of emery cloth on a thin blade) to get back there to burnish the contacts.

[Paul L]

Thanks for the thread. I recently tried a search and couldn't find a similar thread. I will do this immediately!

[Jastx]

Great post Won. Thanks for the pics, it makes it all so clear. I had purchased relays and had planned to buy a new switch, but haven't done anything yet. I was also putting it off because from the text only descriptions in other posts, I didn't have a clear picture in my mind about what I'd be getting into, so was avoiding it. Your pics were the info I needed to get going and I will do your procedure rather than investing in a new switch. As little as my car is driven at night, I'm sure this will be a permanent solution.

[Won]

I'm glad you guys found it helpful, it's great to be able to contribute to the forum
I linked pictures from external account in the original post but I don't think they'll last very long, so I'm uploading them to pelican server this time.

[450knotOffice]

I just had to resurrect this thread to say thanks to i_got_an_SC for presenting such a clear explanation with pictures for repairing the High beam/Low beam switch behind the steering wheel.

I just finished this job and it could not have been easier. The pictures turned the job into a piece of cake.

Thanks!

[Asjac]

I fixed mine a couple of weekends ago thanks to this thread!

[HarryD]

As a bit of advice for those with earlier cars, the brown spacer you see on the left hand side of the picture (bottom arm) is an update to a set of very tiny (and fragile) plastic fingers to hold the bottom part in place. If you are careless in bending, one of the fingers will snap off causing the bottom part to get out of position. Then you ARE hosed.

[HarryD]

This weekend I replaced my switch (since I broke the tiny plastic finger on the original part ).

It was not that hard. Took me about an hour.

One issue is that you need to replace some of the connections on the back of the headlamp switch.

I noticed that I could barely get to two of the four connections with the headlamp switch in place. The other two were not visible due to the plate supporting the trunk release blocking my view and keeping my fat fingers from getting access. I was able to access these two connections by lossening the bezel nut and rotating the switch to get access to each of the positions I needed to swap. I would have removed the switch but I am unable to figure out how to remove the pull knob.

Anyway, all is functioning as intended. With my new relays, this should never be an issue again.

[diabolos88]

same thing just happened to my car tonight. thanks for this invaluable post, I just tried ripping into it but will try finishing it tomorrow

[john walker's workshop]

see that thick silver bar? notice the bend it has? if you straighten it out, or even do a slight bend in the direction of the brass contacts, it will generally fix the problem. use your finger to support the end that pivots in the black plastic block while tweeking it with small pliers so it doesn't pop out in the process.

[FrayAdjacent911]

Stinky had a problem with the turn signals... turns out the positive wire that connects to the hazard light switch was missing. It was gone. Nowhere to be found in the dash!

I can't confirm, but were some panel repairs behind the pedal cluster. Whoever did the work may have pulled the wiring, and then reinstalled it... and did something with that wire.

I jumpered it to the positive lead for the hazard lights, and now the signals work!

[brad951]

Won, thanks a lot for the post and the detailed pics. I had this problem with my '83 SC last night and saw this thread this morning and just fixed it in 5 minutes. Saved me $120 !

Cheers