Turn signal stalk troubles and lights

[woywitka]

Hello everyone, perhaps some light could be shed on my situation.

When I bought my car, the turn signal stalk only worked in the left blinker position properly. For the right position I have to hold the stalk half way up but not engage it so it blinks. This is annoying.

I noticed the high beams didn't work, then I yanked on it hard and they worked a bit. Now my headlights don't stay on unless I pull on the stalk and the high-beams are gone altogether.

Right now I have a folded business card holding my stalk in place so I have headlamps.

Would replacing the switch with a known used or new be the solution or do I have other troubles?

I know from searching that the lights seem to all run through the switch (bad design).

Now my stalk holds in place fine in the left and right just won't activate the blinker right if fully engaged. And the headlights turn off unless I pull it forward a bit.

Thanks in advance.

-Tom

[brads911sc]

a new stalk should fix your problem. may want to spend an extra $25 and get the relay kit from our host so its less likely to go bad again. this is a common item that goes bad on these cars...

[kidrock]

many will chime in and say to repair your existing stalk...details are in several threads which can be found using the "search" button.

I say, invest in the new stalk (as well as the relay as brads911sc pointed out). These stalks are well over 20 years old in most circumstances. A new stalk should give you 20+ years of trouble-free service, all for an investment of around $100 or so. I did it, and it's well worth it.

[HarryD]

Tom:

This is a common problem. Caused by the fact that the power for the headlamps go through the contacts in the stalk and over the long haul, they are not up to the task. This thread has the full skinny: turn signal switch quick fix pictures

To prevent it from happening again once you get fixed, you should add some headlamp relays to take the load off of the stalk. You can buy a kit from our host: Pelican Parts - Product Information: JWST-911-HLPR.

I am not sure what year car you have. The kit is designed for cars made after 1973. If you have an early car, you will need to make some field modifications. I built my own with parts from Daniel Stern (Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply)