Left turn signal won't turn off

[Turbo17]

After lots of engine and clutch work, I find myself wanting to fix some minor annoyances. One is that the left turn signal won't turn off as the wheel returns to center. I can see it trying to lift and pop back to center-off as the wheel returns to the centered position, but it doesn't quite make it, so the signal remains on and flashing. I have to manually lift it back to center.

I didn't find anything at Clark's Garage about this, other than how to remove the steering wheel. Is that required? Any suggestions on how to get in there and fix this?

Thanks.

[Pete R]

The little tab or switch or spring inside that blinker handle cluster is worn out. Mine did the same thing. You need to replace that mechanism. It's pretty easy, pull the wheel, unplug the cluster and undo the mounting clamp. It slides right off. I'd just put a whole new (used) cluster in instead of messing with what's bad. But once the wheel is off you may see that it's something easy to fix

[Turbo17]

Originally Posted by Pete R

The little tab or switch or spring inside that blinker handle cluster is worn out. Mine did the same thing. You need to replace that mechanism. It's pretty easy, pull the wheel, unplug the cluster and undo the mounting clamp. It slides right off. I'd just put a whole new (used) cluster in instead of messing with what's bad. But once the wheel is off you may see that it's something easy to fix

Thanks. Can you suggest a source for a used cluster? Call the local auto junk yards and have them search their computer lists or is there somewhere online for a used Porsche component. (I could use a clock as well - the LCD is dead).

[Pete R]

no, not really. Fortunately I have needed many parts for my 951. There's 944 ecology.. there was also a guy on here parting a 88 maybe he's got it. maybe e-bay.

[kdjones2000]

Keep in mind that there are several versions out there, so you need to get the correct one.

What year is your car? If you have an '86 car, you don't have air bags. You will then need the cluster that fits that year car. You can tell it by the copper tang on the front side of the cluster for the horn.

If you have an '87+ and are using the stock steering wheel with the air bags still connected, you will need to get the cluster from an '87+ car. You also need to make sure that it has (or doesn't have, depending on your options) the headlight washer function on it.

That wear out is very typical for these cars. You can't really fix it as it's inside of the cluster that wears.

I found a good used one from Brian944Turbo, but there are many others to get one from. I would post a WTB in the parts classified section.

Good luck, Keith

[derekc23]

I have the exact same issue with my '86 along with the right turn signal won't lock into place. It's good to know that the issue is common and fairly straightforward to fix.

[Turbo17]

I have an '86 without air bag. I removed the steering wheel - snap off the horn cover and remove the center nut. There is a black plastic disk-shaped piece held to the back of the wheel with 3 screws. The disk also has a metal contact ring and a wire for the horn. Projecting at 90 degrees to the disk is a curved black plastic "tab" about 1 inch wide and 1" long.

The "tab" is on the left side of the wheel when it is mounted. As you rotate the wheel, this tab passes by the turn signal on the left side of the steering column. It is this tab that turns off the turn signal.

A white plastic "trigger" projects from the turn signal mechanism on the left. You can see it with the wheel off. The trigger moves to the right and into the path of the tab whenever the signal is activated (either direction).

If you are turning left, the end of trigger will freely pivot down to let the tab pass by until it is under the trigger. As the wheel returns, the tab pushes up on the trigger from below, which causes the signal handle to snap back to center and the trigger then retracts.

The opposite happens when turning right. The tab moves above the trigger and pushes down on it from above on return.

On my car, the trigger reliably operated the turn signal when I pressed on it with a screw driver from above or below. With the wheel partly installed (not all the way down so I could see, but far enough that the tab contacted the trigger) I could see that the tab would begin to lift the trigger, but then when the trigger had almost reached the point needed to move the turn signal handle to the center, the tab would slide off the end of the trigger.

The tab has two fairly sharp edges where it contacts the trigger from above or below. Those edges had become worn and rounded off. The trigger was also slightly worn where the tab hits it.

I did the following:

I removed the black plastic piece and reshaped (slightly resharpened) the worn edges of the tab with a file. The edge wasn't really made sharp, but merely made the same shape as the unworn edge.

I reshaped the end of the trigger very slightly with a flat jeweler's file. Basically, I left the end of the trigger as wide as possible (measured top to bottom) and slightly narrowed it away from the tip (I'll call that the "waist") so that the sharpened edge would strike the waist and it would be slightly more difficult to slip towards the end of the trigger and off. Once the turn signal handle has returned to center, the trigger will pivot away from the sharp edge of the tab and retract.

I cleaned and lubricated the trigger with some silicone lube.

I remounted the plastic disk/tab and held the disk to the side so that the tab was as far from the steering wheel axis as possible. This helped ensure that the tab struck the trigger as far from the trigger tip as possible.

The description is long, but the fix took me only about ten minutes. I used no more than 5-8 strokes with the jeweler's file on the trigger and only a few more than that with a wider file on the tab.

It's been working fine for 3 days now. I suspect that there is some wear inside the switch assembly on the other end of the trigger, but I'll wait and see.

[nize]

photos would have really helped.

[Turbo17]

Originally Posted by nize

photos would have really helped.

I always think of photos after I've closed it up.

This was a ten minute fix done after the sun went down, and I wasn't sure it would work. Still, I thought I owed everyone here an update, since I'd asked for help. I couldn't find anything on Clark's so I took my best shot with a written description.

If my fix lasts a month, I'll open it up and shoot some photos, but I doubt anyone would be able to see any of the changes I made. They are subtle. Photos would help identify the components "tab" and "trigger" but anyone who opens it up will spot them quickly. The tab is black and rotates with the wheel. The tab strikes the trigger, which is white.

[Turbo17]

Originally Posted by Turbo17

I always think of photos after I've closed it up.

Here's some photos, although not all are of my parts. The tab on the plastic disk is circled in blue. The disk is mounted on the back of the wheel. The trigger is circled in red, where it projects into the path of the tab. It's circled in white where it's inside the combination switch. This part is in a slot in the face of the combination switch to let the trigger slide into and out of the path of the tab.

Although my repair described first worked well, it did weaken the trigger slightly. I later had a problem with my hibeams. The combination switch was high resistance (about 5 ohms, instead of 0.5 ohms as it should be).

To fix it, I had to take apart the combination switch. This involved drilling out the rivets and replacing them with countersunk screws. (Just needed some light cleaning, lubrication and superfine sanding/cleaning of the contacts.

While it was apart, I decided to move the disk/tab (on the wheel) towards the trigger (on the combination switch) to make it all work better. (Another post I read wrapped the tab with tape to achieve the same result). For me, this involved filing the three mounting holes on the disk and the large center hole to shift the disk and tab towards the trigger by about 2 mm.

[Turbo17]

Originally Posted by Turbo17

Here's some photos,

It has now been two years since I made this post and I've been driving this as my DD/sole car. This repair is still working great.