1972 Chevy turn signal question

[Bill Houghton]

In the second day of replacing this...

Now it's making sparks and letting out magic smoke when I turn on the right turn signal. When it is set to the right turn position, I'm showing continuity between terminals sticking out the top of the block that pivots to select right/nothing/left turn signal, and the springs that create the right/center/left detents. Thinking this is not right...the old switch does not show continuity like that. Am I correct in thinking this is a defective part?

[knomadd]

First of all, welcome to the board. Second, I'm sorry to say, I don't know the answer to your question. Hang in there though, there are a lot of knowledgeable people on here. Someone is bound to be able to answer this for you.

Did your old switch function before you tried to replace it, or was that the reason you're trying to replace it?

[Bill Houghton]

Duane,

I was getting strange misbehaviors of the brake light/turn signal type that did NOT appear to be ground problems. I should have tried to resolve the ground first, of course, but the switch was defective anyway, so it seemed worth trying. I didn't know how hard Chevrolet made it to install the switch, or I'd have worked on the grounding issue.

The old one did not make sparks, I know that; and the little nubbins of the electrical contacts were low, and not contacting the springs; so I'm inclined to think I have a part defect, although the other part at my local NAPA store looks pretty much the same.

[JointTech]

you get sparks on the switch in the steering wheel? yea thats not normal. Assuming you just ran the connector down the column and plugged it in it sounds like a bad part. I got mine from the chevy dealer for $30 last week.

[JointTech]

interesting. what happens when he-man grabs the windows crank switch and trys to roll it down?
is that thing pretty strong or does it actually spin?

[Bill Houghton]

Some more examination/thinking...

I pulled off one of the springs that serves as the detent for right/center/left, and pushed the other out of place. The electrical contacts sticking up through the nylon block that does the pivoting had little nubbins, presumably from assembly, that were contacting the spring. A few minutes with some needle nose pliers, and I was able to break them off. No more sparks, no more smoke escaping.

And the problem I was having with the brake lights is fixed.

Now, if I could just figure out what's wrong with the hazard light switch...but I'm not going to put a lot of energy into it, because I have too many issues going to worry about it.

[JointTech]

looked back at notes. I got the part from pepboys not the dealer. i got my kickdown switch from the dealer.
anyway... it was 31.99. a borg warner part i think.