Help! turn signal switch reassembly order

[chevy72blu]

I was able to remove my broken turn signal assembly and replace it with a borg warner unit. However, I stupidly didnt take pictures along the way and it was a few days ago when I started the project.

I have the new unit installed as far as this step:


However, I still have to install the cancelling cam and this rubber spacer. The spacer will not fit over the back of the cam and it obviously doesnt go over the front. Should I have installed it between the shifter body and turn signal assembly housing?

The offending part:


I cannot find a clear exploded view in either my assembly manual or LMC.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[chevy72blu]

I tried placing the rubber bearing (plastic side up) between the switch body and shifter which seems to fit correctly...

What holds the switch housing stable against the shifter/on the column? Doing mock up, I notice that the switch housing wants to rotate with the steering shaft and I have a gap between the shift housing and switch body

[chevy72blu]

Another update... I found the 4 locking tabs on the shifter housing that I need to lock the shift assembly into. Strangely, I dont remember rotating the switch housing the 45* to remove it - but that may explain why my wheel has always made a metal on metal sound and the gaps between these two parts was incorrect.

Also, I think I know the reason why; I have done everything I can to push the switch assembly further on to the column including whacking it with a rubber mallet. Looking down through where the shift lever would go (I have a floor shifter, auto), I can see that there should be enough room to turn it. Problem is, that thing will NOT budge! My oil filter wrench is too small to fit around it. Any tips?

It looks like I'm doing a lot of talking to myself in this thread

edit: frayed the wire twisting the housing so hard. Maybe that was my hangup? Ugh... time to break out the electrical tape and reassemble. Man lining up that switch inside the body and screwing it in is a pain

[chevy72blu]

I'm at my witts end with the four locking tabs.

I am inserting the assembly housing while making sure the 4 tabs are lined up correctly, then pushing as hard as I can to seat them on the housing. As a reference, the turn signal lever is approximately 35* counter clockwise to where it should be. I am UNABLE to rotate the housing clockwise to lock it onto the column.

The top left tab seems to be the worst... it simply will not go on far enough to get behind the tab. At this point I am ready to weld the damn thing to it!



Here are a few pictures with it pressed straight on. I removed the shifter housing so I could get a look at whats going on





Someone please let me know if I am doing this incorrectly. More than a bit bummed to only have my truck back on the road for 2 days and then leaving it wounded in my garage...

[chevy72blu]

After fighting this thing for 5+ hours, I've come to the conclusion that either the column or switch cup is bent and needs to be replaced. The PO wrecked the front end and had the column replaced from a different truck, so thats not too surprising. I'll go ahead and put a CPP/Ididit tilt wheel in the "to do" column... always wanted one anyway.

Further, I believe that I did NOT rotate the cup during dissasembly, and this is the way its always been (hence the metal on metal "knife sharpening" sound when turning and stripped turn signal lever). In an act of desperation, I put the original (broken) switch back into the column and reinstalled; seems to work just fine, even without rotating the switch housing onto the column. The pressure being applied by the wheel and lock nut mostly eliminates the switch cup rotation issue, so I think I will just deal with it for now.

I figured I could get by driving it to work this morning without the pigtail connected to the switch assembly. Luckilly I thought to check my brake lights before leaving the house!

Just plugging in the new switch gives me some brake lights, so I am pretty sure that the switch body must ground on the shaft/column in order to provide the correct ground?

I'll do some more digging tonight and add a few grounds between bed/cab/frame just to be sure.

Hopefully someone finds my ramblings somewhat helpful in the future

[1969 Project]

I know this is an old thread but I am having the same exact issue and I have been fighting it for two days now. Did you come to a conclusion on this?