Turn Signal Switch, what am I missing?

[wphilli1]

Hey everyone,
I'm chasing some electrical gremlins at the moment in the rear turn signals and I think I've finally narrowed it down to the switch itself, but am having trouble getting it all back together. Before I took the assembly apart it clicked nice and smooth and the cancel mechanism worked perfectly, but now as many times as I try I can't get it to work the same way. I'm fairly certain it's just like the way it was, but I have to be missing something. Every time I try to tighten the pedestal screw to tighten down the pivot point in order to reduce the slack, it binds up and makes it impossible to move the switch. Am I missing a washer under that screw that would allow it to move freely? Does it need lublubricant? I'm at a loss.

[mr48chev]

You do have the correct screw on the pivot? I'd make sure that the piece it screws into and that the whole metal piece pivots on isn't cracked. I saw a couple that were cracked that way years ago when I was working on stuff like that all the time.

If that part is in good shape does it move ok without the springs hooked up in place? My usual quandary with that style of switch was that I had to stop and think how the springs went back in. I can't find one photo of everything in place as it should be nor can I find the screw that goes in the pivot.

[wphilli1]

Mr.48,
I'm pretty sure nothing is wrong with the springs because I never touched them and it still returns sporadically after a turn which leads me to think that ffundamentally the mechanism is working correctly, but there is just something slightly off. I've read about a lock washer that sits under the pivot screw that I don't have, but I can't find any information on whether that is needed in the 58 switch which seems the be an anomaly in between normal styles. I can't remember if the washer was there before when it was working, but I don't seem to think it was.

[Russell Ashley]

I'm assuming that this is the factory turn signal switch that you are talking about. I think your situation is pretty common but it's not difficult to fix. I ran into it when I installed a new aftermarket turn signal setup. The pivot area where the screw goes through is too thick, so the shoulder on the screw is not long enough to tighten without binding the mechanism. You can't lengthen the screw shoulder so you need to remove some of the pivot area on the switch by filing it some. There is enough material there so that you can file it down without harming it. You must get it so that you can tighten the screw without binding the mechanism. The turn signal lever must move freely with the pivot screw tight. I also used Locktite on the screw threads.