Turn signal issues

[Gerald Morris]

Those cheap turn signal switch reproductions do not last, be prepared to do the job again in short order. Key identifiers, the yellow cancel cam, the lack of a horn slip ring contact wheel, and strange color coded wiring in the pigtail. They are manufactured off-shore, sold by many resellers under various brand names and part numbers. Better off to find an OE NOS, modify the terminations as/if needed. That particular switch head was used well into the eighties on various other platforms including trucks and vans, the model specific pigtail and connector can be transferred or spliced fairly easily.

Yeah, those $2X repops vended on Rock Auto and numerous eBay grifters look like **** to start with. I'm sticking with Shee-mar, who did me pretty good despite the high ticket for their product, OR rooting around for either NOS (preferably) or just used switches. I'm pretty handy at fixing old stuff like that anyway, and have been since I was 8 yrs old, and started with vacuum tube radios my grandmother would buy at thrift shops in Fort Worth. Having just scored a spare steering column for our Newport, I plan to take the time and trouble to do it RIGHT, before taking that Saginaw column out. I see that the 300 column I copped has the Chrysler switch in it, which bodes a little better for the cost of a new Shee-mar switch; $8X vs $12X. I don't mind spending $40 less.

I also advise our O.P. and others to keep a sharp eye open for wiring harnesses for this stuff, the dash wiring, front and rear lights, et al, unless they really feel confidant that they can remake the harness with naught more than a good diagram. In the Best of All Old Moparian Worlds, I would make myself new wiring harnesses, running all the main conductors at the next larger diameter, 2 AWG sizes heavier, to minimize voltage drop due to length. I would use modern termination devices where practical also. Finally, I would feed these circuits with a larger main conductor from the battery, and use a larger charging conductor off the alternator, which I also upgrade.

12VDC is a LOW voltage, so losing even half a volt from needless resistance degrades performance. It helps to use LEDs as much as possible, as these draw considerably less current. Feeding heavy loads from the battery via solid state relays (SSRs) improves electrical performance considerably, AND SSRs act frequently as overcurrent protection. This better protects aged switching components such as the headlamp switches, with their built-in breakers, where they have them.

For turn signals and the emergency flasher, one should use electronically switched flashers, instead of the 19th century electro-thermal thermal crap our cars came with. This eliminates the need for those 50 ohm "load resistors" that LED vendors sell to the unwitting, who've replaced all their bulbs with LEDs, only to find that the now tiny current flowing through their lighting circuits fails to warm up the crude **** in the flasher. I've never wasted $ on a load resistor, knowing what they were for and why they're sold, and have nice, crisp response from my electro-mechancial/electronic flashers with my LEDs. This extends the life expectancy of the old wires I currently make do with, and the switches by decades; BUT, IFF I got a car with another FUBAR harness like that '66 we bought back in March, 2016, or the '66 NYer I bought for $500 in 2003, also electrically buggered, I'd know EXACTLY WHAT to do with them the first time!

 

[noah300g]

On to another wiring issue with my 70 Plymouth Fury III. You all helped me out so much on the headlights, so hoping for some more help on this.

When I bought the car I was told the switch was bad. I purchased a new switch, off ebay, and having issues. The new switch i bought does not have the same color wiring so I am wondering if that could be part of the issue. Also, the switch I took out had 2 plugs...I will attach photos. The new switch only has one. Can someone tell me what the small plug on the old switch would go to? I do not have a tilting wheel, just basic. When I use the old switch I get the flashers to work, but when I use a turn signal, the flashers come on. Thank you again for the help in advance!

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In a quasi related but funny anecdote, my son-in-law and my daughter borrowed my Hurst to take to a cruise night last Friday. They reported to me upon returning that my high beams were not working. Turns out he was stepping on the 'other' dimmer switch which controls the signal seeking radio seek function instead of stepping on the actual dimmer switch. Since they were listening to and enjoying the sound of the TNT 440, the radio was off, so they didn't experience the changing of stations when he kept hitting the seek switch instead of the high beam switch. ;-)