turn signal only on one side

[Raider L]

Well, this sounds so much like some of the rest but it is different. Today I was going to the grocery store and turned my right turn signal on and I had no turn signal light in my dash. So I tried the left and it worked fine. I got to the store and left the engine running, turned the right signal on and got out to see what was working. The signal was working fine yesterday so I looked at the front. I had no turn signal light nor side marker. Went around back and had a right tail light. Turned the left turn signal on and walked out front, had both front and back lights blinking. Of course after spending this last month on wiring issues I just wasn't prepared to tackle more electrical issues of a totally unknown origin...please!!
Got home and pulled both right turn signal lights and both bulbs were okay. Besides having a burned out bulb wouldn't cause the dash turn signal light to be out, nor would a burned out dash turn signal light cause the outside turn signals to not work.
Well, that only left one thing I didn't even want to think about and that was pulling the steering wheel and see what's wrong with the turn signal switch, and what turns the signals on and off with the lever( I can't remember what it's called right now).
Took it all apart and after some examination I decided that the poor thing is just flat worn out. Well it is factory original. But that's not the part that's causing the problem. What was causing the problem, I believe, was the two spring backed slider things on the back of the thing you turn the signals off and on with the lever. They're made of brass (and I might be able to find the photo of them on this site as I did a tutorial on how it all goes together. Let me see if I can find it...stand by.
In the pic below are those plates I mentioned above, on the back of the lever thing. The little nubs on these brass plates are worn down and you don't get these any other way unless you buy a whole new switch.
If anyone knows how to get these brass plates new, please let me know.. Tonight I ordered a whole new turn signal switch assembly because the one that's in there is over fifty years old. And there are a couple of nubs on the brass plates that are worn flat and I suppose aren't making good enough contact to make with the switch plates the nubs push against. This photo of the plates are on the underside of the lever thing.

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The pic below shows the little springs that push the brass plates up against the contact plates on the switch assembly that the wires are connected to. That part of the assembly is the part the wires that pass through the column housing are connected to and plug into the matching plug under the ignition switch. You can see that the nub at the top of this angled part is almost flat. Now I'm paying the price for not replacing the whole thing with a all new switch assembly, and not have kept the one that's been in there forever.

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This is just a photo of the lever part. As you pull the lever up and down it moves those brass plates over the flat contact plates on the switch assembly that have the wires connected to them that end up going to the lights, left and right, front and rear. And the combination of the nubs and the switch contact plate positions cause 12v's to go to the turn signals left or right. Also, when you pull out the hazard button the turn lever is by-passed and all the lights come on at once.

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[rusted nuts]

I would be checking Grounds.at lights 1st

 

[Raider L]

@rusted nuts,
Thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, that was the second thing I checked after I checked the bulbs, and also checked the condition of the contacts on the bottoms of the bulbs to. Sometimes they get mashed down and loose contact. And corrosion in the bulb socket will also cause the light to stop working. But if the light lost ground I don't think it would cause the dash light to stop working, just a particular light might not come on, but you know how those things are.

 

[Raider L]

See, I've been up to my eyeballs with wiring stuff for over a month now, and I just couldn't believe it today when the turn signals didn't come on. After I took the steering wheel and all off, I could push on the turn signal part with the lever on it, and even took the lever off and those little long springs (below pic) so the lever part was completely free, and the right lights all came on. including the dash turn signal. It was that I was pushing down on those nubs of the brass plates with the springs making better contact with the flat plates on the switch with the wires.
Below are the flat springs that make the switch "click" when you pull up and down on the lever. The white part slides back and forth in and out of the groove the bigger flat spring sits in. That's the only one that moves. The thinner one above it doesn't move when you move the lever.
Just behind the white part you can just see one of the copper looking "contact plates" of the part of the switch that has the wires in it. This is what makes contact with the nubs, in different positions, on the back of the white part.

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[Turbo4whl]

Now is the time to put in the Caddie/Olds etc. switch so you can have cornering lights. 1969-1985 Caddie, D743WX

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[Raider L]

@Turbo4whl,
What's a "cornering light"?

 

[Turbo4whl]

The up model GM's had front fender lights that would light up when using the turn signals and the vehicle lights were on. Your truck turn switch would have the place in the plastic for the wires and slide contact, but they are not there.

The same years Caddie and Olds would have the same signal switch with the extra 3 wires. Sure you would need to add the lights to your truck. Very handy when making a tight turn in total darkness.

 

[Raider L]

@Turbo4whl,
Ah yes, I know that for which you speak. My Charger had them. They were up at the top of the fender near the edge of the hood and when you turned your turn signal on those little lights would blink. Some GM's had them like up on a little post of sorts.
Hey, I'm having enough problems with the lights I've got let alone adding some more, ha, ha.

 

[Turbo4whl]

@Turbo4whl,
Ah yes, I know that for which you speak. My Charger had them. They were up at the top of the fender near the edge of the hood and when you turned your turn signal on those little lights would blink. Some GM's had them like up on a little post of sorts.
Hey, I'm having enough problems with the lights I've got let alone adding some more, ha, ha.

Cornering lights are not on the top of the fenders, they are on the side. They do not blink, they will stay on when that side signal is blinking.

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[75gmck25]

I owned a BMW that used the front fog lights as cornering lights. They weren’t really aimed that well to see around corners, but it worked.

IIRC, one car model (a Studebaker?) also had a headlight (or lights) in front that turned from side to side when you turned the steering wheel.

 

[Raider L]

@75gmck25,
Well, you know what that sounds like don't you? A Tucker!! It was designed with a headlight in the middle of the grill that was supposed to turn a corner and was supposed to put extra light in that direction. Well, from the documentary I watched said that it was to hard and complicated to set up and they abandoned the design. You say you heard of a Studebaker that had that? Wow. Well then, they must have figured it out somehow.

 

[Raider L]

@Turbo4whl,
Now don't get mad at me I'm just trying to understand what you are referring to, in the pic of the Caddie, are the cornering lights those that are above the bumper on the corner there that look like what would be "side marker" lights, but they are actually a light that comes on when you are turning? They look like a side marker that would blink to let people to the cars left or right know that the car is turning in addition to headon triaffic seeing the front turn signals?? If there is something else I'm supposed to be looking at in the photo let me know.

 

[TJ1978]

Mine work, for now but, I just use my arm out the window....

 

[Turbo4whl]

@Turbo4whl,
Now don't get mad at me I'm just trying to understand what you are referring to, in the pic of the Caddie, are the cornering lights those that are above the bumper on the corner there that look like what would be "side marker" lights, but they are actually a light that comes on when you are turning? They look like a side marker that would blink to let people to the cars left or right know that the car is turning in addition to headon triaffic seeing the front turn signals?? If there is something else I'm supposed to be looking at in the photo let me know.

Certainly not mad, your first sentence is correct. Not a blinking side marker, but a light that stays on while the turn lamps are blinking.

 

[Raider L]

@TJ1978,
I had to laugh about that. While I was rebuilding my truck I didn't have turn signals, all that was out of the truck as the interior was gutted. I had to use hand signals. Now, I took drivers ed. way back in 1965 and back then drivers ed. was like a regular class you signed up for. It lasted a semester. Half the time was in class and the second half was on the road in a new Ford that had "three on the tree". You could really drive when you learned to shift to second gear while turning through the middle of a intersection making a left or right turn, I'll guarantee you that! But before that they taught us to use hand signals, people knew what they were in 1965. But today I doubt anyone knows what you are doing.