Long ago, before the internet, I decoded the arrangement myself on a junkyard '48 Ford heater and switch with shot wires and long-gone color coding. I sat down with the motor and a battery and puzzled and tested...I finally figgeredout that one pair of wires turned it one way, and another pair turned it the other. That was all I really needed, though it took me a long time to get that far...the resistors for low are built into the switch and the extra terminal just goes to the ignition switch. Figuring out my '49 Ford type 7-wire turn signal switch was MUCH harder...I mapped out all the terminals as hot or cold in all three positions, baffling myself in many new ways, and eventually had a eureka moment when I realized the the brake lead had to go off when the signal went on for each side. Fortunately, I was in college at the time, and classes afforded much time to think about important issues like this...
I'm sure my professors interpreted my wrinkled forehead and intense concentration on my notes as tribute to their wisdom.