1954 turn signals

JohnSunliner

JohnSunliner

Member
My 54 Ford turn signals do not reset after I make the corner. I can not remember if that is how they were back in the day. Or are mine just miss adjusted some how? I thought I would ask before I crawl under and try to figure it out myself. I hate it when I discover I just drove 5 miles with the turn signal flashing. Btw, I converted this car to 12 volt and maybe that is related to the problem. Thanks for any advice.
John
 
JohnSunliner said:
My 54 Ford turn signals do not reset after I make the corner. I can not remember if that is how they were back in the day. Or are mine just miss adjusted some how? I thought I would ask before I crawl under and try to figure it out myself. I hate it when I discover I just drove 5 miles with the turn signal flashing. Btw, I converted this car to 12 volt and maybe that is related to the problem. Thanks for any advice.
John
Click to expand...

They are supposed to self-cancel. The problem lies with the switch; it may be loose and/or out of position so that the notch on the wheel isn't catching the cancel pawl. You'll need to pull the steering wheel to get at it. Alternatively you could get an extra loud clicker or move to Sun City where everbody drives for miles with their blinker on, usually the left one.;) It's a mechanical issue, not electrical.
 
I have the same exact issue turning left. Im used to it so I cancel it myself.
Thanks John for asking and Dobie for aswering.
 
I am not familiar with the internal workings of these turn signal switches, but on the other brand (Ch$#%y0) there is a spring for the left and right on the switch. these sometimes would break, and require replacement of the whole switch. somewhere in the 90's I saw where you could buy just the spring at some Auto parts store on some of the " Help" card racks. the common thing for flat rate mechanic's was to save all the old switches and then remove the one good spring (they are specific as to left or right) then they could offer a lower cost repair to the customer by changing just the spring instead of the whole switch. meant the difference in about 1-2 hrs. labor and usually the spring was thrown in resulting in not having the customer not having to buy a new switch. maybe there is something similar on the Ford switches, I cannot remember, as the last '53-54 column I had apart was around 1970. my memory is not as good as it once was.
 
The parts shown are from a '54 F-100 but could be the same for a car. I found the switch needed to be cleaned and lubed at two points so it moved freely and the edges of the cancel clip needed to be 'sharp' so it bumped the switch. If the cancel piece on the switch just 'rides up' on the clip they won't cancel.
Hope this helps.
Dick
 

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just so you know Dick that pretty well mirrors the car switch.Jim has a good point on the spring common problem in the day.on the tangs on clip one is for right other for left make sure they both have a sharp point.I used to save the spring and the plate.
 
Thank you for the good advice. Now I have an idea on how to fix it. Loved the Sun City comment... I may have been one of those last winter :)
John
 
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