I bought a tilt/tele steering column for my '69 that was supposed have been rebuilt and ready to go. The seller claimed he didn't replace the turn signal switch because it tested fine and didn't need replaced.

Apparently 30+ year old switches should be replaced during a rebuild regardless since it didn't work right immediately upon installation. I couldn't do anything about it right way, so I tried to be careful when driving through the last part of the season with the problem switch. Now that the car is parked for the winter, I need to do something about the problem before spring time cruising starts.

My question is:

Does the column need to be pulled in order to replace the turn signal switch?

Or, is a case of careful disassembly and removal of parts and then just installing the new switch?

What all am I getting in to?

I don't know anything about the columns other than what I've recently researched on the corvettefaq website. Thanks for any help!

 

You can do it in the car.

 

takes about an hour you need to pull the steering wheel and the outter cover of the upper column but not the column itself. And remove any bolts or screws holding the col. to the dash then carefully remove old switch and install new same way old came out. Do it all in the same day or take pic's so you know how it all goes back together. GL

 

The biggest problem that I found with changing the switch was fishing the switch wires up through the column head. The plastic "harmonica" connector tends to **** inside the column head and causes a real headache. Taping the connector to the wires can help. I always found that with the column out of the car, fishing the wires was a lot easier.

Some people have found that they can disconnect the individual wires from the plastic "harmonica" connector. Straighten a heavy paper clip or use a very thin blade screwdriver. Insert it into the "harmonica" connector from the contact side to disengage each wire and contact. There should be a small molded square channel in the connector that will guide you to a metal tang on the contact that holds it in place. Once you depress the tang and pop the wire and contact out of the connector, you should take a small knife blade and bend the tang back out so that it will engage the connector correctly upon reinstallation. The turn signal switch wiring can now be fed separately through the column.

Obviously, keep good track as to which wire came out of which connector position.

These three papers should help disassemble the steering column.
http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/T&TColumnD&R115DE05.doc
http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/T&TColumnD&R217DE05.doc
http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/T&TDis...age122MY05.doc

Good luck,
Jim

 

I taped the new wires in black electrical tape first.

 

Thanks for all the help so far.

I finally got some time to try to replace the turn signal switch. It's been quite the struggle so far and a couple more questions came up.

In the first photo below, there is some pale gold plastic thing.... what is it and how important is it?



In the photo below, that pale gold HARD BRITTLE plastic thingy is gone because is crumbled apart when I went to rmove it.



Do I need it? Where do I find another one? Right now, I'm afraid to try and put anything else back together until I figure out what it was.


Also, if you look closely, you can see that the little "nick" on the bolt/shaft is pointing down around between 5 & 6 o'clock yet the wheels are nearly straight ahead. My steering wheel was also off and not straight up and down.

Should that nick be up at around 12 o'clock? If yes, how do I correct that?

Thanks again for any help.

Allen (a Vette newbie)

 

Read the papers in the previous post, they will answer all you questions. The part that broke is important for keeping your horn from constantly going off, but you can still get it from GM.

 

Thank you. I was just re-reading through those and found reference to it.

GM dealers - Part #7808385 - Retainer $10.02 List

Looks like I'm done for the day.

I'll be ordering one tomorrow from the dealer. Maybe I should order two so I can eventually lose the spare?


Should I do something about that shaft being off? It looks like I'll have to darn near pull the column again to spin it around.

 

That little nick or ding on the end of the steering column shaft should be at 12 o'clock when your road wheels are straight ahead. If it is at 6 o'clock like your picture shows, your turn signal switch will be all screwed up. It will not cancel equally right turn to left turn.

Here are a couple things to check. Drive the car a short distance to insure that the road wheels are straight ahead. Look under the hood. The flexible coupling on the steering gear should have its two steel stop pins at 6 and 12 o'clock. The bolt that attaches the flexible coupling to the gear should be passing through 9 o'clock and the 12 point head of the bolt should be straight up at you.

If the flexible coupling is oriented as I described, disconnect the nuts and lockwashers from the back side of the flexible coupling. Even though the nuts have the same size 11/16 hex, there should be two different size bolt threads sticking out from the flexible coupling and sticking through the steering column flange toward the column. The bigger threaded bolt will be 3/8-24 and located at 9 o'clock. The smaller bolt will be a 5/16-24 and located at 3 o'clock.

If the above is as I described, Bubba really screwed you when he reconditioned and reassembled the steering column. There is a plastic sphere up inside the column head that allows the column to tilt. Bubba misindexed the upper steering shaft relative to the lower shaft when he reassembled the column.

You now have two options:
1). Remove the column from the car and tear the column completely down so that you can reindex the upper steering shaft. (The third of my three steering column disassembly and repair papers actually includes this procedure and also includes a warning so that you don't misindex the two shafts.)

Here is your other option:
2). Disconnect the two 11/16 nuts and lockwashers from the flexible coupling. Disconnect the nuts holding the steering column at the floor. Disconnect the two vertical bolts holding the column up into the dash. Pull the column straight back into the car a couple inches.

Unfasten the flexible coupling pinch bolt with a 7/16 12 point socket. Take a screwdriver and force the flange on the flexible coupling open so you can remove the flexible coupling from the gear.

Interchange the 3/8 bolt with the 5/16 bolt.

You can now reassemble everything and the ding on the steering shaft will be at 12 o'clock with the road wheels straight ahead.

BTW, all of my Corvette steering papers are now located at: http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/?page_id=4

Good luck,
Jim

 

Jim,
Thank you for the information. I bought the column from someone on this board. I was expecting it would have had a new switch too.

As soon as I bolted it in last fall, the turn signal switch wasn't functioning right, one brake light didn't work, the flashers didn't work, and the steering wheel position alignment was suddenly off. That's what started this whole thing.

I bought a switch through the winter, plugged it in as a test (it worked!) and now got around to trying to replace it. Your papers have been a huge help so far and I knew nothing about it before.

I'd really rather not take the column back out and tear the whole thing down. I just want it together to drive now that the weather is getting better.

Hmmmmm.... what to do........

 

Just pulling the steering column back into the car is no big deal. Swapping the flexible coupling bolts is the most straightforward way to get the upper steering shaft oriented correctly.

If you are going to change turn signal switch, I have found that removing the column from the car makes the job easier than thrashing around inside the car.

If you need further assistance, you can continue posting or eMail me at JIML82@aol.com

Jim

 

I've all ready wrestled with that new switch and got it installed while in the car. Broke a shoestring pulling the harness through and used lots of electrical tape to keep everything together in the process. After a quick battery hook-up, all lights and signals seem to work. However, re-assembly is stopped due to that plastic thingy needing replaced.

Jim, your help has been wonderful so far. Might as well keep this educational for everyone. Attached are some photos based on your description above.





It looks like the smaller diameter bolt is on the ENGINE side. I wasn't sure about 3 or 9 o'clock, since it depends on which side you're looking!

Does it look correct or turned around?

 

Allen,
Pictures sure help a lot. BTW my clock is positioned looking down the column from the driver seat.

I assume that you have your road wheels pointing straight ahead. Your gear pictures show the gear right on center (the 12 point bolt that attaches the flexible coupling to the gear is pointing straight up in your first picture.)

The other 12 point bolt that attaches the flange to the steering column shaft is horizontal and passing through the 12 o'clock position. With the column flange in this position, it has the 3/8 diameter hole at 9 o'clock and the 5/16 hole at 3 o'clock.

The parts in your photographs are correct for the roadwheels being in the straight ahead position.

This means that Bubba misindexed the steering shafts inside your steering column. But you can correct the problem by removing the flexible coupling and interchanging the 3/8 and 5/16 bolts. This will rotate the column shaft 180 degrees and your turn signal switch will work correctly and your steering wheel will be straight when you align the ding on the column shaft with the matching ding on the steering wheel hub.

BTW, you can hook onto the redish orange plastic spacers and throw them away once you have the column attached in the car. All they do is try and help you align the steering column to the steering gear.

Give me a call tomorrow or Tuesday if you can.

Jim

 

Thanks for all your help! I got it all back together and in the correct orientation. Now if it ever quits raining, I'll have to take it on the first test drive for spring.

 

The Gold plastic thing is the insulator collar for the horn blowing ring. Keeps the horn from blowing all the time, also keeps stuff lined up where it should be. You can buy it from the usual suspects but I can't find it in the books I have in my office.

 

You can go to your local GM dealer or you can also find it in the Zip Store right here on line. Look under T&T Column. Or you can go to other Vette suppliers.

On this forum click on Store (In the Red Bar); C3 Parts; 68-82 Steering Systems; 68-82 Steering Column; 69-82 Tilt & Telescoping; Steering Column Component; 69-82 Cancelling Cam Retainer - Plastic

Jim

 

I realize this is an old thread however it is related to the original post. I'm just wondering how this could happen. I replaced the turn signal switch in my 71 today. I did a search for related threads to reference.

I dissassembled the steering column and associated components per this thread (which was very helpful by the way). I replace the switch by threading the wiring harness down to the original plug. I reassembled the steering column thinking the last thing I would do would be to plug it in and be home free. Guess again.

After getting everything back together I found that the plugs didn't match and would not go together. After cross referencing the wiring on each switch plug, I found that there were a correct match for numer of wires however some of the colors on the new harness varied slightly. I took a gamble and used a small electrical flat blade screwdriver and removed all of the wire contacts (pins) from the new harness plug and snapped them into the old plastic male plug carrier. The good news is that everything works perfect.

The part I'm stumped on is why did this happen? I called Autozone and they insisted that it is the correct switch for a 71 Vette. I cross-referenced the part online and it again showed that the switch I had was correct.

Bottom line is that I should have checked the plug at first but again, I don't know how much more ahead I would have been only to find it didn't mate earlier on when it is evidently the right part as was told to me.

Anyone else run accross similar issues with parts? I understand there is occasionally some modifications needed, but to not match up at all??????
Only thing I can think of is that the part I purchased was screwed up during manufacturing

Oh well, I learned a lesson. I just don't know what that lesson is

 

I think Jim also references that in his papers.

 

I was wondering that but the links to Jim's papers came up as dead links so I couldn't get to them.

 

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