I'm looking to diagnosis and repair a problem I'm having on my 79's turn signal lever. About 6 months ago, I began having a problem where the lever will not stay engaged when trying to turn on the left signals. IE, the lever will not stay down and will come back to the neutral position if not held. The right turn works just fine.

In looking thru available parts online, I see I can replace both the switch and cancelling cam. What is you best bet on the parts I need?

TIA

 

Do you have a tilt/telescoping steering wheel? I had the same problem with my 79. I ordered a switch from Corvette Central. It's about $29/$39 depending on early or late for a tilt/telescoping and comes as a complete plug and play unit. The hardest thing is removing the steering wheel. Probably the easiest way is go to the Chevy dealer with your VIN and get the right part the first time. Anyway. on the t/t steering wheel the cam and switch come as a complete unit.

 

I''ve also had the exact same problem on my 79. I've repaired it several times. Obviously if I"ve done it more than once, my repair wasn't permanent. Just last week I too the column apart and fixed it once again, this time with loctite on the screw that holds the turn signal stalk on. In a nutshell, you have to take the wheel off, all horn components, and then the lock plate. After that you will have access to the turn signal lever which you remove the screw, loctite, and reinstall. Again, having just done this (once again) I'm very up on this, so feel free to PM me with specific questions. BTW, I have tilt/tele wheel.

 

I have a problem which trees off from the original problem you all are having,mine works left and right as advertised.My problem is with the lever when selecting a left turn signal pushing down on lever,it is very loose and soft feeling but selecting a right turn feel is normal and solid.

 

I think that we have a couple of different problems floating around here. First of all we are only talking about 1978 thru 1982 T&T steering columns. The following picture is a cutaway looking straight at the steering column from the driver seat. The steering wheel, horn parts, hub, and telescope locking parts are removed. The toothed locking plate has been sectioned away from about 10 o'clock to around 8 o'clock. You can see the part called the 7827038 Arm Assembly. It is held in place by the 11502634 Metric Round Crowned Washer Head Screw.

I think that it is this 11502634 screw that C3 4ME is tightening and loctiting.

The actual turn signal lever is sort of divorced from the actual turn signal switch. On 1977 through 1982 Corvette steering columns the turn signal lever plugs into a part called the dimmer pivot. Then the 7827038 Arm Assembly reaches between the dimmer pivot and the actual turn signal switch. So when you talk about a loose, floppy turn signal lever, you are usually taking about the lever being loose in the pivot. In some cases the pivot hole gets worn and the lever becomes loose.

At that point you usually have to replace the pivot itself and that requires tearing the column down some more.

Hope that this helps explain things a bit.

Jim

 

Yes the 11502634 screw is the one I'm referring to.

 

C3 4ME, I sent you a PM.

 

C3 4ME,
Evidently when the ...2634 screw loosens it allows the ...7038 arm assembly to cam out of position where it attaches to the switch itself when you try to pull down on your turn signal lever for a left turn.

Yet the screw must be fastened enough so that when you pull up on your turn signal lever (for a right turn) the arm still is engaged enough with the switch to activate it for a right turn.

At some point the screw will loosen sufficiently to loose engagement of the arm to the switch completely.

From your descriptions, this might be a common problem. I will add it to the T&T Disassembly & Repair Paper. (I wonder if it is the same problem with the standard steering column.)

Jim

 

How does this sound?

Inside the 1977 through 1982 steering column head there is an arm assembly that moves with the dimmer pivot and attaches to the turn signal switch with a screw. (You need to remove the locking plate in order to reach the screw.) This screw has a tendency to loosen. I suggest that you use Locktite on the threads and tighten it to 15 inch-lbs. Typically you lose the ability to actuate a left turn as the screw begins to loosen.


Jim

 

Don't call this a fix yet. As I mentioned I've pulled the column apart enough times that I think I can do it with my eyes closed to tighten that screw, but each time it has come loose again. This is the first time I tried loctite, but I can't give you any info on it yet because the car is off the road so I haven't put it to the test. Even without loctite tightenting the screw usually lasts a couple of weeks, so I won't know for sure for a while if this is a fix or not. Also, I never loose the left turn function, the arm just won't stay engaged on it's own, (you have to hold it down to keep the turn signal flashing).