Strange Turn Signal Behavior

[Rutty]

Hi all,

The turn signals on the '69 2000 I bought recently are acting strange. Sometimes the signal keeps going after switching it off. When this happens the dash signal light turns off but the actual signals keep flashing. It happens for both the left and the right signals. It happens if I turn on the hazards too. Sometimes they keep going after switching them off and sometimes they turn off. I see from the wiring diagram that the hazard switch and the turn signal switch are tied together. Just not sure if I should focus on the hazard switch or the turn signal switch. Has anyone had this problem before?

Thanks,

[bakerjf]

CE6839B9-B507-4834-8987-FDB3D0A7F0CA.jpeg

[jrusso07]

Assuming you have a stock steering wheel or one with the roll pins installed to deactivate the turn signal switch. If so, start with the hazard switch as a lot of signals pass through it. Look for corrosion on contacts and chassis grounds. Also, look for damaged insuation on wires that could provide a ground where it isnt wanted, especially aroun the exhaust parts.

[Rutty]

I just did a little more investigating tonight and this is what I found.
When the left turn signal is on then turned off it turns on the hazards.
If the left turn signal is turned back on, the hazards turn off and it's just the left turn signal again.
The same thing happens with the hazard lights. When I turn them off they just stay on.
The only way to get the left blinker or the hazards to turn off is to turn the right blinker on then off. That shuts all the signals off.
I'll look into the things that you suggested Joe. Thank you for the advice.

[jrusso07]

Matt, that's very strange. There should be two flasher cans on the inner driver fender under the dash. One for turn signals and one for hazards. Maybe some of the connections got crossed. See the wiring diagrams in he 311s tech wiki for wire color codes and connections.

[Rutty]

Checked out the flasher cans tonight and it turns out the wires were crossed! So I uncrossed them and the emergency flashers worked but the blinkers didn't. Figured one of the cans wasn't working so I swapped out the one that wasn't working with a spare I had and at first everything seemed to be working. However, after switching the blinkers on and off a few times it started to do the same thing it was doing before. Might try and disconnect the hazard flasher can and see if this will work for a temporary fix.

[Rutty]

Just went back out and disconnected the hazard flasher can. Still doing the same thing. When I turn off the left turn signal it starts the emergency flashers but not the dash indicators. It's happening with the right blinker now once on a while too. This makes me think that the trouble must be on the flasher circuit.
I removed the ignition switch plastic cover and took a look at the signal mechanism but didn't see anything amiss. The brass rocker is rocking and it looks clean.
I'll try blowing some canned air in there next to see if it blows out anything that might be bridging the contacts. If that doesn't work I'll look at the flasher switch.

[Linda]

Maybe try my preferred electrical tip, dc the neg battery and then spray with CRC electrical contact cleaner every terminal and connector you can find. Unless you have extra white connectors though beware, they can disintegrate. Still you can spray thru the backside.
Good luck
Linda

[Rutty]

Thanks for the tips Linda. Good ideas. I'll have to try the CRC cleaner.

[jrusso07]

, you likely have a intermttent, high resistance connection in the fasher circuit - check all and clean as Linda suggested. Might be a bad hazard switch...

[Rutty]

I figured it out! The problem seemed to be coming from the actual turn signal switch so I took it off to investigate. Inside is a seesaw type of toggle switch that seesaw's back and forth when the turn signal stalk is flipped to the left signal or right signal. While inspecting it it struck me that the seesaw contact might not be totally disengaging from the contact on the board so I bent it up more so when it was switched to neutral it would be farther away from the contacts on the board. Once I put it all back together it worked!
Thanks again for all the great suggestions.