No brake lights + emergency light?!

[DaveS]

Hey guys,

eversince i bought my ''74 Duster the turn signal handle would work when going left. but when going right i had to hold it. it would not lock.

so i went and bought a replacement turn signal cam (DORMAN 49301)
i have that thirteen in a dozen classic grant steering wheel on there, popped that off.. and there we had the cam in sight.. i undid the screw holding it in, popped it off the rest of the assembly.

plop. out on my lap fell a tiny metal tab.. i think i found where it belonged, put it back in and went on.
i snipped the 2 wires and took the old cam off and installed the new cam.
screwed everything back on, steering wheel on again.
now my turn signal handle sure works as supposed
but.. my passenger side brake light doesnt work.. and my emergency flasher doesnt work as well.. all the other lights function as should.. even the turn signals itself..

+ 1 weird thing, whenever i put pressure on the steering wheel towards the dash, i can hear a relay clicking..

anyone know what is happening? im baffled over this gremlin.. i put everything back as i was...

thinking back holding the handle up on a right turn was a luxury problem :')

 

[RedFish]

Do you know for sure that both brake lamps worked before you went in?
I personally wont go to so much effort to replace half of the switch, cancel cam. If those 2 little wires aren't mashed flat and laid just right they can distort plastic, feck up switch operation.
A whole new switch saves a lot of grief. And that needs to be a quality part. The part store switches are junk. Our member slantsixdan can hook you up with a quality part. Tighten the screws evenly to draw the switch assembly down nice and flat, good to go.

 

[TrailBeast]

The after market replacements don't have the spring steel contacts in just the right place.
I had to bend them about .010 apart equally on both sides to stop the clicking for no apparent reason, which also made the brake lights work again.
The deal is that those contacts touch some of the points they need to contact, but not a 4 at the same time when the signals are off.
This causes the brake lights voltage to not be able to pass through to the lights.
If the little metal thing you mentioned is about 1/8 wide and 1 inch long it sits in a slot on the signal plastic, and if I remember correctly it centers the cam and lever when in the off position.

It took me a bit to figure out what it was and do something about it, so for the average guy it would be best to replace the entire switch unit with an OEM unit gotten from /6Dan like RedFish mentioned.

 

[DaveS]

Thanks TrailBeast!

i will take the steering wheel off, (car is in the driveway anyway) and fiddle with bending the metal pieces like you showed and see what happens.. do i only have to bend the 2 that you drew?

i already thought it would be something like that..

 

[TrailBeast]

Thanks TrailBeast!

i will take the steering wheel off, (car is in the driveway anyway) and fiddle with bending the metal pieces like you showed and see what happens.. do i only have to bend the 2 that you drew?

i already thought it would be something like that..

I had to spread all four just slightly, but be kind of careful with the plastic nubs that locate the wire ends.
Those wires (fingers or whatever you want to call them) are spring steel and bending them right after the locating nubs of plastic is a little tough.
I used wire cutters to hold the wire and a pair of needle nose pliers to bend the ends.

 

[DaveS]

can the ''short'' that is causing brake lights/emergency lights not to work cause any damage?

like can the rest of the switch fry because of it? or is it just not working?

 

[DaveS]

so, after bending and working it (took couple of times) i finally got it working!

i noticed that when i left the metal tab out that fell out, it was easier to get everything working!

so i left it out.. now i have brake lights, emergency lights, and turn signals!

since i have my horn on my dash (previous owner) i taped up the copper ring that contacts the copper wheel thingy on the switch, no more relay clicky sounds!

what i do find, and this was also since i bought the car, that when i have my lights off, and turn my emergency lights on, its pretty strong.. but when i have my lights on, and i turn the emergency lights on.. its so weak.. almost weak enough for a cop to make a discussion about it..

could that be caused by a 42 year old relay?