turn signal lever is mushy

[winstonsmith]

I have read through a bunch of posts here about turn signal problems but I haven't noticed any that seem directly related to my problem. My turn signals seem to work. They blink on the dash and I hear the blinking noise. I haven't checked the outside lights yet but I know all the lights do light up. Also the hazards work and everything flashes. The problem is that the turn signal lever doesn't click into place when I move it. So if I push it down it feels kind of mushy and just stays there even after I turn. I have to turn it off myself. The guy that sold me the car said the signals didn't work at all. So I'm guessing that sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. Is there something in the signal lever that's broken since it doesn't click into place?

[Bambikiller240]

It could be something broken, or it could also be that the mechanism is all gummed up with lint and grease. Only way to tell is to take the plastic covers off the steering collumn and observe the mechanism as the lever is operated.

[TomoHawk]

There's a pin on the back of the steering whel that hits a springy-lever-thing on the turn lever to turn it off. You might take off the steering wheel to check the alignment of the pin to the lever and to see if the lever goes back to off.

If it feels mushy, you might also clean the gunk out of the lever pivot & give it a LIGHT coat of lube.

[winstonsmith]

OK I'm still stupmed thus far. I took the turn signal lever completely off the column and took it apart. It was all gummed up inside. I figured that this was for sure the problem. Cleaned the whole thing up and put it back together. The lever itself still doesn't feel "tight" when I use it. Can't think of a better way to describe it but the whole thing just feels mushy. They do click back into place after I turn though. Anyway the signals themselves still don't work at all. Don't light up inside or outside. So now I'm going to replace the flasher unit and see what happens. I'm not sure where the flasher unit for the turn signals is located though. My book says the car has two flasher units (one for turn signals, one for hazards) but the diagram has me a bit lost. Here's some pics I took of the flasher unit I can see and underneath the dash (maybe the other one is up there somewhere and someone can point it out) and also a picture of the diagram from the book.

My guess is the one hanging down in the second picture is for the turn signals. Am I correct?

[PrOxLaMuS©]

correct...

i recently replaced mine.. because mine did the same thing... but caught on fire too!

Yeh the one hangin down is the turn signal flasher... the other flasher... for the hazards is way up above the hood latch puller thing

I would recommend going to your local JY or eBay and get a new turn signal assembly.. for about $11 typically....

I got mine from a junkyard for $3 and works better than my original.

[winstonsmith]

Cool. Thanks!

[winstonsmith]

Well I just ran out and bought a new turn signal flasher unit and that wasn't the problem. Still no turn signals. What would you guys say is the next thing to do? Replace the turn signal lever itself?

[Mr Camouflage]

The original flasher unit on my (the) 240z is bolted onto the pedal assembly, or dashboard right up under the dash (i found the original in when i pulled the dash apart) almost behind the speedo. (aussie cars didnt have hazard lights so i dont think it was that? but could be wrong i guess) I suppose its there so that the clicking sound seems to eminate from the indicater lights in the dash, instead of from the center console, where most replacement flashers seem to end up.

Check that thats the indicator and not the hazard flasher.

You should getatest lamp or multimeter and check that the switch actually works. check fuses. also check the globes.

The indicators are fairly "mushy" to begin with and dont have a solid tactile on/off response like newer cars do. The mechanism also wears out, adding to the mushyness of the lever. Also the lugs in the actual switch wear out (just like in the headlight switch) so that they arent able to push the metal contact down far enough to make contact.

I described a quick fix for my indicators that worked for me in another thread, try searching the forums for other threads on this too.

[winstonsmith]

ARRG!!! I'm getting so mad at this car. I still haven't gotten the turn signals to work. But now there's a new problem. I turned on my headlights while I was warming the car up but I noticed they were shining in myneighbors window so I switched them off to the parking light position. When I was ready to leave I switched them back to the headlight position and now the headlights don't work. I don't see any blown fuses so I have no idea what happened. dammit! I have noticed that the dashlights never came on while the car had the parking lights on. The dash lights only came on when it was switched to the headlight position. I'm really thinking whoever wired this car hooked up stuff wrong everywhere.

[280ZWarrior]

You might want to check the fusible links...I know on my 280Z there is a fusible link in the engine bay next to the battery that runs the headlights....It took me forever to figure that out. I don't know if u allready checked them, but I just thought I'd let you know...As for the dash lights.....sounds like a wiring problem.

[winstonsmith]

Are these the fusable links you're talking about? Mine don't have the covers over them. On the last 280 I had there were plastic boxes covering these things.

They look OK I guess. What would they look like if they were bad? They would be melted apart right?

[Chino 240Z]

Being moved, or bent over time and again, check the wire that it has continuity through it, that it's not broken inside and also that the slide on terminals are clean and tight.