Left turn signal works fine but not the right

[Da Flash]

A few months ago, I re-installed my dash after finding and fixing a short. The cars been running great with the exception of the right (passenger side) T/S. If I put the switch to the left, all is fine the left front/rear/dash lights flash at the normal speed but, if I put it on the right side, none of the lights flash and I only hear 1 click then nothing.

I first rechecked the wires under the dash and the clamshell, it looks ok but I don't have a point of reference to compare it

Does anyone have a suggestion so that I can narrow it down??

Thanks in advance!!

[SteveJ]

Read through these. Most of your questions should be answered.

Focus on your turn signal switch.

Turn Signal Repair | Fiddling With Z Cars

Hazard Switch ? Brake Light ? Turn Signal Circuit Analysis | Fiddling With Z Cars

[Da Flash]

Thanks for the nudge in the right direction. I'll check it out and report back what I find.

[Da Flash]

Read through these. Most of your questions should be answered.

Focus on your turn signal switch.

Turn Signal Repair | Fiddling With Z Cars

Hazard Switch ? Brake Light ? Turn Signal Circuit Analysis | Fiddling With Z Cars

Well after screwing around with that damned switch!! (In this case "screwing" means disassembling and reassembling 5 times!!) I got left and right signals!!!! The first dis and reassemble was tedious trying not to lose anything and get the tabs off/on without breaking anything. By the 5th time, I had it apart and back together in minutes!!

Master Jedi SteveJ, the Force is strong with you!!!

[SteveJ]

I'm glad to hear you got it working.

[jmhtx]

I'm having issues with my turn signals on my 1971 240Z that I just picked up a week ago.  They worked the first time I drove it and then stopped.  They have worked twice since they first stopping, so I assumed it as a contact issue.  

 

I've disassembled the Turn Signal switch and cleaned the contacts twice today, no luck.  To save myself 3 more attempts, any suggestions on what to differently?

 

Bend the contacts?  Flasher needs to be replaced?  Any way to test?  

 

Hazards work, all other lights work as they should, just no turn signals.  

 

New to 240z, so I'm learning and have read quite a bit on this and other sites, but looking for some guidance from those that have gone before.

[Hardway]

Hey JMHTX.  You need to test all the connections and make sure the all the contacts in the switch are truly making a reliable connection.  All of these switches are between 30 and 40 years old now and even with a good cleaning and though visual inspection the contacts may not actually be touching when they are supposed to.  Once you have confirmed with an Ohm meter that everything is making the proper connection then move down the path of the wiring, make sure the flasher is getting power.  If it is, try replacing it.  I just went through some turn signal switch woes as well with my '71 so I know what you are going through.  Keep us posted.

[SteveJ]

As a matter of fact, in both of the links I provided in #2, it describes what you should see in testing the components with a VOM. Repair without proper testing is just guessing.

[jmhtx]

Okay, did some testing and some light manipulating of the contacts and now I have conductivity on two output wires in each of the two turn signal positions.  

 

I'm a bit confused by some of the details in link 2.  Perhaps since I have 71 with a build date it is different, but I can only see how two of the output would connect when the turn signal is in either the right or left position.

 

The Green wire goes up to the Turn Signal Switch.

When the Turn Signal Switch is in the right turn position, the Green wire makes contact with the following wires:
White/Black
Green/Black
Green/Red
When the Turn Signal Switch is in the left turn position, the Green wire makes contact with the following wires:
White/Red
Green/Black
Green/Red

 

 

6 wires go into the switch Green, Green/Yellow, Green/Red, Green/Black, White/Red and White/Black. 

 

On my switch the green/black and red/white go to the left turn contacts and show conductivity with the green wire in that position.  

 

The green/red and white/black go to the right turn contacts and show conductivity with the green wire in the position.

 

 

 

I don't understand how the Green/Black and the Green/Red should show conductivity in both the right and left turn signal positions with the way the rocker operates.

 

 

Can anyone clarify this switch?  Thanks in advance.  

[SteveJ]

I believe you are misreading the contact chart.

 

The brake lights and turn signals use the same bulb at the rear of the car. Therefore, when you activate the switch to indicate a left or right turn, you have to interrupt the circuit for the brake lights on that side.

Note: the colors are for the dash wiring harness. In the switch, the wire color for from the flasher unit changes from W to G.

 

So in the chart above, the GY wire is the positive for the brake light circuit. In the middle position, it makes contact with the WR (left rear) and WB (right rear) bulb circuits.

 

When you move the switch to indicate a left turn, the switch breaks contact between the WR and GY wires and establishes contact between the W (coming from the flasher unit and turning green at the switch) and WR wires. The switch also connects the W wire to the GR wire to complete the circuit for the front turn signal. The GY wire only makes contact with the WB wire.

 

When you move the switch to indicate a right turn, the switch breaks contact between the WB and GY wires and establishes contact between the W (coming from the flasher unit and turning green at the switch) and WB wires. The switch also connects the W wire to the GB wire to complete the circuit for the front turn signal. The GY wire only makes contact with the WR wire.

 

If you step on the brakes while your turn signal is flashing, you will notice that at the rear of the car, only one side lights up solid while the other blinks to indicate the position of the turn signal switch.

 

If you look at this picture: https://fiddlingwithzcars.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/turn-signal-repair/turnsignal_repair_25/, you can see that there are TWO rockers in the switch. The upper rocker is for the brake light circuit, and the other rocker is for the turn signals. If you notice, the upper rocker has one contact pad per side. The turn signal rocker has two per side. When you activate the turn signal switch, it will push the brake light rocker away from the contact pad on that side while it pushes the turn signal rocker down to make contact.

 

Let me know if you still have questions.

[Stanley]

Maybe it's a coincidence, but I've seen a number of posts in the last few years where the left turn signals work but the right ones don't. I had the same problem a few years ago, repaired it by cleaning the contacts in the little teeter-totter switch. Then the right side went out again, took it to the shop and it was ok for a while. Now the right side is out again.

Is there anything about the wiring that would make only the right side tend to go out?

[240260280z]

On a 240z I restored. this happened a few times. The wire to the switch would detach at the solder joint.

 

I ended up taking apart the switch cleaning and maybe flipping the contact slider to fresh contacts. I also wicked away all of the old solder, freshened up the solder point then re-soldered.