1957 Turn Signal requires to be held on - both directions

[Jeff_Lee]

My '57 turn signals work.... sort of, but you must firmly hold the stalk of the turn signal hard up or hard down. It will not stay in either position, and then cancel properly. I guess that is better than no signals at all!
Has anyone repaired a similar problem? I'd like to pre-order the likely parts that need replacing before I get into taking everything apart, but I just looked and a new 13304 Cancelling Plate is over 50 bucks.
The various springs and pawls are cheap. I suspect there is minimally a worn pawl and maybe a broken spring.
Can the turn signal mechanism be serviced by just removing the horn ring, or does the whole steering wheel need removing?

Any pre-advice welcome! Thanks Jeff

 

[cokefirst]

You do need to remove the steering wheel. You can buy an inexpensive steering wheel puller from harbor freight. I back the nut off to just a thread above the end of the steering shaft and then use a flat piece of metal between the nut and the tool to reduce the possibility of damage to the threads on the shaft. Once you get the wheel off, you can look at the internal parts for the turn signal and determine which ones are worn, broken or missing.

 

[knuckle47]

My first foray into the realm of t-birds BUT… the steering column has been apart 4 times in the last few weeks in my ‘56 due to telescoping issues. In order to get to the telescoping parts you need to go thru the hub and directional.

The components of the holding mechanism are held on to by the spring over the directional switch and cancellation comes from the pawl holding it in place. You will need to remove the wheel to gain access however. Sounds like your facing minimal cost though unless you've got a problem with the switch itself. The switch moves easily and quietly but mine was quite gummy and sticky initially. The “stalk’ simply unscrews from the plate.

Quite possible a good cleaning will restore the action

 

[knuckle47]

Let me add that you should keep on eye on the spline positioning as the Stock wheel is keyed to the shaft. I replaced mine with the 15” diameter steering wheel which I love for the added room. But, there has to be some matching tolerances in the likely “made Overseas” replacement. I have used two of these smaller steering wheels and one fit nicely, the second one took some real thinking challenges to slide down the steering shaft. But regardless, just make sure your wheels are straight ahead when you pull it. Makes re-installing it a non-thinking activity. Go to page 7 of the CASCO steering wheel instruction sheets and look at their home made puller option…worked great for me without affecting the horn wire and spring

 

[MRansom]

My '57 turn signals work.... sort of, but you must firmly hold the stalk of the turn signal hard up or hard down. It will not stay in either position, and then cancel properly. I guess that is better than no signals at all!
Has anyone repaired a similar problem? I'd like to pre-order the likely parts that need replacing before I get into taking everything apart, but I just looked and a new 13304 Cancelling Plate is over 50 bucks.
The various springs and pawls are cheap. I suspect there is minimally a worn pawl and maybe a broken spring.
Can the turn signal mechanism be serviced by just removing the horn ring, or does the whole steering wheel need removing?

Any pre-advice welcome! Thanks Jeff

My 56 does ths same & I have learned to live with it

 

[Ward 57]

I had the opposite problem. Could turn the signals on but wouldn't cancel and I could feel resistance. Finally pulled the wheel and the cancelling system is pretty simple.
My problem was that the roller wheel which holds the canceller in position was displaced and the carrier was grinding. The cancelling cam on the wheel can be flipped and a new surface exposed will save the minor cost of replacing it. CASCO has a puller at about $32. Figure you will use it more than once.
Once you get it off you can see what's going on. There is a hump on the column to hold the mechanism in the turn setting until the cam on the wheel pulls it back into a neutral position. Put on your investigating hat. Simple system but one that bugs you when not working.

 

[knuckle47]

The 3/4 moon clip that goes onto the steering wheel is tight. I used two pliers to help spread the ends apart and did exactly what @Ward 57 had done. That 60+ year old part did have a heck of a groove cut into it. That flip gives it another 60+years

 

[55blacktie]

My '57 turn signals work.... sort of, but you must firmly hold the stalk of the turn signal hard up or hard down. It will not stay in either position, and then cancel properly. I guess that is better than no signals at all!
Has anyone repaired a similar problem? I'd like to pre-order the likely parts that need replacing before I get into taking everything apart, but I just looked and a new 13304 Cancelling Plate is over 50 bucks.
The various springs and pawls are cheap. I suspect there is minimally a worn pawl and maybe a broken spring.
Can the turn signal mechanism be serviced by just removing the horn ring, or does the whole steering wheel need removing?

Any pre-advice welcome! Thanks Jeff

Jeff, check your email in about 5 minutes.

 

[doug7740]

My '57 turn signals work.... sort of, but you must firmly hold the stalk of the turn signal hard up or hard down. It will not stay in either position, and then cancel properly. I guess that is better than no signals at all!
Has anyone repaired a similar problem? I'd like to pre-order the likely parts that need replacing before I get into taking everything apart, but I just looked and a new 13304 Cancelling Plate is over 50 bucks.
The various springs and pawls are cheap. I suspect there is minimally a worn pawl and maybe a broken spring.
Can the turn signal mechanism be serviced by just removing the horn ring, or does the whole steering wheel need removing?

Any pre-advice welcome! Thanks Jeff

Attached is an article I wrote on how to repair turn signals that cancel before making a turn.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[4VE]

My '57 turn signals work.... sort of, but you must firmly hold the stalk of the turn signal hard up or hard down. It will not stay in either position, and then cancel properly. I guess that is better than no signals at all!
Has anyone repaired a similar problem? I'd like to pre-order the likely parts that need replacing before I get into taking everything apart, but I just looked and a new 13304 Cancelling Plate is over 50 bucks.
The various springs and pawls are cheap. I suspect there is minimally a worn pawl and maybe a broken spring.
Can the turn signal mechanism be serviced by just removing the horn ring, or does the whole steering wheel need removing?

Any pre-advice welcome! Thanks Jeff

Hi: You must remove the steering wheel. I have had my turn signal mechanism on my 55 apart several times. trying to diagnose the electrical problems plaguing the system. I had the same exact problem. As a test, place your finger on the mechanism, just ever so slightly, select left or right and you can cause the detent wheel to remain in place on one side of the cam lobe or the other. I believe that the root cause of this problem is the casting design. If you remove the mechanism you will see that the system consists of a cam on the casting and a small cam follower bearing on the signal mechanism. The idea was that the cam follower went up and over the lobe and held in place until tripped but the cam is not angled properly. My thought is to drill and tap the surface of the casting to permit a screw to fasten a small tension spring. A hole can be drilled in the sheet metal mechanism to connect/hook the other end of the spring. This would pull the mechanism down to cause a load so it won't slip back over the cam. It really doesn't take much of a load for it to work properly as you can tell by the finger test. I acquired a number of various small springs that should do the trick. It is too cold here to work comfortably on it for the past few months and maybe there is another solution that I have to consider maybe a pressure type washer spring or maybe some type of expoxy to build up the cam. Still designing but have a few larger fish to fry before that one.

 

[Ward 57]

OMG

Hi: You must remove the steering wheel. I have had my turn signal mechanism on my 55 apart several times. trying to diagnose the electrical problems plaguing the system. I had the same exact problem. As a test, place your finger on the mechanism, just ever so slightly, select left or right and you can cause the detent wheel to remain in place on one side of the cam lobe or the other. I believe that the root cause of this problem is the casting design. If you remove the mechanism you will see that the system consists of a cam on the casting and a small cam follower bearing on the signal mechanism. The idea was that the cam follower went up and over the lobe and held in place until tripped but the cam is not angled properly. My thought is to drill and tap the surface of the casting to permit a screw to fasten a small tension spring. A hole can be drilled in the sheet metal mechanism to connect/hook the other end of the spring. This would pull the mechanism down to cause a load so it won't slip back over the cam. It really doesn't take much of a load for it to work properly as you can tell by the finger test. I acquired a number of various small springs that should do the trick. It is too cold here to work comfortably on it for the past few months and maybe there is another solution that I have to consider maybe a pressure type washer spring or maybe some type of expoxy to build up the cam. Still designing but have a few larger fish to fry before that one.

Over engineering. The mechanism is designed and even in the shop manual and other info is just to bend the wheel keeper at the score line to increase resistance. If the hip is degraded a little JB Weld could correct that.