hi Matt ! Kinda long ‘splain story— but here goes! Does the lever lock into position when you move it , in one or both positions? if it does ( and of course lights flash , and brake light works ) , the switch in the dash is working fine electrically By way of explanation , for you (and others , ) there are three circuits through that switch. Good thinking on your part wanting to know the “how” Other than the operating lever breaking off , ( on early ones— they beefed it up later on.. that can be fixed mechanically but hard to do — I was at that point long ago ) they are actually rugged and reliable. The black switch block part of it benefits a lot from a few drops of 75 W oil in the operating slot / pin of the black block , face up . Switch can get sticky inside ( the mopar hard grease in switches issue again) and that prevents it from releasing mechanically , Difficult to open it , riveted . I have , — you do not need to with oil This added friction drag is related to it breaking off the lever too . as it gets hard to move it Hold part is often rusty , clean up and oil . So the three circuits , 1) When in the middle it connects both tail lamps to the brake power circuit via brake switch , this circuit is live with key off . Anything wrong impacts brake lights 2) when you move switch it disconnects one tail lamp from brakes and then connects that one to separate power supplied through the flasher , key on only, via the directional light fuse . It also connects the front one the to the selected rear . The current flow through the flasher heats it internally, and it snaps open , Repeat . Bulbs F and R have to be all in place and good ( grounds)!) or it flashes slow or not at all . 3 ) the third circuit is unique to our cars ; when the switch is moved, yet another (!) set of contacts connects a holding magnet coil to either a right or left “hold it wire “ ( I think orange and purple ) that go to the switch on the steering column . Normally sitting , both wires are connected to live power there , the switch holds if moved over . When turning the wheel the little lever is flipped selectively opening R or L hold power to magnet . Apparently this was done so if you have left blinking and move right before your left it wont shut off ? The column switch design is a sad pathetic joke inside , two flimsy springs that are also the contacts break off . Long ago I spent days on that thing including making new internal parts. The little flip lever can also get bound up in the middle and then when you turn wheel you snap it off Really poor mechanical design . Interesting , I once encountered an aftermarket service version (?I I think Standard Motor Parts— the Blue streak guys) , totally redesigned approach beautifully done . Chased that , it was obsoleted years ago . I built one from scratch with V3 microswitches too , but inherently a very fussy mechanical thing — if not just perfect the lever will be snapped off by steering . Conclusion: : switch idea is a dog I see many 300 ‘s at meets happily cruising down the road with directional on , as often loose pieces break off and keep hold power on , or it wont hold at all. I thought about a single release switch ignore the R and L flipping idea ( just turn it on again) that could be reliable , a V3 with a roller releases either way But again might be left on. So took a page from motorcycles, and fixed it electrically for myself, with a timer ,an add on part now sold by Forward look parts . Small box lives at former steering switch location releases it after x seconds. No need to sense column . It was not trivial , as we had to sense current flow of the hold coil to know directional is on , to start the timer . This was dine to be able to just replace the flip flop switch and not get into car wiring at all And no more driving with directional flashing/ causing possible accident , or damaging car Hope this helps, John G On Oct 4, 2025, at 3:05 PM, 'Matt Allyn' via Chrysler 300 Club International <chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: -- For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylang --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chrysler 300 Club International" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chrysler-300-club-international+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/chrysler-300-club-international/3A8FC4AE-464E-4B96-8D45-1F366103C72D%40gradyresearch.com. |
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