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Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-01-16 9:31 PM (#607794)
Subject: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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I continue to take two steps ahead on my 56 Dodge and at least one or three steps back, progress-wise. Case in point, after disabling my car over Christmas to remove and paint the shifter housing (without removing the dash), I finally got it all back together the other day and started the car and let it run for awhile. All was good. YAY!!

About two days later, on this past Wednesday, it was warm (52 F), sunny and dry (no rain) enough to take her out for a spin. Car ran well, braked well and was generally good. Until I went to signal a turn. Nothing. Not good. I continued the spin but avoided situations where I had to turn left without a left turn bay.

Yesterday, I started the investigation of the issue, reviewing the FSM wiring diagrams that I have and the eBay one that I bought before I found out that it was crap. Regardless, what I am looking at on the car does not match either the FSM or the eBay diagrams. At the present time, there was no switched power to the "L" terminal of the signal flasher wiring socket which would be the reason for the issue (or the flasher is toast - but I think it is the power feed to the socket). I expected to find the wire from the "L" terminal to lead directly back to the ACC terminal on the ignition switch, but it doesn't. It goes into the steering column with a bunch of other wires and presumably towards the signal light switch. That is confusing. I don't know how power gets from the ignition switch to the signal switch and then to the "L" terminal of the flasher socket. I will be removing the steering wheel to get to the signal light switch but I know that I am going to scratching my head because those OE wire covers just don't show me the colours that the FSM suggested.

UPDATE: So that was yesterday. Today, I did remove the steering wheel and most of the turn signal switch. I had expected some kind of plug-in connection at the turn signal switch but NOPE. Seems to hard wired. I did at least investigate which wire was bringing switched power to the signal switch. It isn't the wire that I expected and it isn't the colour that I expected. I have a black vinyl insulated wire coming into the flasher socket at the "X" terminal (so not BLUE on the L as expected). The power from the flasher socket to the turn signal switch is a cloth covered wire of non-descript colour (yellow-ish) and it is in the "L" terminal. (So "X" and "L" got swapped somehow (probably doesn't matter to the flasher))

At least now I know which wire should be feeding out of the flasher socket to the turn signal switch.

I had been going by this diagram from the 56 Dodge FSM:



I also had been guided (or mis-guided) by photos of the turn signal switch that I had captured and saved from eBay years ago for future reference. The vinyl covered/insultated wire coloursmatch the FSM diagram quite well. (See below).

Reality of my May, 1956 LA-built 56 Dodge with its cloth covered wiring at the turn signal switch implies that either Detroit cars used different harnesses that the LA cars or the vinyl wire insulation was started later in the build cycle. Since I don't plan to start re-wiring the car to fix this small(ish) problem, I will find a way to fix what I have, starting with checking the switched 12V into the flasher socket in the "X" terminal and then getting the "L" wire to the turn signal switch (unless I decide to swap L and X to fit properly with the FSM diagram. Or just leave X and L alone, because there are wiring diagrams on the Net that look like that (X = power in to the flasher and L = power out to the turn signal switch).

Here are some pertinent photos/diagrams, starting with a generic 3 prong flasher circuit, then the eBay turn signal switch with nice vinyl wires and good colours that I had hoped to find today. And then reality.

Not as nice





Edited by 56D500boy 2021-01-16 10:00 PM




(GenericThree-prong-flasher-wiring.jpg)



(Late56SignalLightSwitchAssemblyAndWires_1.jpg)



(Late56SignalLightSwitchAssemblyAndWires_2.jpg)



(56DodgeSignalLightSwitch_Reality_1.jpg)



(56DodgeSignalLightSwitch_Reality_2.jpg)



(56DodgeSignalLightSwitch_Reality_3.jpg)



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Attachments GenericThree-prong-flasher-wiring.jpg (94KB - 257 downloads)
Attachments Late56SignalLightSwitchAssemblyAndWires_1.jpg (142KB - 260 downloads)
Attachments Late56SignalLightSwitchAssemblyAndWires_2.jpg (138KB - 257 downloads)
Attachments 56DodgeSignalLightSwitch_Reality_1.jpg (120KB - 266 downloads)
Attachments 56DodgeSignalLightSwitch_Reality_2.jpg (118KB - 262 downloads)
Attachments 56DodgeSignalLightSwitch_Reality_3.jpg (93KB - 256 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-01-17 11:10 PM (#607836 - in reply to #607794)
Subject: RE: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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The problem was the power out of the flasher socket was not getting to the switch. Probably because I broke one of those brittle wires when I was messing around with the shifter housing and things were in my way. The real problem is the FSM wiring diagram is wrong. It shows the switched power (from the IGN terminal) going into the L terminal on the flasher socket with a blue wire. In reality, it is a black wire from IGN to the X terminal of the flasher socket. Power goes through the flasher from the X terminal and out on the L terminal to the signal switch (not the other way around like the FSM shows). Just some confusion that I could only clear up (in my head) by digging down to the signal switch. Once I could see and probe the switch with my multimeter, it all started to make sense (that the FSM was wrong x 2).

Once that was sorted and tested (and a new connector for the power from the "L" terminal of the flasher socket to the signal switch was installed), everything was working electrically. The final step was to reassemble the electrical and mechanical bits together and install on the steering column.

There is an interesting (??) mechanism that is used to clamp the mechanical portion of the switch to the steering column. Of course, this is not easy to see or figure out until you remove that particular screw and the clamping block bit falls down into the steering housing (but not lost). The trick is to figure out how it goes back in. It is kind of a wedge that goes into the back side of the mechanical switch frame. It didn't take long to figure out. The trick was to pull the switch assembly out far enough to get the wedge into its slot and then get the clamping screw started before pushing everything back in.

I also noted that there is a lug on the metal switch frame that fits into the top part of the steering column. It locates the switch properly and takes thrust when you move the signal lever up (for right turns) or down (for left turns)

Now I need to lubricate the mechanical bits with some kind of grease before I put the steering wheel back on tomorrow.

Photo of the final interesting bits:



Edited by 56D500boy 2021-01-18 1:41 AM




(56DodgeSignalLightSwitch_InterestingBits.jpg)



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Attachments 56DodgeSignalLightSwitch_InterestingBits.jpg (215KB - 243 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-01-25 11:03 PM (#608195 - in reply to #607836)
Subject: RE: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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I was under the dash (under the steering column) today on a mission to tidy up the OE wiring and my recent revised flasher and eBrake warning light wiring.

I knew that there were seven wires going up the steering column, with 6 to do with the signal light switch and one to do with the horn (grounding) switch. Here are six of them at the signal light switch.



While I was messing around under the steering column today, I took these photos. They show the seven wires, including the horn switch wire and power wire from the flasher. You can see that my car has a mixture of vinyl insulated and rubber and cloth insulated wire. Joy.



Edited by 56D500boy 2021-01-25 11:05 PM




(TheSevenWiresThatEnterThe56DodgeSteeringColumnAndGoUpToTheSignalAndHornSwitches_Connectors.jpg)



(TheSevenWiresThatEnterThe56DodgeSteeringColumnAndGoUpToTheSignalAndHornSwitches.jpg)



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Attachments TheSevenWiresThatEnterThe56DodgeSteeringColumnAndGoUpToTheSignalAndHornSwitches_Connectors.jpg (168KB - 251 downloads)
Attachments TheSevenWiresThatEnterThe56DodgeSteeringColumnAndGoUpToTheSignalAndHornSwitches.jpg (190KB - 254 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-02-12 2:54 AM (#608775 - in reply to #608195)
Subject: RE: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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Just for some closure on this, I discovered that I had a bracket to hold the signal light flasher socket and two three wire connectors to the brake pedal bracket, to contain and corral all that horn and signal light wiring, that had come with the 1955 Power Brake Pedal assembly that I bought from John F. at Big M (Thanks John). So I organized the wires a bit and installed the bracket and the connectors and socket on my cars OE brake bracket. Not perfect yet but much better than it was. Remember my motto "Make My Car Better" (not perfect, just better than when I found it).

This:



As documented in this thread:

http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=75344&...



Edited by 56D500boy 2021-02-12 2:57 AM
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Stroller
Posted 2021-02-21 10:21 AM (#609126 - in reply to #607794)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch


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Me just glad to see my '56 isn't the only out there that still has the cloth covered wires. I hate wiring.
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56D500boy
Posted 2023-03-04 7:56 PM (#628055 - in reply to #609126)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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Stroller - 2021-02-21 7:21 AM
Me just glad to see my '56 isn't the only out there that still has the cloth covered wires. I hate wiring.


I don't know when or where (which plant) they switched to vinyl covered wiring but they did.

Witness this turn signal switch (again):



And Del S's (Dels56) "new" power steering column, complete with vinyl covered switch wiring. I presume that the wire colours matched up.

(Thanks for the photos Del)





(55-56DodgeAndPlymouthCoaxialSteeringColumn_ShowingWiring.jpg)



(55-56DodgeAndPlymouthCoaxialSteeringColumn_ShowingWiring_Detail.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments 55-56DodgeAndPlymouthCoaxialSteeringColumn_ShowingWiring.jpg (144KB - 69 downloads)
Attachments 55-56DodgeAndPlymouthCoaxialSteeringColumn_ShowingWiring_Detail.jpg (148KB - 66 downloads)
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Powerflite
Posted 2023-03-27 2:02 PM (#628574 - in reply to #628055)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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I'll have to check through all my '56's to see if any of them have vinyl wires. I assumed that they were all cloth in '56.
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56D500boy
Posted 2023-03-27 6:14 PM (#628579 - in reply to #628574)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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Powerflite - 2023-03-27 11:02 AM
I'll have to check through all my '56's to see if any of them have vinyl wires. I assumed that they were all cloth in '56.


It might make a difference as to which plant the car was built at. Mine was built in LA. Dels56's 56 Dodge was built in Detroit and he seems to have more vinyl covered wires than my car does.

I have no idea how that will play out in the world of 55-56 Plymouths.

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Powerflite
Posted 2023-03-27 8:00 PM (#628580 - in reply to #607794)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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When was Del's car built?
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56D500boy
Posted 2023-03-27 8:15 PM (#628581 - in reply to #628580)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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Powerflite - 2023-03-27 5:00 PM
When was Del's car built?


On or about Oct. 4th, 1955. His car's VIN is 3499nnnn, i.e. quite early build.

I hope my memory is correct regarding his wiring.

Del??

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dels56
Posted 2023-03-28 1:06 AM (#628583 - in reply to #607794)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch


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I’m a little late to the party but, as Dave mentioned, my car is a Detroit build. I have completely rewired my car front to back. The wires I pulled out were the old fabric/resin cover. The photos above of the power steering gear is the p/s I purchased from Desert Valley Auto Salvage, Casa Grande, AZ. from a 56 CRL 2 door hardtop similar to mine with a 315 Poly, Auto Trans and obviously power steering, no power brakes. I did not look at any wires however I would suspect the car had not been rewired. Possibly the signal switch had been replaced as there are signs of work done on the upper portion of the steering column. Possibly Chrysler started using vinyl late 56?
Del
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Powerflite
Posted 2023-03-30 2:22 PM (#628613 - in reply to #607794)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch



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I don't believe that they used vinyl wires until the 1957 model year. So that would be September of 1956. I don't remember ever seeing a '56 Plymouth with vinyl wires under the dash. Here is what I found on my cars in order of date: (I estimated the date of the Fury's & Convertible from the body number & total production number)

Pink Belv: Oct 27, 1955, Los Angeles: ______________________Cloth wires
Savoy: Nov. 15, 1955 Los Angeles:_________________________Cloth wires
Yellow Fury: 111*7.5/4485 = Jan 6, 1956, Evansville: _________Cloth wires
White Fury: 2370*7.5/4485 = April 29, 1956, Evansville: _______Cloth wires, Vinyl turn signal switch
Belv Vert: 6031*12/6735 = July 22, 1956, Detroit: ___________ Cloth wires

Note that my White Fury also has vinyl wires on it's turn signal switch. But I assume, like Del, that just means that the turn signal switch was swapped out with a replacement part that was made later on. All of the wires under the dash are cloth covered.

Edited by Powerflite 2023-03-30 4:38 PM
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ronbo97
Posted 2023-05-06 11:51 AM (#629350 - in reply to #628613)
Subject: Re: Investigation of a 56 Dodge Turn Signal Switch


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