Bad Turn Sigal Switch?

[Galaxie500XL]

Quick question...wife was behind me going home, and noticed no brake lights on the left side ('95 Cutlass).

 

Checked the bulbs, they looked good...Tried turn signals, I got binks, turned on the lights, have lights. Press the brake pedal, no lights on the left side.

 

So, just for grins, I turned the turn signal on for a left turn...brake lights work on the left, but ONLY if the turn signal switch is engaged for a left turn.

 

Bad turn signal switch?

[bg35765]

Probably, but replace the turn signal flasher first. It costs $5 and takes 2 minutes to replace. I had symptoms that made me think it was a turn signal switch and it turned out to be the flasher.

 

The turn signal switch is a lot more work. You have to remove the air bag, clock spring, and pull the steering wheel.

[tazman11683]

Quick question...wife was behind me going home, and noticed no brake lights on the left side ('95 Cutlass).

 

Checked the bulbs, they looked good...Tried turn signals, I got binks, turned on the lights, have lights. Press the brake pedal, no lights on the left side.

 

So, just for grins, I turned the turn signal on for a left turn...brake lights work on the left, but ONLY if the turn signal switch is engaged for a left turn.

 

Bad turn signal switch?

 

 

yep bad blinker switch very common on the w cars

[RobertISaar]

sounds almost identical to what's happening with the 95MC... does sound like a bad switch.

 

with mine, you can move the stalk around in a small circle and the lights will come on and off depending on where it is being held.

[virtuetovice]

When my TSS went bad I could pull the stalk toward myself a bit and both brake lights would work. Just get the wife to spot for you and hold the brakes while wiggling the stalk around. If you're lucky you'll get some action.

[rich17]

Anyone have a good write up on doing the turn signal switch? I think mine is going

[RobertISaar]

http://tss.likeabigdog.com/

[Euro]

with mine, you can move the stalk around in a small circle and the lights will come on and off depending on where it is being held.

 

 

My Lumina's tss did that along with the occasional smoke show, it made for some lulz.

[Reride]

I'm having the same problem with '92, it has SWRC. Is it nessasary to replace the piece that the stalk plugs into..aka the high beam switch.

[Galaxie500XL]

Did a little checking on it today...it's definitely the turn signal switch. Depending on where it's wiggled, I have only the 3rd taillight, the right taillight, both taillights, or NO taillights. 3rd light works in every spot I tried.

 

Are any of the switches any better than the others? Choices seem to be BWD, Wells, or OEM.

[Galaxie500XL]

Update:

 

Thanks everyone! The write-up was great, and the car is back to 100%...the only real problem areas for me was getting that stupid lock plate retaining ring off the shaft, and looking around a while for one of the 3 screws that hold the turn signal switch in place.

 

 

Everything works, and my brake lights are working again!

 

Thanks again for all the assistance!

[virtuetovice]

Congrats on fixing it.

[AL]

What brand did you go with

[Galaxie500XL]

I got the BWD from Advance...with a coupon I had, cost was $60.00... Not bad for a switch for a SWRC car, and a lifetime warranty...

 

What brand did you go with

[mhildebrand]

I just talked to advanced today about getting a new TSS. My problem is that when turning left, the lights blink extremely slow, or not at all, and when parking lights are turned on, the left indicator on the dash stays lit, but the left side marker and inner light do not light up. I put in all new bulbs up front, swapped the hazards flasher into the turn flasher, and I still have the same problem, leading me to the TSS. When looking for the switch, they had 3 that came up. One for SWRC, on for "with electronic pushbutton", and one "without electronic pushbutton". Are they talking about the cruise control for the electronic pushbutton? The price on that switch is $106, and the SWRC one is $64.

[Galaxie500XL]

Make/model/year?

 

I'm still in San Diego, flying back today, so I should be able to check tomorrow, once I get home. Best I recall, mine was the BWD, for SWRC, and cost $94.00 before I used a discount coupon.

[mhildebrand]

96 cutlass supreme coupe. 3100, cruise, SWRC. When I turn on the parking lights, the front two on the left do not light up, and the indicator on the dash for left turn lights up. I have another light wired into the left side parking lights, and it works fine. That is the main reason I'm leaning towards the TSS. They had 2 BWD, and one Wells. But each of the three were different like I said in the last post.

 

PNs: (From Advanced)

 

with SWRC: S3264P

 

Still dont know what they mean by electronic push button control..

 

S3265 - without push button control with out SWRC so its not this one.

 

S3264 - with push button control, with SWRC

Edited April 10, 2013 by mhildebrand

[Galaxie500XL]

Mine is S3264P...I'm assuming my '95 and your '96 are pretty much the same.

[mhildebrand]

I meant to post yesterday, talked to 3 different people at Advanced. Apparently the push button control is referring to the ACC on the wheel.

 

It turned out to not be the TSS on my car. I unplugged the TSS and when turning the parking lights on, the left dash indicator stayed lit. I started in with the multimeter and found the inside left socket had 300+ ohms from battery to socket. it ended up being the socket itself that was bad. I have a complete wiring harness from a junked cutlass so I was able to put another in and it solved the problem.