kanipshin over turn signal switch

[Lee]

Man....I took apart the switch and cleaned it but it's obvious that the plastic part where the little steel ball rides is worn out and letting the contacts rise. That'd be why I can push or pull on the stalk and get it to work sometimes. ( the ball is what makes the stalk click and stay up or down when you signal.)

 

My b*%ch is that there isn't a connector for the 8 wires coming from it. They run down the inside of the collum, under the dash to a big 4" by 2" master juction box deal where it appears I'd have to play pin-out removal games, the wires I need to get to being up above and behind on the box, all while lying on my back.

 

I'm getting the new part tonight and by golly, tame word huh, I'll freaking splice them just under the dash before I try to deal with that junction box.

 

If I'm missing some crucial item here that is hidden away I sure need to know.

 

Thanks to anyone who's done it before and can give advice.

[MaroonRegal]

Conniption*

[god910]

TSS' aren't that hard to replace. Use some elec. tape to make the conn. point down, then feed it through the column. You don't have to remove wires from the box. It just clips in. I don't know about you, but the part I got (AC Delco) had an extra connector. I didn't know what it was but I just cut it off. No problems since. It was pretty easy though. Don't fret.

[Lee]

Conniption Fixed. It's a bit involved and I did have to do some pin-out switching. The signal switch runs 8 wires down to a connector that fits into a bigger juction box under the dash. More on that in a min. The connector is a 1x18 pin-out connector, so it's long and thin, about 3/4"x3". The 8 wires use half the connector the rest is empty EXCEPT.....there are 2 more wires, not from the signal switch that go into that connector, a green one and an off green/black stripe one. They run together and I assume they are the brake light wires. Anyway, you have to use a paperclip or tiny screwdriver to unclip them (pin-out) from the old connector and click them back into the new connector, pin-outs 9 and 10.

 

Removing the actual switch is really easy so I'll stay with the wiring for now.

You have to remove the panel just under the collum and the one further under the dash. Follow the signal switch wires down to that 2"x 31/2" junction box. It is clipped into a holder that's bolted under the dash. The clips are on the top edges of the box, passenger side. just wedge each of the 2 with a screwdriver and it'll pop out. Now you can pull the box down an inch or two and tilt. (you are lying on your back under there looking up) You will see a bolt head in the middle of the junction box, driverside, it's a 7mm by my chinese tools. That, you unscrew using a socket and it pulls the whole set of connectors apart. Be carefull to keep it even as it comes apart....same for when you put it back together, it likes to tilt.

Now, the top one is the signal switch connector, it slides out towards the passengerside after you use a screwdriver to lift its center over a tiny locking tab. Now you have the connector end of the old signal switch and can do the pin-out change I described earlier. DON'T PUT THE GREeN WIRE AND OFF GREEN/BLACK STRIPED WIRES INTO THE NEW CONNECTOR UNTIL YOUR INSTALLED THE NEW SWITCH AND RUN THE WIRES DOWN.. I broke one pin-out tab and had to splice another from the old connector.

 

I also chose to run the wires only through the upper part of the steering collum, but not through the plastic chute that runs the wires through the lower part of the collum. It'll make sense when you get under there.

 

I know this is all jumbled, sorry, you can always copy it to a word processor and edit it.

 

Switch removal is: remove steering wheel, you'll see the switch now with its 6 metal contacts on its right side. You remove the plastic cover by unscrewing the silver screw on the upper right of the switch and the screw that hold the signal lever on. You have to lift and jiggle the cover a bit because ther is a L shaped 2 1/2" tab below the lever to the left bottom of the switch that rests inside grooves in the cover to keep things in place. Jiggle well and it comes loose. The there's just two more black screws that hold the switch to the collum. With it off, I cut the old connector off the wires and pulled the wires up through the collum and tossed the whole thing in the yard.

Now, bend the wires at the connector to streamline it so the connector end isn't much wider than the wires themselves and feedthe connector end down the same path the old wires came out of. As I said I chose to only route through the upper part of the collum and let the wires run outside the bottom part where the clear plastic runner tube goes. It looked too hard to get the connector through.

Plug the connector into the juction box, reassemble.

 

I know this is long but I wanted you guys to have the info on how to do this. I was going to splice the 8 wires and be done with it, avoiding all the connector, pin-out, underdash hassle but I was convinced by the auto part guy to do it right. He said If I'm set on splicing,,,, to solder the connections to avoid high resistance.

[god910]

I'm still trying to figure out why you had to do any of this. You're telling me the replacement TSS for your car is not just PNP??? That seems a little stupid to me. WHY did you have to change any pins?

[Lee]

The signal switch has 8 wires running from it to the connector. The connector gets two more wires from what I assumed was brakes, a green wire and an off green/black stripe wire. So, when you plug it into the junction box that connector has a total of 10 wires going into it.

 

You have to transfer those two wires from the old connector to the new connector or else you'll have those two green wires not plugged into the system.

 

Another tip: today after I put the wheel back on, I popped the stop light fuse and the signal light fuse. Which really confused me because it worked fine testing it yesterday.

 

I removed the wheel and switch from the collum again. The probem was that where the wires come out of the black casing in back of the switch and bend down, they rubbed or compressed enough to ground to the top of the steering collum which is metal. I covered them with two layers of electrical tape and all is fine. The aftermarket wires have a thinner coating of plastic over them than the originals.

[LukeZ34]

I had to do the same thing on my Lumina when I changed the TSS.

[god910]

but the part I got (AC Delco) had an extra connector. I didn't know what it was but I just cut it off. No problems since.

 

Yup, I know what you are saying now. I just cut them off. What do they do again?

[alanbshort]

whenever i had to replace my TSS, i took of the dash part right under the steering wheel and pulled out every wire out of the junction box thing and pinned them in the new one while laying on my back in the floorboard, but im also a small guy. if you do this be sure to label the wires so you dont forget where they go.

[digitaloutsider]

whenever i had to replace my TSS, i took of the dash part right under the steering wheel and pulled out every wire out of the junction box thing and pinned them in the new one while laying on my back in the floorboard, but im also a small guy. if you do this be sure to label the wires so you dont forget where they go.

 

lol.. man that had to be a pain. These things just pop out as a whole harness.

[whiteSE]

The pin outs were probably the hardest part of the install. I was so worried about breaking them!

 

I only had to switch out 2 or 3 pins so I think it may depend on the model year GP you have as to how many pins you must change.

 

If you keep everything together and then compare old with the new it becomes fairly obvious what you have to change to make the new look like the old.

 

Mine is now 1 year after install and still works flawlessly ...... THANK GOD.... as I had heard rumours that after a few months it would go bad again.

[Lee]

Mine is aftermarket. The click when signaling is kind of hard, not smooth like before but, hey, I got brake lights and my signals are dependable...I can live with it. I tend to dance in and out of traffic when I'm agitated by "the mentally dissabled." I'd say if you have the money get the genuine GM part. I needed mine quick and couldn't wait for shipping from GMdirect.com.

 

My left rear signal always worked even if the dash one didn't. But the front left didn't work if the dash one didn't, then I'd tap the stalk and it would work. The right side brake lights were out.

 

I had rewired the tail lights and had brake lights working ecept for when I signaled right. Then It was just the 3rd brake light working. But the other night I found that the rear right signal wasn't always working even when the dash said it was. That made me blow the $104 for the switch.