Indicator stalk woes

[Bobster]

At the moment the indicator stalk in my 71 Westy won't stay in position either up or down. It's not floppy as such and I've had a look at the unit itself and everything looks okay so can anyone explain what it is that holds them in position?

It was working then refused to go up, I undid the holding and gave it a spray of wd40 which cured thus problem but now it just won't click up or down.


Obviously this is an mot fail but before I go to the hassle/expense of finding the right replacement unit I was just wondering if there was anything I could do ?

 

[Trikky2]

First remove it again from the column and see it if now clicks and holds left and right.
If yes then it's because it was not in the right spot on the column. Re fit it correctly.

If it still won't hold, first check the screws holding the mechanism in the housing are tight. If loose they will allow the mech to move and hence the stalk doesn't have enough travel to engage.

If the screws and mechanism are tight in the housing it's time to undo those screws and remove it from its housing.

You will now be able to see the mechanism work. There are two pawls with small springs that engage on small posts when you operate the stalk. These hold the stalk in the left right position. When the steering wheel lug rotates round it will touch these and the pawls will release and the stalk goes beck to centre position.

Sticking pawls due to dirt or corrosion or missing springs will cause your symptoms.
Check the pawls are free to move, clean and lubricated and that they have their springs fitted.

 

[Bobster]

Thanks trikky that's a great explanation. I'll have another look tomorrow evening after work.

 

[RichardAlexander]

First remove it again from the column and see it if now clicks and holds left and right.
If yes then it's because it was not in the right spot on the column. Re fit it correctly.

If it still won't hold, first check the screws holding the mechanism in the housing are tight. If loose they will allow the mech to move and hence the stalk doesn't have enough travel to engage.

If the screws and mechanism are tight in the housing it's time to undo those screws and remove it from its housing.

You will now be able to see the mechanism work. There are two pawls with small springs that engage on small posts when you operate the stalk. These hold the stalk in the left right position. When the steering wheel lug rotates round it will touch these and the pawls will release and the stalk goes beck to centre position.


I did this on the same fault all good damn those pesky screws comming loose

Sticking pawls due to dirt or corrosion or missing springs will cause your symptoms.
Check the pawls are free to move, clean and lubricated and that they have their springs fitted.

 

[Bobster]

Been out there playing with this again but this then resulted in two of the wires / solders giving way so wasted yet nore time fixing these.

Anyhow with the stalk completely removed from the housing it is much better and seems to hold however whan placed back it refuses to stay, although I have got the left top stick 90% of the time :roll:

The units themself look okay and I've tried repositioning on the column to no effect. I did notice that one of the springs has been stretched meaning that there is now different tension on each side so I'm wondering if this is the problem. Mind you this then introduces the problem of trying to find similar tiny springs !!!!

Can I also check that when the steering wheel is straight should the cancel tab underneath be alligned with the indicator as this is how it is set up at the moment.

Starting to get frustrated now but still dont fancy forking out the £100+ for the repro item :lol:

 

[Trikky2]

If its due to wear you can revive these by carefully un hooking the springs to give you access to the curved surface of the pawl. With a Dremel it's then possible to lightly deepen the curved part which holds onto the small post. This means they hold better. It's fiddelly, especially hookingq the springs back on after but if your good at say, model making, then it's not too hard and, as you say, cheaper than buying a new one.