Oh, the things you wish you wouldn't have lived with.
We've had our bus about five years and the blinker switch assembly (just below the steering wheel) came with a massive wrap of electrical tape holding it in place. Everything worked it just looked like crap if you actually looked at it.
I know the assembly is getting expensive to replace, but yesterday I finally got brave enough to open Pandora's box - and got lucky. I unwrapped all the sticky old tape and found that its sole purpose was to keep the assembly from "spinning" on the steering column. Nothing was "broken" actually.
Separating the two halves of the assembly reveals a removable metal "C" that acts as a clamp to lock the unit in place on the column. Since nothing looked broken I assumed my "C" must have lost its clamp. I used my bench vice to deform it ever so slightly - making it a "(" by exaggeration - and put the whole assembly back together. Nice and snug now with no hideous tape.
Why didn't I do that earlier!?
1970 Bus Blinker Switch / Stalk Assembly
- sped372
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Waunakee, WI
- Status: Offline
1970 Bus Blinker Switch / Stalk Assembly
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX
- Hippie
- IAC Addict!
- Location: 41º 35' 27" N, 93º 37' 15" W
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Re: 1970 Bus Blinker Switch / Stalk Assembly
Why don't I do that now that I read how?sped372 wrote: Why didn't I do that earlier!?
No tape but it's got the spins.
- ruckman101
- Lord God King Bwana
- Location: Up next to a volcano.
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- dtrumbo
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Mill Creek, WA
- Status: Offline
Since we're thread-piling... do any of you '70 (aka early bay) owners have this problem? In my wife's '70, the signals work great electrically, it's the mechanical action of the signal lever that's hinky. When you push or pull the lever to turn on the signals, nearly half the time the signal lever pops back to the neutral or off position. I've replaced the switch with a different used one (new ones are NLA) and it does the same thing. If you turn the steering wheel off of centered (left or right), it seems to make it better as the canceling mechanism is in a different location. This makes no sense and I'm pretty much just rambling now, but has anyone else experienced this? If so, what did you do, if anything, to correct it?
- Dick
1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.
... as it turns out, it was the coil!
1970 Transporter. 2015cc, dual Weber IDF 40's
1978 Riviera Camper. Bone stock GE 2.0L F.I.
1979 Super Beetle convertible.
... as it turns out, it was the coil!
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Take it apart and look for the spring over-center track in the plastic. That is what holds it in position whilst signalling. The cancelling tab overpowers the detent and lets the spring bring it back to off. Methinks judicious and craftspersonlike lubrication may help you.dtrumbo wrote:Since we're thread-piling... do any of you '70 (aka early bay) owners have this problem? In my wife's '70, the signals work great electrically, it's the mechanical action of the signal lever that's hinky. When you push or pull the lever to turn on the signals, nearly half the time the signal lever pops back to the neutral or off position. I've replaced the switch with a different used one (new ones are NLA) and it does the same thing. If you turn the steering wheel off of centered (left or right), it seems to make it better as the canceling mechanism is in a different location. This makes no sense and I'm pretty much just rambling now, but has anyone else experienced this? If so, what did you do, if anything, to correct it?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- sped372
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Waunakee, WI
- Status: Offline
Re: 1970 Bus Blinker Switch / Stalk Assembly
Do it! Report back - I'll feel better if I motivated someone else to fix it as well.Hippie wrote:Why don't I do that now that I read how?sped372 wrote: Why didn't I do that earlier!?
No tape but it's got the spins.
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX