Alright, sometime soon I'm going to be putting in a new turn signal switch, and I just have a few questions about it.

1. Duralast turn signal switch (without tilt wheel): $86. Has anyone else bought from this brand? Do they hold up? Are they worth the price?

2. Steering wheel puller, I've heard some people say they are mandatory and some others say they've never used one despite taking off many-a-steering wheel. What sort of stores sell them (Auto parts? Hardware?) and are they one-size fits all? I guess I'm kind of asking how they work.

3. Any other general advice? Once again, I've heard a differing of opinions: People have said that once you get in there, it's a simple switch-out, others have said it's been a PITA.

 

Here's one my dad made; the two fine-threaded screws pull the wheel up and off the splined shaft, the shaft fits into the center indentation.





I don't recommend the one from Sears for that job, it doesn't fit inside the plastic void
created when you remove your horn bottons.

Before you remove the steering wheel, MARK on the wheel AND on the column its
present location so you can put it back into the EXACT same place.

I consider it an easy job but that's just my opinion. You need to remove the
plastic trim & column shroud, first, but that's not hard.

I've only bought Ford OEM variants, and the wires are not clipped into the
gray, plastic connector so they can be run down the column. To remove the
old, pry up the red plastic from the mating side of the connector, then use a
tiny screwdriver or dental pick or similar small tool to move the plastic tabs
so the wire can be pulled out.

It will all present itself to you as pretty obvious once you open stuff up and
look at it....

 

Is the reason for replacing it that it doesn't cancel when you turn the wheel? I haven't seen the Duralast switch. They sell the nylon piece that cancels the lever separately in the "Help" section at some auto parts. It's very reasonable and not worth what it costs. Compared to the Ford switch it is very flimsy and didn't do me any good.
Anyway that is probably the main thing to look at. Compare the white nylon arms to the factory ones. In the meantime you could compare them to the POS in the Help isle. They should be beefier.

 

It cancels some of the time. I'm thinking that the cam is snapped, but also, it's been messing with my brake lights (one or the other will be out after I used a turn signal, it's hard to explain) so I'm thinking the switch is also about shot. Does anyone know what I mean with this brake light stuff?

 

I think most Autozone and the like carry them.

Yes, they are pretty much one size fits all, with the exception of the fasteners used to attach the puller to what is being pulled. Basic principle is, bolt the puller to what is being pulled, and screw the center bolt in. Center bolt applies its force to the shaft - and puller is bolted to what you're pulling - so the part comes off. Only trick is making sure to bolt the puller up such that you can apply even pressure, straight and square to the shaft. Good to have a few hand-fulls of flat washers on hand.

I've got a Snap-On puller set from 20 years ago, it works fine. Typical puller, I've used the same rig to pull steering wheels and harmonic balancers. Snap-On wants ~$200 for the rig today.. Yikes.
CG6095A, Set, Steering Wheel Puller

The Snap-On unit has 4 slots for use in bolting up the puller, gives some extra flexibility, allowing up to 4 bolts to hold the part. It also has a variety of noses for the center screw.

Harbor Freight sells a two-bolt unit, ~$20. The quality is probably not as good, but for twenty bucks, I'd go for it, and hope to get 4-5 pulls before expecting it to fail.
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

I've never done this without a puller. Not sure how the steering wheel would come off *without* a puller.. The ones I've worked on had tapered shaft, and I don't think heel bars or hammer would get it done.

 

Yeah, my 1970 Mustang's brake lights did weird things when the turn signal
switch died. The brake & turn signal lights both use the same filament in the
bulbs; the other filament is used by the running lights.

You might see if wiggling the turn signal lever changes the behavior of the brake
lights.

 

Hmm... this is probably a weird question, but, how should I "wiggle" it? Back to back? Side to side? If I can resolve the brake light thing, that's all I really want, so my truck will pass inspection (and not have a hefty service fee along with the inspection bill).

 

When you say the brake lights go out- do you mean the bulbs need to be changed or the brake lights just work intermittantly? Have you taken a good look at the sockets?

 

Up & down, as if you were trying to signal lane changes.

I had weird problems in my Mustang... This was close to 30
years ago and my memories are likely a bit vague, but I *do*
remember having to manually move the lever down & up to
signal LH turns, the flasher circuit wasn't working. And, I
remember sometimes the rear LH brake light would stay on
if the lever hadn't been re-centered correctly (but the
flasher itself never did anything). That switch assembly
seems to be the same thing that's in these 1980s-variant
trucks, too.

 

Alright, it's been about forever since I put this thread up, but I now have the switch in my posession (finally) and will be getting a steering wheel puller either today or tomorrow... I have until 3 pm on Monday to get it worked out, since then I have a date with the vehicle inspectors. I just want to kinda bump this thread back up because I know I will probably have questions while I'm working on it, along with the following:

-How do you remove the column shroud? Is it screwed on somehow or is there another technique?

-Is removing the turn signal stalk as simple as it looks? The hole in the new switch that accepts it makes it look like it just screws in/out.

 

You don't need to mess with the shroud. 2 screws in the back of the horn pad. Back them out and disconnect the horn wires. One big nut right in front of you. Take it off. Should be two threaded holes in the wheel on either side of where you took the big nut off. Whatever size bolt threads into them (5/16" maybe?) is what you use with the puller to remove the wheel. The switch will be right in front of you and it can be replaced from the front. You may want to mark the wheel and column shaft so that you can put the wheel back in the same place.

IIRC, the turn signal level does indeed unscrew.

 

You do need to remove the column cover. This is so you can thread the wires down through the column properly. They are exposed between the column and the cover.

The cover is held on with one screw at the bottom from underneath and is split in half. Remove the screw and pull the cover off around the column through the split. The cover is flexible for this purpose.

You don't need to remove the cover to pull the wheel. Just to thread the new wires.

If you use a string or cable runner, tie it to the old wires as you remove them, and the string will help guide the new wires back through the same way.

The turn signal lever does indeed unscrew. There is a flat part indented on the chrome piece of the lever to put your wrench on for tightening and loosening. Don't use too much force to tighten it or snap!

Hope this helps.

 

What wires? The switch I have has a plug on the back of it that plugs in. There are no wires attached to the switch and no reason to go any further. We are talking about a turn signal switch here not an ignition, right?

 

What year model? and does it have a tilt wheel.

I'll do some cross checking..

The turn signal switch I have you have to pull the wires out of the horseshoe connector at the bottom of the column, and feed it through the column. 81 F-150 Standard column.

EDIT: From my books:

Fixed Column:
1980-1983: E1HZ-13341-K ?
1984: E4TZ-13341-A
1985-1986: E5TZ-13341-E

Tilt Column:
1980-1983: E1TZ-13341-D
1984: E4TZ-13341-B
1985-1986: E5TZ-13341-B

 

The switch I'm looking at is a genuine NOS Ford part# E1HZ-13341-D. (At least that's what the box says). The switch itself has a sticker on it that says E1HT 13B302-JA BP842. It has an 8 prong plug receptacle in the back and no loose wires.

Now that I think back, I may have not pulled the switch in my truck when I messed with it last time, perhaps I'm confusing it with another vehicle. But this switch is supposed to fit my truck, a 1980 w/ tilt column. I won't know for sure until I tear mine apart to replace it, but between my recollection of it and the make-up of this switch, I thought it was a plug in deal.

The question is, does the OP's switch have a plug or a bunch of wires?