I want to try to reuse my original turn signal switch in my 49 merc column...(the aftermarket are bulky and out of place, but will resort to it if I have to) of course the old wires are on it..and I cannot seem to find out which terminal does what. I have checked my big merc book and it doesn't seem to address it. I want to solder new wires onto the switch, but wouldn't know what wire will do what, once I merge it into the new harness I have which is aftermarket. Am i complicating this?? Any help from the wise old sages. The pictures are below. thanks tok
you should be able to figure it out. an ohm meter would help. There are two sides to the switch. There are two power sources: one is the brake light switch, the other is the turn signal flasher can. The front lights will be switched on when the switch moves to one side. The rear lights are normally connected to the brake power, then each one will switch off the brake and get power from the flasher when the switch is moved to that side. Your picture is not very clear, the wires are in the way of seeing the contacts...
From the 1949-1950-1951 Lincoln Mercury Overhaul Manual: (the O's are the terminals as shown in your pic) O - GREEN - TO STOP LIGHT SWITCH O - GREEN WITH ORANGE - LEFT REAR STOP/TURN >>>>>>> O - GREEN WITH WHITE - LEFT FRONT TURN & LEFT INDICATOR O - BLUE - TO FLASHER "L" TERMINAL >>>>>>> O - WHITE WITH BLUE - RIGHT FRONT TURN & RIGHT INDICATOR O - ORANGE WITH BLUE - RIGHT REAR STOP/TURN O - GREEN - TO STOP LIGHT SWITCH The two to the stop light switch are shown jumpered at the switch. Hope this helps.
sorry about the poor pics...there is 7 contacts on the backside 5 of the left and 2 on the right..two are soldered together and the other have their own wire coming off them. i can't use the original wires as guides as the colors are all gone...so that's is the reason for my question. tok
Read my post again. It shows the five on the left and the two on the right. It gives where they go to in addition to the colors. The O's are the terminals. The two that have the >>>>> are the two terminals on the right.
I can remembering figuring this out from scratch on my '48...did not even know about the brakelight function. I was maybe 17...spent hours charting what was connected to what in each position and puzzling over the wires that switched OFF when I was thinking ON...suddenly light dawned, right before my head would have exploded. By the way, it is easy to pry up tabs and disassemble switch...clean out innards, polish contacts, grease. Just be REALLY careful about what goes where during disassembly.
Thanks guys...that makes more sense... I will get to it tonight. jim...that picture really helps.. I tend to overcomplicate things..so this will be an easy move.. Thanks all. tok
iam going through my switch like this, had a question, should i use any type of lube, inside the switch,or on the moveable parts inside the column for the turn singal workings ,didnt want dust and stuff collecting in the lube,making it hard to move at some point...
Synchronizers I could watch happening in a trans, which helped make sense of what I could read. Making the signals work on the brakelight filaments without feedback damn near fried me (I'm sure I would have been a lot higher in my college GPA if somebody had explained the double switch too me...figuring that out myself occupied all my brain cells for sophomore year!). I was busily designing a stupidly complex workaround using an army of relays and extra junk when my 8,000th study of my terminal function diagrams made the truth click. Best kludge before the fix was simply not using brakes when someone was behind me in a turn...them '48s slide steady and true.
Its Not that Hard to do like Squirrel said use a Ohm meter I done mine about 9 months ago! Just Patient is all you Need
C&G in California sells all the correct colored wires to resolder on your switch. I did it 3 years ago, they work perfect. I would use a little electrical lube in the switch.
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