Turn signal self cancel issue

[asshanson]

Anybody know how turn signals self cancel? For some reason, instead of cancelling at the 11 and 1 o'clock positions on the steering wheel, they are about 9 and 11. So if I make a tight left turn it will turn off about half way back to straight, and if I make a right turn it wont turn off until I turn the wheel left a bit.

It's getting a bit annoying to have to manually turn off the signal each time, wondering if anybody knows how they work internally and how to fix this.

[A//// Guy]

Its all mechanical. Ive taken apart an old buicks before.. but its easier just to replace it if its broken.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/turn-signal3.htm

[JET]

Sounds like the steering wheel was taken off and put back on in the wrong spot, they they made it straight with an alignment. That will make the 2 sides uneven. Some depend on how fast you turn back to center too.

[bigboostingst]

I'm going with jets guess. When your car was in an accident I'm guessing the steering wheel was removed to replace the clockspring. When it was reassembled, it was not lined up properly which of course was hidden by the alignment.

[asshanson]

No accident, but the car does have an aftermarket steering wheel. 1/4 turn of the wheel is quite a bit to correct with an alignment, isn't it?

[Kracka]

Anything is possible of the people doing the work don't care.

[asshanson]

Yep just checked the steering wheel, I can turn 1.6 turns left, and 1.2 turns right.

In the pic I just took, the steering wheel is pretty much straight forward. You can see behind the aftermarket adapter there is a notch where straight up would normally be. Guess I need to rotate the adapter one bolt counter clockwise and then get an alignment to straighten it back out.

http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/data/675/steering.jpg

[polishmafia]

Sounds like a clockspring problem - if you race car has one.

And 1/4 turn is a lot to correct with an alignment, but honestly I've seen worse.

[asshanson]

It's not a full 1/4 turn I suppose, more like 1/6 or so. Guess that makes sense with my analogy of cancel spots being 2 hours off at 9 and 11 instead of 11 and 1.

And starting from straight up, the rack physically moves further in one direction the same amount this is off, tells me it's a simple fix of just re-alignment.

EDIT: Since I'm a total noob at alignment, is the tire direction adjusted by tie rod end threading? My steering rack is actually pointed left from center, so should I see more threading on the rod on the driver side, and less on the passenger side to make them appear straight?

[JET]

Yep just checked the steering wheel, I can turn 1.6 turns left, and 1.2 turns right.


What do I win? :P Yeah, you would adjust the tie rods to get the alignment back where it should be. It looks like the steering wheel adjustment is easy, I would drive the car to the alignment place and do it in their parking lot. Then you won't mess up your tires driving there and you don't have to try and guess to a half ways decent alignment to get there on.