Lost turn signals

[Bighead]

I have no turn signal indication on the dash or at any of the corners. Everything else on that stalk and the steering column work fine (headlights w/ hi-beams, wipers. The turn signal lamps on the dash work fine when the hazards are activated. All fuses are good.

The only thing I can think of is that the turn signal switch in the steering column decided to die on me overnight. Any other ideas?

I have the part number for the turn signal stalk/switch. Has anybody replaced one of these yet and can give me some pointers?

[Peter]

Do the turn signals actually work?
So we're talking only about the internal indicator, right?

Bump for your issue. I'm curious myself.

[Lee]

All fuses are good.

how do you know, by looking at em? sometimes fuses can look good but theyre bad, change em out, see if that works.

[Bighead]

Do the turn signals actually work?
So we're talking only about the internal indicator, right?

Bump for your issue. I'm curious myself.

The internal indicators work when I activate the hazards. All external lights work fine. When I hit the turn signal stalk, nothing happens. Everything else on the stalk works fine...high and low beam headlight control. From all the reading I have done in the FSM and online, and the people I have talked to it appears the turn signal switch has dies on me.





All fuses are good.

how do you know, by looking at em? sometimes fuses can look good but theyre bad, change em out, see if that works.

Visually they are good but I also swapped them out with new or with ones from systems that are working fine on the truck...all the fuses checked out fine.

[Lee]

ok, good, at least you now know it is a connector or something. it is frustrating to work hard on fixing an issue only to figure out its just a fuse :)

im guessing youre right on the stalk switch.

[Bighead]

Believe me I was hoping it was something easy like a blown or bad fuse. If anybody has any other ideas please let me know.

Right now I think I am going to spend the ~$50 for a new turn signal stalk/switch and see if that fixes the issue.

[Cheese]

I hate electrical crap.

No idea on how or what would cause this, overnight stuff always baffles me.

A resolution would be amusing if nothing else.

[Seanz0rz]

probably broke the contacts off in the stalk switch. anything else on that stalk work? ie headlights, etc. thats going to be a pain to fix...

good luck.

[Bighead]

I hate electrical crap.

No idea on how or what would cause this, overnight stuff always baffles me.

A resolution would be amusing if nothing else.


I hate electrical stuff too due to my ignorance in the field. Where the hell have you been?



probably broke the contacts off in the stalk switch. anything else on that stalk work? ie headlights, etc. thats going to be a pain to fix...

good luck.

Everything else works fine (headlights, high beams). The stalk should be here tomorrow from Dallas...hopefully it works.

[YotaFun]

X3 on hating electrical problems, I myself am still trying to figure out why when every time I turn on my fog lights, my gas gauge falls 1/4 of a tank. (will be making a separate post about that later)

[Seanz0rz]

X3 on hating electrical problems, I myself am still trying to figure out why when every time I turn on my fog lights, my gas gauge falls 1/4 of a tank. (will be making a separate post about that later)


after reading that i laughed for a good 5 mins straight. what the hell? thats very very strange!

as for electrical gremlins, ive been lucky enough to not encounter any, other than my alarm's parking light feature activating the buzzer in the truck, and possibly that strange shuddering i have at 1700 rpm.

the hardest part about it is you cant see a wire shorting out, or a broken switch, the way you can see missing teeth on a gear, bent control arms, broken shocks, leaking engines, etc.

[Bighead]

Well, putting in a new turn signal stalk solved nothing. I still don't have any turn signals but hazards, headlights and everything else work fine. All the applicable fuses have been swapped and checked and are still good. The only thing I have done "electrically" prior to losing them was swapping out my power radio antenna (at least that works now).

I have officially run out of ideas. Can you guys think of anything else I can check?

[garrett]

I can't think of any more possibilities... the only time I've experienced this is when my hazard light switch was disconnected.

I'll scan through wiring diagrams later tonight to see if theres anything else that could be it.

[04 Rocko Taco]

Bah, who needs turn signals anyway?

whats that?

they're required by law? Bah, who needs the law...

whats that?

you say the police told you so...

hehm, right then....You've got me baffled. Keep us updated!!

[Bighead]

Well, I couldn't figure anything out so I went to a recommended dealership to see what they can come up with. I know, I know...it's like I went to ask the devil for help but I was getting very frustrated.

During the troubleshooting process we went from another bad turn signal stalk, to a bad combination switch (under the steering wheel), to a bad flasher relay, and then finally to a bad junction box. After testing everything there was a lot of head scratching going on. Then a crusty old tech showed up, asked what the problem was, what is still working, and what they have checked and how they tested it. He then walked away without saying anything. I'm thinking maybe Alzheimer's kicked in but he came back a few minutes later. He hopped in the truck and, pulled the center console off and replaced my hazard switch with one he pulled from a used car.

Guess what...my turn signals worked. He said he had seen this a few times before but it didn't click in his head until he heard the troubleshooting process from the tech that had been working on it.

I am an electrical idiot but the old tech said something to the effect that the signal from the turn stalk actually goes through the hazard switch. If part of the switch is bad like mine, then the turn signals won't work.

The fix...a $30 hazard switch from Toyota of Dallas.

[Seanz0rz]

yea the signals go through the hazard. i know this because during my dash fab, i took it out, then proceeded to drive to the auto parts store. long story short, after being flipped off several times, i realized that i needed to plug in the switch to regain my signals.

good fix. good to keep it up here for others who may have the same problem.

[Cheese]

Any guesses on why it failed?

Good to solve the issue, better to know why.

[Bighead]

I really don't know what caused the failure and they could not give a definitive answer. The fact that the hazards worked fine all along threw everybody off the relatively inexpensive fix. We dug through the Toyota diagnostic and wiring diagrams and nothing there even made us think that the switch could be the issue if the hazards still worked. I think I have used the hazard switch maybe 10 times since I bought it new but have torn the dash apart many times. My only guess would be that the multiple teardowns either jacked up a pin or connection in the switch. When I get my new one in they want to bust open the switch to see if there is something wrong internally due to age, corrosion or something else. It bothered them as much as it did me that the weak link ended up being there.

The good thing out of all this is I learned form them how to decipher the factory wiring diagrams. :headscratch:

[04 Rocko Taco]

Well congrats Bighead, on both learning wiring diagrams and figuring out your problem! Gonna be nice to have turn signals again. :)

[neliconcept]

good to know incase any of us else have the same problem

i know with my old bmw 88 535i, dust could get in the stalk and make it do some weird crap, clean the area and it works again.

nice to know now.