I posted about this in another thread but creating a new post for this specific question. I have a new-to-me 1983 Caprice wagon that at some point had the turn signal stalk replaced. It was replaced with the wrong one -- this one has the wiper controls on the stalk and no cruise control buttons. My Caprice has separate wiper controls on the dash, so the controls on the stalk are completely non-functional. I am trying to track down the correct stalk for the 1983 model year. Everything I find on Google is this one, stating it fits "1982-1990 Chevrolet Caprice." That is wrong, and it is the same one that has been installed on my car. It is not the correct stalk for 1983. The owner's manual shows this picture: Anyone have any ideas on a source for this part? Or how to find a part number? I can't even find a picture of that stalk on the internet.
Try googling "obsolete Chevrolet parts" to find those that sell older car parts. They should be better-equipped to help you. The problem with sellers online is they save money by using 'stock photos.' So what they purport to have to sell you is likely not the same as the pic, and a gamble for sure.
Finally found it! NOS on eBay. 99% of the references I found on the web for the 1983 Caprice turn signal stalk are wrong. They all show the one with the wiper controls, which I am guessing wasn't active until 1984. The one I found was listed as "cruise control switch" -- I had been searching everywhere on "turn signal" and once I searched for "cruise control" I finally stumbled upon this one.
So you don't have anything wrong with your switch itself, it's the thickness of the wrong stalk that prevents it from properly working. Fingers crossed that your column doesn't have any further problems.
I think so, but I also don't know why the stalk is not centered in the opening in the steering column trim (which I think you mentioned in your reply to my other post). I'll have to see once I dig into it... I assume the steering wheel will need to come all the way off to get to the cruise control wiring. Pic from my other post -- this is switch in the center position. I assume it was originally centered top-to-bottom:
Installed the new turn signal stalk today. Didn't quite know what I was doing and ended up taking the steering wheel completely off, not realizing that the stalk just comes off with firm tug! Took me a while and some YouTube videos before I eventually figured that out. So I might have been able to do this without actually removing the steering wheel (which was kind of a PITA to put back together), but it did give me a chance to regrease everything, and I did find the old wiring behind the stalk, just below the tilt lever, where someone had cut it off when the original stalk was removed: I considered splicing the new wires right into those, but since my new stalk included all the wiring and the blade connector, I decided to keep it in tact and used the old wire to pull the new one down through the column. The good thing is now the stalk will click on for a right turn since the arm is skinnier and doesn't interfere with the trim. It's still not centered in the trim opening though, and from what I could tell, there's no way to adjust that with how everything is screwed down. Signal off: Left turn: Right turn: So now I should not have to worry about this during the inspection. Still need to figure out what is going on with the headlights though.
Yeah, that lock plate design was a doozy. Imagine doing that *without* the special tool. The position of the stalk is a function of the column's design. My OCD doesn't like it, but it is what it is.
Yep, thanks for the tip on the special compression tool. Got a cheap one from Amazon before I even started the job. (I also have a combination harmonic balancer/steering wheel puller tool that I bought about a decade ago and actually forgot I had. Second time I've been able to use it.) Nothing like a new project to build out a tool collection.
Exactly. And I've found that using a sharp pick (to get under the ring) and a very small flat-blade screwdriver help to pop out and move that locking ring.
So I made an interesting discovery this weekend. I was fishing around under the passenger seat for a screw I dropped down there and found this: That is the original turn signal stalk that had broken off! Some previous owner must have tried to MacGyver it up as evidenced by the hose clamp still wrapped around it. The guy I bought the car from had no idea where or when the stalk was changed, so that piece must have been sitting under there for some time. Had I found this before I started the hunt for a new one, I would have had a better idea of what I was searching for.
Funny what people find under a car's front seat, or miss because they don't look. A long time ago, I lost a three-battery Maglite once, thought it could've been stolen, but I also thought I could've left in in a customer's car at one point. Well, several months later, one customer, whose car (a Celebrity wagon) I had worked on around the time it disappeared, came back in, so I took a quick look under the front seat, and there it was!
