Grant Steering wheel adapter vs. Turn signal canceller

[Flanders 46]

When I got my car (8+ years ago) it came with a grant steering wheel, which looks great, but I found that the turn signal canceller worked only intermittently.  I lived with it for a while, "fixed" it a few times, but only recently sorted out what's going on.

There is a pin in the turn signal switch that needs to engage in a little slot on the steering wheel adapter. In my case, the pin wasn't engaging fully in the slot (see pic) and kept popping out.

You can see it's worn down the adapter so it's nice and shiny, when it pops out of the slot.

Anyhow, 3D printer for the win.  I made up a ring that fits around the adapter so that the pin on the steering wheel switch had more of a notch to engage in.

My prototype:

 

works like a champ!  I've cleaned it up a bit so it sits flush with the metal ring, plus a little screw keeps it all in place (although it's pretty snug on the metal ring).  My turn signal cancellation thingy has never worked better.  In the above pic, there are two holes for some 'pins' to go in the original one (for turn cancellation) but it was a bit sketchy as the a) I don't have the pins, and b) the instructions to put in the pins say "bend them inwards" which I wasn't a fan of, and c) the holes are all oval anyway.

Anyhow, thought I'd pass this along in case others are sick of their aftermarket steering wheels not cancelling their turn signals properly.

[JayEstes 172]

That's a really interesting fix!  Glad it solved the problem for you, but I'm still a little puzzled at how it works.  The pin you refer to that is supposed to engage in the notch, looks like it's barely only engaged by a half diameter of the pin.  It's almost like the turn signal switch has placed that pin at the wrong radio from the center of the steering column - a little bit too large of a diameter.  It looks like your 3D print has effectively lengthened the slot, so the pin can settle down properly in there.  All that kind of makes me wonder if your switch is original, and is it the right size.  These steering wheel and turning signal mechanisms though... they are cheap and clunky - that's for sure.  I sure like you adaptation to give that pin a home - easily done.

You should keep an eye on that thing for wear.. Not sure what material you used, but it is all pretty tough and slick, but It could be that the metal will wear it down.  It's always easy to drop in a replacement I guess.... Just requires eom disassembly.

Congrats on a useful fix, and post back here with any updates.  Great adaptation!  

[Flanders 46]

Yeah, you summed it up -- the adapter (for the Grant wheel) is basically not quite the right size for the pin to work.  There are two holes on the adapter for spring pins (which would eliminate the need for the notch) so perhaps that is what Grant intended folks to do, although from my testing they aren't quite in the right spot either.

My switch is original, actually this is a replacement (swapped during my troubleshooting efforts).  So this is purely a funky aftermarket adapter issue for the Grant wheel.

The plastic may wear down for sure, but there isn't a lot of pressure on it aside from the turn signal cancellation cantilever mechanism.  We shall see!