Back in May one of the guys (forth.rock) had asked for suggestions for a turn signal switch. Amongst the regular responses was one by Puddy mentioning the RX-7/Probe switch. One of the other guys in Ottawa (thebicman) picked up on this and sent him a PM asking for more details. In response he was given a link to the following site:
Great info there including a couple of install pics and wiring diagrams. The wiring diagram for the Probe switch and flasher unit is the one I used and was bang on. At the end of the day I solved my turn signal, headlight dimmer, hazard flasher and horn requirements.
I’m not sure if that is Puddy’s site or one that he used as a reference. Hope the owner will pipe in here.
Since RX-7’s are pretty scarce in the scrap yards around here I decided to check out a Probe at the local yard. Bingo!! Here are a couple of pics of the Probe switch. Note that it has white lettering vs. the red on the RX-7 and the lettering area is flush (the RX-7 one looks like the lettered area is proud of the surface a bit).
The switch has turn signals and a spring-loaded pull to toggle the high/low beams. The lettered area lights up with the dash lights (if you wire it that way) and comes with a green cover on the bulb.
One cool thing is that the handle comes off to leave just a small shaft sticking out. If you wanted you could machine up a billet handle for it.
Here is a picture of the turn signal cancelling ring that sends an electronic signal to the switch.
Here are a couple of pics showing the bracket I made up for the cancelling ring as well as a drawing for it.
You can see in this pic that I had to elongate the mounting holes in the bracket and shift it to the right to center the shaft in the switch. For some reason my shaft was not centered between teh mounting bolts so the bearing retainer must be a bit off.
In order to turn the sleeve on the cancelling ring I got creative and found that the old rubber bushing I removed from my clutch cable to install the firewall adjuster fit perfect. It’s on the left below and on the right is the slip ring for the horn (more on that later). Note that I cut off the small tab on the steel ring around the bushing. The bushing is fairly tight on the shaft so you can slide it into postion but it shouldn't move under normal use. If I find that it does slip a drop of crazy glue should fix it.
Just drill a couple of holes in the bushing that line up with the pins on the removable drive sleeve from the cancelling ring.
Here it is on the shaft and hooked up to the cancelling switch.
You can see the horn slip ring in the previous pictures. In this picture you can see the brush for the horn on the cancelling switch. It was to short to reach the slip ring so I extended it by cutting it and then soldering in a section of tubing. The brush come of the switch body by pulling of the wire lead and popping of an e-clip on the end that acts as a retainer (don’t loose it). I got the thin wall tubing from an old extendable antenna off a phone ground station (hey, whatever works). Got a longer spring from a retractable pen (once again, whatever works).
Worked perfect and I now have a brush/slip ring for my steering wheel mounted horn switch. Note that the stock horn relay is activated by completing a ground to the relay so only one return wire is required since the steering shaft can provide the ground.
Here is a picture of the flasher unit (does both signals as well as hazards).
On the ’89 Probe this was located with several other components on the firewall just to the left of the steering shaft (mounted so that the connector end pointed into the firewall. From what I understand this particular unit may have only been available on the ‘89’s. I think Mazda 626’s also may have used them.
Here's a mock up of the horn buttons. In the final version they will be mounted futher out towards the rim.
I will post more pics once I mount it in the dash. For now here is a pic from the link I posted at the top:
Did you ever think of writing an assembly manual? As usual a great job of putting pictures and print with an idea. Nice work! Again thanks for a great job.
Thanks guys, glad you like it!! But the real credit goes to the guy who originally came up with this and whoever made those great wiring diagrams. I did a little more searching and found some more info on the flasher module. You can get it (just the module, not the switch) off the following cars:
'89 Ford Probe
'94-'96 Ford Escort
'94-'96 Mercury Tracer
It is $70 new so a scrap yard is the way to go. We picked up a couple of units for $20 each for the whole setup (removed ourselves).
Hey guys,
Just got back from the scrap yard and thought I would let you know that I confirmed that the flasher unit is the same on the '94-'96 Escorts. It is actually a better source since, on the Escort, the flasher is connected by a connector and harness which you can splice into your existing harness. On the Probe it plugged into some sort of block so, as you can see above, you have to use 1/4" female spade connectors to hook it up. I will be swapping out mine to put in the connector from the Escort.
Rod, Your not only the man, Your the myth, and soon to be the legend with this one, You dug through the trenches to find it, AND shared the LUUUVV! SCREW dash originality, One up for practicality! Great Job Partner!!
Hey Rod, good write up, I was planning this turn signal too since I opted for breezes removable steering hub. I'm sure this will come in handy, already bookmarked. Later, Joe
If you guys need a good source, go to www.probetalk.com and search the classifieds for people parting out 1Gen. Probes. I have a '97 GTS Probe, so I've been on the the probetalk forum for quite awhile.
Here's a picture of the horn buttons in their final location.
Here is the back side. I need to find a small rubber/vinyl cap for the back of the switch. The wires will be covered with aluminum tape (quick experiment here and won't be very visible) and then go into a groove I cut in the hub.
Looks good Rod! I've got all the parts from ebay, now I have to wire it. I've got the pinout for the flasher module from link at the top of post. I got at Probe switch, but didn't see a pinout diagram for it. Anyone have access to one or maybe post a picture of the back of the switch, with plug and short wires, so I can relate it to the current wiring diagrams. This setup looks great. I just don't want to screw up the switch wiring and let the smoke out, I hear they don't make the refills anymore
Hi petri,
The link in my first post has the diagram for the Probe switch/flasher (4th diagram). That one was an exact match for my switch and flasher. OR are you saying you don't have the connector so you need to match the pins to the wiring colors shown? If so I can do up a diagram.
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