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My 51 200 has had a mysterious problem with the front right turn signal not working, while the other three did fine. Previously I put in a new bulb housing, new grounds, new wires and terminal blocks with no success, other than the fact that the front left bulb is really bright now. I finally pulled the steering wheel off, and dug out some old turn signal switches out of the bone pile. Using a multimeter, I finally determined that I was not getting any power to the orange wire from the signal switch. This is the wire going to the front right bulb. I unplugged the existing switch and plugged in another 51 switch. Then the front right worked, but not the left front! I then plugged in a 1950 unit and all lights worked. I cleaned up the 50 switch and changed the receiver for the turn handle - it is a circular unit, and the 50 has a flat bottom that doesn't fit well in the hole in the steering column. After soldering everything back together, it all works nicely.

After I was finished, I looked at the shop manual - the second thing it suggested was changing out the switch. Guess I should have read it first.

So if anyone else has this problem, it might pay to check out the switch.

I may take a run at taking the switch apart and see if I can fix it. Has anyone else tried doing that?

I think both sets of contacts are on phenolic or paper fiber supports. Most likely one or the other support piece has warped so the sliding contact plate cannot simultaneously touch and make good contact with the three fixed contacts it has to connect together for both sets of lights to work.

If it is the type with raised button like contacts there might be hope but if it is the type where the contacts are flush or recessed into the phenolic and there is almost no distance between the sliding plate and contacts then once warped I don't know if there is any way to restore to long term straightness. With the scarcity and expense of good switches certainly worth a shot.

Once you take it apart could you take and post a picture of the internals showing the layout. When I did the extracted schematic I didn't have a Packard switch to examine so just used a generic depiction of the contacts.

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I'll take it apart Howard and post some photos. I'm also researching if other makes of cars used the same switch. It isn't made by Packard, so I'm hoping some other brand used it as well.

Just got back out of the garage. I cleaned both spare turn switches from the parts bin with Radio Shack contact cleaner, then blew them out with the air compressor. Then cleaned each contact with a q-tip, as well as I could without taking the switch apart. On one switch the orange (front right) wire wasn't making contact, on the other switch it was the white (front left) wire that wasn't contacting. Both of the non working contact buttons were on the far ends of the switch, where the pressure was the lightest. After a good cleaning, I would turn the switch left and right, and test the appropriate wire with the multimeter attached to the blue (hot) lead and the orange or white wire. This was all done on the work bench.

After cleaning, both switches tested good. I then unplugged the lead going to the turn signals from the unit in the car, and plugged in the cleaned units. Both worked fine! So the problem was just 64 years of dirt and grime. I don't know if I could have cleaned them as well in the car, but if you can do it, you don't have to disassemble the steering column cover. Or you can do what I did and cut the wires to the switch, then reassemble them with solder and heat shrink tape.

I'll post the photos in a few minutes.

Wow I have the same problem! You sure saved me some time hunting for the problem. I will try cleaning the switch first!

I have a slightly different problem, no matter which way I move the turn signal lever I have both front lights blinking. Rear signals work correctly. Same whether park lights on only, headlights, or no lights.

I grounded both front light assemblies with a seperate wire, no change. I thought I made sure that I got the new park light and turn signal wires in the correct spots in the socket, could it be that I reversed one?

HA56 - the front turn signals come to a quick(maybe) disconnect plug at the front fender, drivers' side. One wire is orange and the other white. On my car, the wires had frayed on the downstream side of the plug - the side closest to the light. I will be that if you take the plug loose and either replace it and the frayed wire, or paint on some liquid insulation that it will cure your problem. I don't think you have any thing wrong in the switch.

you can test the unit by unplugging the switch wires under the dash. There is a 6 prong plug there, and you can attach the multimeter to the blue wire and the orange and white wires. By moving the switch, you should get continuity thru them if all is well.

Finally got the photos small enough. The manufacturer is "U S C", or perhaps UCS. The US patent number is 2276413. If you google that phrase, you findgoogle.com.ar/patents/US2525033 that tells you it was invented in 1949 by Jessie R. Hollins. It gives a very detailed explanation of how it works.
In the first photo, in the lower right hand corner, you can see the plug that attaches under the dash.

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Hi David, all the wires in my car are brand new, except the turn signal wires from the switch which were in seemingly good condition.

No matter which way I use the turn signal lever, I get power to both turn signal wires at the switch. The lights are wired correctly, so the issue seems to be in my switch. I didn't have my meter in the hangar tonight so I was only testing with a test light. I cleaned the switch contacts and that's all fine, seems like the short is under the phenolic where the wires solder in. Before I tear further into the switch, which looks pretty good really, I will check my wiring job in the column plug to make sure I didn't get something touching in there. Although when I soldered the wires to the pins there I rang it all out and it was good at that time.

Things that make you go hmmm......

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I notice that one side of the switch appears loose. Before you put it back together any chance you could take a couple of photos showing the contacts and wiring layout including the sliding bridge portion that connects the contacts. Anything that shows the shapes and contacts to get an idea of what moves to connect what and where would be appreciated.