Yet ANOTHER light switch position question

[29 Tudor]

I have '29 Tudor that has been restored in the past (not by me) so this problem might be related to either incorrect parts or assembly.

My headlight switch works 180 degrees out from correct. That is to say that OFF is at 5:00 o:clock PARK is at 4:00, LOW BEAM is at 6:00 and HIGH is at 7:00.

It would appear that the spider is clocked wrong but before I started taking that apart, I wanted to see if this is a common problem with a common fix.

I searched the archives but didn't find this exact issue mentioned.

Thanks for any help offered,

Steve

[CarlG]

Should be:
Park 7
Off 6
Low 5
High 4

[29 Tudor]

I know. That's what I'm saying.... Mine are opposite of that.......

My point is that the "no contact" position of my switch is at the 5:00 position instead of 6:00. I can't correct that by changing wires. The switch rod is not bent (as far as I can tell) because I DO have positions at 7, 6, 5 and 4 o:clock, it's just that OFF is one position to the right (counterclockwise) of where it ought to be.

[Brian T]

Hello Steve,
It maybe that the light switch bracket on the 2 tooth box, or the lower bearing housing are 180 degree off, the light switch notch should be at the bottom.
Regards Brian

[Mike V. Florida]

I would have thought that if it were 180 out off would be at 12:00.
Since the shaft is square on the bottom would not the off be at 6 - correct 3, 12,or 9?

Off at 5:00 is 30 (330) degrees off?

[29 Tudor]

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Originally Posted by Brian T

Hello Steve,
It maybe that the light switch bracket on the 2 tooth box, or the lower bearing housing are 180 degree off, the light switch notch should be at the bottom.
Regards Brian

Hi Brian,

The notch in the plastic contact piece IS at the bottom and it fits correctly into the housing. The problem is that the rotating piece (the spider?) is off just a little when the switch is assembled. Weird!!!

Thanks for the thoughts though.!

Steve

[29 Tudor]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

I would have thought that if it were 180 out off would be at 12:00.
Since the shaft is square on the bottom would not the off be at 6 - correct 3, 12,or 9?

Off at 5:00 is 30 (330) degrees off?

You're correct... I meant 180 degrees off in that the switch positions relative to what lamps came on, were exactly reversed. I can fix the electrical problem by changing the wiring. The problem I can't figure out is why there is no contact at 5:00 and there IS contact at 6:00 and 7:00.

Hope that makes sense....

Steve

[Brian T]

If you look at the rotating part of the switch contact from the bottom it only turns so far to allow park lamps in one direction and comes to a stop, turned opposite it moves 3 positions and then stops, a total of 90 degrees.
As the spider NORMALLY can only be installed at 6 and 12 it would have to be installed at 90 degrees if the switch was upside down to get the positions he as.

This is my theory anyway, we shall see.

[29 Tudor]

Thanks "1930 Coupe"

With the switch at 6:00, the tabs of the spider are at 6:00 and 12:00. The moveable contacts are at 12:00, 4:00 and 8:00. Is that where they should be?

[29 Tudor]

1930 Coupe,

The contact plate looks exactly like the 9 contact one in Tom's (Excellent) pictures in the thread you reference. The moveable contacts also look like the one next to the 9 contact plate. The notch in the 9 contact plate looks exactly like mine. Since my moveable contacts are at 12, 4 and 8:00 with the switch at 6:00 o:clock, it would appear that it will make contact with the plate and have the lights on when in that position. What am I missing? Should the moveable contacts NOT be in that position with the switch at 6:00? With the contact plate out of the housing, the switch does move 90 degrees as it's supposed to. Obviously I'm missing something.... I just can't figure out what....

[Marco Tahtaras]

As previously noted the the spider should be vertical when the lever is at 6:00 at the steering wheel. If everything appears normal then reinstall the switch. Turn it to the 5:00 position so the lights are off as previously reported. Next remove the switch again. Turn the lever to the 6:00 position so the spider is also vertical. Finally, try carefully to reinstall the switch without moving anything.

My guess is your spider was not engaging the switch as intended.

[29 Tudor]

Yup, mine looks just like the pictures. Not upside down. The thing that confuses me is that the notch in the contact plate is at 6:00 when it is installed in the switch housing. In that position, it HAS to be ON if the contacts are at 12, 4 and 8 which they are. I'm sure the problem is something simple it's just beyond me at this point.

[29 Tudor]

Marco,

BINGO.... your pictures did it. I didn't realize that the top of the switch would pull off the steering column. When I pulled it off, I could see that the rotating part of the switch could go two ways. I turned it over (rotated it 180 degrees) and the light switch positions are as they should be. A big THANK YOU to all who offered help and suggestion but Marco gets the gold star!!! I love this forum!!

Thanks much!!

Steve

[SHEC]

Maybe it is an Australian built car, thus upside down and reversed?

Be well -

SHEC

[29 Tudor]

I hadn't thought of that!

Just glad to have found the problem and fixed it.

Steve

[Ray in La Mesa]

Glad to see this problem solved but I have seen another possibility for slightly off positions of the light switch. One was that the light rod was twisted, as if someone had forced the lever to far while turning the lights on. After going through all the senarios listed here it took a bit of nerve to just force it back the right direction to make it vertical when off. Obviously, you run the risk of breaking something though.

[29 Tudor]

You're right Ray and I was very glad to see the spider was straight up and down with the lever at 6:00. My problem was I didn't realize the switch would slide off the bottom of the column. Marco's pictures REALLY helped as I pulled the switch and could see how the moveable contact was "clocked" to the spider. I rotated the contact to one of the two obvious positions for it and BINGO, the problem was solved.

Thanks for your comment,

Steve

[Brian T]

This was a nice clean thread to a problem, good no nonsense replies to suggestions, and a successful end result.