1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo changing the turn signal switch due to inop stoplights. To view diagnostics for this repair please click here. The first step is to disable and remove the air bag assembly according to manufacturers guidelines. If you do not have a manual you can purchase from either Mitchell or AllData. There are ad links to both on this page. With the airbag out and safely stored the nut holding the steering wheel in place needs to be removed. The front wheels need to be pointing straight ahead before proceeding.
Next a steering wheel puller must be used to press the wheel off of the shaft.
Once the steering wheel is loose mark the shaft and the wheel to make sure they go back together in the same position as removed. There should a factory mark present but I prefer to add my own. I guess it is a habit as they were not marked when I first started working on steering columns.
Now that the steering wheel is out of the way you can clearly see the airbag clock spring. There is a snap ring that has to be removed to take the clock spring out.
After lifting the clock spring assembly off of the shaft, pull the wiring slightly up and let the assembly hang out of the way. One important thing to note is the internal portion of the clock spring should not be allowed to turn or it will have to be reset to prevent damage.
There is a thin wafer washer that needs to be removed.
The next step requires another special tool to compress the locking plate and the spring that is underneath it. With the plate depressed the retaining ring has to be removed. This is a tedious job that requires two very small screwdrivers and a lot of patience.
With the snap ring removed the locking plate can be pulled off. It is indexed and can only go one one way.
After removing the turn signal canceling cam, inspect it carefully for crack where the horn wire with spring attaches to it. Replace it now if any damage is present. If not it will likely break when you reassemble the air bag into position and connect the wiring.
Finally you can at least see the turn signal switch. Remove the two phillips headed screws that hold the lever to the switch. The two screws are very different and putting the wrong screw in either position will cause problems.
Now that those two screws are put in a safe place you can now move onto the three screws that hold the turn signal switch in the steering column.
Now move down to the base of the column and remove the gang connector with the 7 mm headed screw in the middle of it. Separate the connectors and lift the turn signal portion with a small screwdriver and slide it out of the main connector. To reassemble, the new connector and wires have to be guided down through the column. Because of this I always try to remove the old switch the same way so that I know how the wires go through. But in some cases I will cut the old wires and remove the switch more easily.
After reassembly I checked the brake lights and turn signals and all is well.
Start by testing the circuits with a test light or voltmeter. Check all of the fuses to make sure that they are both good and properly powered. The orange wire at the stoplight switch should have power on it all of the time. When the pedal is depressed power should be present on the white wire at the stoplight switch. The white wire is sometimes a light blue wire instead. I do not have access to diagrams as I am at home as I reply. Keep in mind that there is a link to test information at the beginning of this repair article that you have commented on.
so unfortunately i backed into a pole, not hard i promise, but hard enough i had to change the tail light in my 95 monte carlo. The brake lights are not working, i changed both back lights. Changed fuses, and changed the brake light switch by the brake pedal. And still nothing. I checked all the wires everything is fine. What is my problem and how do i fix it please help
They do not have to be line up perfectly but if you want to check it this is how. Make sure the front wheels are pointing straight ahead. Remove the clock spring. Rotate the inner part fully in one direction. Do it gently until you feel it start to get slightly tight. Now rotate it in the other direction until you feel the same stop. Count the rotations along the way. Back it up half of the rotations and it will be in the centered position. Centered is normally 2.5 to 3 turns from either stop point.
I just removed the stearing weel and noticed that the arrows do not line up on the clock spring. How do I do a clock spring reset?
Thanks
Just want to say how awesome you are and thank you for these instructions. I’m a 52 yr old woman and I just replaced the turn signal switch on my own with your help and some tools I borrowed from autozone. I’m online with a generic tablet pc and for some reason the images wouldn’t load but instructions were so clear I didn’t need them anyway. You rock!