Ye_Lunatic
LVC Member
Be careful at the car wash. Long story, but probably unique.
I went with my wife to get my '94 Mark washed today at the car wash. After the car gets out of the tunnel, an attendant come along with a spray bottle and wiped down the inside. I was off putting a tip in the tip box while the attandant was doing this.
Everything looked good, so my wife and I got in the car and drove away. About a minute later, I heard a fast clicking sound. I realized it was the sound of the directional clicking rapidly, but my directionals and hazzard lights were both off. When I switched on the directionals, they work fine, and the rapid clicking went away, the same case with the hazzards, they worked fine. Everytime I applied the brake, the blinking sound would stop. I pulled over and got out of the car, and noticed nothing unusual, no blinking lights. I checked the message center and it indicated that all the lights were working fine.
I then drove to my parents house, all the while listening to this rapid blinking sound. I dropped the glove box and sure enough, the directional relay was clicking rapidly, but there was no way to stop it, short of turning the car off. So, not knowing how to fix it, I went inside and had some dinner.
A few hours later, I left my parents house and the clicking sound was still there when I started the car. As I was driving home, I saw wisps of smoke riding out from around the hazzard light button on top of the steering wheel. Fearing a fire, I pulled over into a diner parking lot and checked out the hazzard button. When I engaged the hazzards and the button popped up, I noticed that it was wet all along the bottom. Now I kind of figured that the attendant must have sprayed down the top of the steering column too much, and the water or windex dripped into the opening around the hazzard button.
I immediately went to work taking apart the cover of the steering column. I figured out how to remove the ignition switch and finally got around to unscrewing the directional stick/hazzard light assembly. I opened the assemebly a bit and started moving the hazzard button up and down and noticed some sparks and more smoke. I unplugged the inputs, removed the assembly from the steering wheel, opened it up and all the pieces inside immediately came apart like the inside of a watch. I saw that the condictive grease on the inside was all over the place, probably taking current to the wrong contacts.
There I was, sitting in the parking lot with the steering column apart and it was getting dark. Luckily my wife was helpful and held the flashlight for me. The pieces didn't fit together well, it was hot out and I didn't have enough light. So I started the car and drove back to my parents with no directionals.
I got there and open up my '94 service manual and realized that it doesn't have any section that covers the inside of the directional housing. I was on my own. It took a few hours but I cleaned the grease off the inside and figured out where everything went short of one small, thick spring. I assembled everything, put the steering column back and it now works great. No more fast clicking sound. The only thing missing is the audible "return clck" when I have my directional on and I am turning the steering wheel. The directionals still shut off automatically when the wheel returns straight, it's just that I can't hear the clicks engage as I initially turn the wheel. I imaging the spring that I couldn't put back in had something to do with that.
My full hypothesis is that the car wash attendant oversprayed the top of the steering cloumn and liquid dripped into the hazzard button hole. This liquified the condictive grease and caused a short with too many contacts getting current at the same time. That is why it took a few minutes for the clicking to start after the attendant finished spraying - the liquid was probably seeping into the hazzard button hole.
The moral of the story? Wash the inside of your own car. If you are getting it done at a car wash, make sure the attendant doesn't saturate your steering column with spray.
I went with my wife to get my '94 Mark washed today at the car wash. After the car gets out of the tunnel, an attendant come along with a spray bottle and wiped down the inside. I was off putting a tip in the tip box while the attandant was doing this.
Everything looked good, so my wife and I got in the car and drove away. About a minute later, I heard a fast clicking sound. I realized it was the sound of the directional clicking rapidly, but my directionals and hazzard lights were both off. When I switched on the directionals, they work fine, and the rapid clicking went away, the same case with the hazzards, they worked fine. Everytime I applied the brake, the blinking sound would stop. I pulled over and got out of the car, and noticed nothing unusual, no blinking lights. I checked the message center and it indicated that all the lights were working fine.
I then drove to my parents house, all the while listening to this rapid blinking sound. I dropped the glove box and sure enough, the directional relay was clicking rapidly, but there was no way to stop it, short of turning the car off. So, not knowing how to fix it, I went inside and had some dinner.
A few hours later, I left my parents house and the clicking sound was still there when I started the car. As I was driving home, I saw wisps of smoke riding out from around the hazzard light button on top of the steering wheel. Fearing a fire, I pulled over into a diner parking lot and checked out the hazzard button. When I engaged the hazzards and the button popped up, I noticed that it was wet all along the bottom. Now I kind of figured that the attendant must have sprayed down the top of the steering column too much, and the water or windex dripped into the opening around the hazzard button.
I immediately went to work taking apart the cover of the steering column. I figured out how to remove the ignition switch and finally got around to unscrewing the directional stick/hazzard light assembly. I opened the assemebly a bit and started moving the hazzard button up and down and noticed some sparks and more smoke. I unplugged the inputs, removed the assembly from the steering wheel, opened it up and all the pieces inside immediately came apart like the inside of a watch. I saw that the condictive grease on the inside was all over the place, probably taking current to the wrong contacts.
There I was, sitting in the parking lot with the steering column apart and it was getting dark. Luckily my wife was helpful and held the flashlight for me. The pieces didn't fit together well, it was hot out and I didn't have enough light. So I started the car and drove back to my parents with no directionals.
I got there and open up my '94 service manual and realized that it doesn't have any section that covers the inside of the directional housing. I was on my own. It took a few hours but I cleaned the grease off the inside and figured out where everything went short of one small, thick spring. I assembled everything, put the steering column back and it now works great. No more fast clicking sound. The only thing missing is the audible "return clck" when I have my directional on and I am turning the steering wheel. The directionals still shut off automatically when the wheel returns straight, it's just that I can't hear the clicks engage as I initially turn the wheel. I imaging the spring that I couldn't put back in had something to do with that.
My full hypothesis is that the car wash attendant oversprayed the top of the steering cloumn and liquid dripped into the hazzard button hole. This liquified the condictive grease and caused a short with too many contacts getting current at the same time. That is why it took a few minutes for the clicking to start after the attendant finished spraying - the liquid was probably seeping into the hazzard button hole.
The moral of the story? Wash the inside of your own car. If you are getting it done at a car wash, make sure the attendant doesn't saturate your steering column with spray.
