Indicator cancellation question.

[Bobthebeard]

During my 9 year work experience, at Lucas Industries, I did a stint at Lucas Automotive Electrical in Burnley, where I was a Manufacturing Engineer on the Introduction of the 1995 RenaulT Clio switch assembly. I got to understand that the self cancelling bit of any switch (Not just the Renault, but anything they made, is the most complicated bit of mechanical black magic, which is sensitive to component tolerance build up, spring rates, grease viscousity, surface finish, and in the Renaults case, torque settings on the little screws that hold it together.

 

If it was me, and it still worked electrically, and still held itself in position, I'd just ignore it.

 

If I was OCD, I'd probably try and obtain another second hand, if it was cheap enough, and if that worked, take the original apart and clean it and reassemble, but don't expect it to ever work again. Remember the pertang factor on disassembly. "Pertang"......"What was that?, Where did that spring go?"

I also worked at Lucas Automotive in Burnley between 1987/1997.

Was in the injection moulding department. I remember the Clio switchgear well! I suspect any malfunctioning switch was the fault of either Piggy (an utter arse) or Veronica on the assembly line. (She used to keep/change into slippers when working, piggy put glue in them one evening. She held a grudge) Also Man Eng weren't too keen on the injection moulding guys after Billy Bolton and the roof/toilet episode.

[cros]

I'll sketch somethingCitroens. ght - the resistor value will depend on the bulb so if you give me details of the fitting I'll check that out; I have a slight obsession with things that light up...

 

DSC_8925.jpg

 

Probably the best option would be to raid a rheostat from a scrapyard instead of a fixed resistor, as that will be of the right sort of resistance range and can be tailored to suit the right low brightness level.

Sorted. Why didn't I think of that? I've got a variable resister from a GS Citroens that will be perfect. Thank you.

[mat_the_cat]

Here you go; personally I'd cut into the earth side of the wiring for the warning bulb but it doesn't matter really.

 

[cros]

I also worked at Lucas Automotive in Burnley between 1987/1997.

Was in the injection moulding department. I remember the Clio switchgear well! I suspect any malfunctioning switch was the fault of either Piggy (an utter arse) or Veronica on the assembly line. (She used to keep/change into slippers when working, piggy put glue in them one evening. She held a grudge) Also Man Eng weren't too keen on the injection moulding guys after Billy Bolton and the roof/toilet episode.

Please expand on the roof/toilet episode.

[cros]

Here you go; personally I'd cut into the earth side of the wiring for the warning bulb but it doesn't matter really.

 

DSC_57591.J

Cheers, I could do that, just couldn't think of doing it!

[Taff]

afaik bmws have the stalk "for appearance sake" but there are no innards to make lights flash

 

"Fitted for, but not with" in defence parlence.

 

As ever, I can't help the OP in the slightest but my Mk1 Cortina auto had a lucas-style indicator switch (similar in operation to the two featured in the old Austins above) but mounted at the end of a fixed stalk. So, flicking it up was left, and flicking it down was right.

 

No need to thank me, glad to help

[Bobthebeard]

Please expand on the roof/toilet episode.

Here you are,

Copied and pasted:

 

This still gets me laughing even though it happened in 1991.

Used to work at Lucas Automotive as an injection moulding technician. We made the switchgear for the Rover R8 amongst others. One evening we needed to change the tooling as the production lines would be running short of parts for the next day. As it was around 9pm all the salaried staff had gone home obviously, and we needed the moulding machine set up parameters from the 'methods engineers' office. All locked up.

As the office was just part of the main building with a mezzanine roof, one of the guys, Piggy, offered to climb up and break into the office via the roof to get the floppy disc. He succeeded in getting onto the top, then promptly fell through the flimsy roof tiles and broke his arm! Off he went to hospital. As Piggy had made such a mess in the office, (polystyrene tiles and wreckage everywhere, ) and we should never have broken in, obviously, we decided how best to cover up the 'crime'. For some reason we decided the best way was to make it look like an accident.

The toilet block was being refurbished at the time, so we dragged a complete toilet out of the skip and placed it strategically on the desk surrounded by the bits of roof. We then climbed out and left the office still locked.

The look on the Methods Engineers face the next morning must have been a picture, sadly I missed it as was on the 2-10 shift. A general investigation was called to find out why a toilet had fallen through an office roof! The works plumbers denied storing toilets on top of offices but got the blame anyway. Nobody ever got on with the works plumbers as they were lazy and obnoxious. Result!

[New POD]

Please expand on the roof/toilet episode.

 

Indeed. I have no idea what went on, as I was an 'outsider' and was seemingly hated by anyone who had done an apprenticeship there and worked their way up.  It didn't help that about 9 months before I joined, the more senior engineers, had their overtime bought off them, and they were still expected to do the overtime, despite is being at zero pay.  I joined to escape a cull at Lucas in Keighley, and managed to negotiate my way onto that grade.

 

On the second Monday morning, I was asked by a " Mr Ray Gough" where I was on the previous Saturday morning. Erm "with my kids at home whilst my wife was at work. Why"  - He thought I should come 25 miles to do 4 hours on a Saturday unpaid. I explained carefully how my contract said 37 hours, with occasional overtime (unpaid) to cope with business pressures. My working life took a downward trajectory at that point. It was like the Fucking FreeMasons. If you had the right history, you could get any other department to move your job to the top, or if you were a management stooge like they thought I was, your urgent job could stay at the bottom of the pile even when they had no other work to do. In the end I decided to move on when the Management thought I was the right man to move the electronics build to the far east, which would include months away from home for no extra money, but the dangling of a carrot.