Well, my 2002 C4S that has been so reliable for years finally had an issue yesterday. The turn signal lever won't stay on in the "right" turn direction, and won't self-cancel (turn off) in the left direction. I think something broke in the detent mechanism. Has any of you had to have this fixed? Is it a big (and expensive) job?
Thanks for any info!

 

It happened to me last summer. Dealership quoted 800 dollars for repair (obviously YMMV).

I ended up ordering the part for 330 bucks from Sunset Porsche.

Part number: 996-613-219-10-EWC

I found out later on you can probably remove the cruise control piece from your current switch and just order the 3 stalks and add to it. (Possibly) The 3 stalks would be around 250. Don't take my words here since I only looked at it and looks like it can easily be removed from the old and screw into the 3 stalk.

I found a youtube video from start to finish on how to replace it and I did the job in about 45 minutes. I don't recall any special tools is needed, just remember to disconnect the battery and wait 15 minutes or so to make sure no power goes to the airbag before you start working on it.

 

Thank you for the reply. I have seen a video as well and may have to try this!

 

I have taken apart the turn signal to see what is broken on it. Unfortunately, it is a plastic tab piece inside the box that breaks on the stalk. You can't glue it, as it is an oily plastic, and I don't think there is a glue out there that can adhere to this type of plastic. And even if it could, there is force on the plastic, so it needs to be a little flexible, and glue won't help with that.
I have not seen that the stalk can be bought separately, and since the box is riveted - not screwed - closed, it is a pain to open and access the inside. Especially trying to put it all back together with all those springs inside and such. Took me awhile. Buying a used assembly is a crap shoot, as the stalk in any used one can also be broken or on the way out. I found this out the hard way.

The best bet really is to buy it new ...

 

This happened to me this past summer. I ordered the part from Rock Auto for about $270. There are different part numbers depending on how many stalks you have. My C4S with four stalks needed part number 99661321910EWC Following the videos carefully took me about an hour to swap it in.

 

I just want to pass on my experience changing out the turn signal stalk on my ‘01 996 coupe. Mine quit self-canceling a couple weeks ago - it turns out it’s fairly distracting and potentially dangerous having to hold the stalk up while turning.

The replacement cost for the part alone is about $450, new, with 2nd-hand ones going for between $100 - $200. I was reluctant to buy a used one, since they either came from cars with as many miles as mine, or more, or didn’t offer that information. The other issue was that my car has a four-stalk unit, and a lot of the ones for sale are usually three. However, I read that it’s easy to take the fourth stalk off a broken unit and add it to a three-stalker. This is bull****. It’s POSSIBLE, but DIFFICULT. Any turn signal unit has a number of brass pins on the right and left side. Those match up with two plastic corresponding parts that have a number of wires going elsewhere in the car. Taking your fourth stalk off isn’t too hard - just two small screws - but there is also a four-bundle group of wires that loop back of the left side plastic thing the stalk unit goes into, and you have to move two OTHER groups of wire bundles out of their little carrier to make room for your fourth-stalk wiring. You also have to unsnap the old wiring in order to connect the wiring from the new unit. Meanwhile everything comes loose, and you have parts hanging this way and that - it really gets dicey, and for a while I was sure I would end up calling for a tow and handing a grand over to the dealer to straighten it all out. By some MIRACLE, I got the pieces aligned and the wires reconnected and got it all put back together... I was pretty sure everything was going to work, but as soon as I started my test drive, I heard and felt some scraping sounds; I did NOT want to hear that - this is steering we’re talking about… so I took it apart again and tried to figure out who was guilty - I’m STILL not sure how I fixed it, but the noise is gone. The only thing I have to fix now is the wheel - despite carefully marking it as I was supposed to, the wheel is on crooked.

I’m not a particularly gifted mechanic, but the business of adding the fourth stalk moves this from a fairly difficult task, I’d say, to one that is NOT easy. Do not buy that crap about “just replacing the fourth stalk”, like it’ll be a breeze. It won’t. PS I really meant to thank the Rennlister who sold me his used stalk (a very reasonable $70, from a 40K mile car) - can’t find his info right now…

 

Wow. I can't image how this went wrong for you Christopher. I just did mine this winter. Bought a new three stalk, and added my fourth stalk (significant savings) Took maybe an hour tops, really taking my time and comfortably sitting in the driver's seat. Not many jobs in these cars can be done sitting comfortably.

 

Well, I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, and as I said, I'm not much of a mechanic either.