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GM Fishbowl bus turn signal switches

 
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:36 pm    Post subject: GM Fishbowl bus turn signal switches Reply with quote

As you know I am a Fishbowl bus nut but I know very little except for what I have learned in these forums and bus sites. I am also a driver of many types of vehicles from cars to 18 wheelers. Dozers, loaders, swathers, etc... but no buses.
On the Fishbowl bus I see from the pictures that the turn signals are activated by pushing your foot on one of two buttons on the left side of the steering column. I was happy to figure this out but then it occurred to me that the way it worked could cause trouble if the bus had a manual transmission because it would have a clutch pedal and the left foot would be busy when the turn signal may be needed at stop lights and stop signs.
My question is this; To activate the turn signals, does the driver step on the switch until he no longer needs it? Does the driver hold his foot on the switch until he is done?
OR
Does he step on it once and it stays on until he kicks it off?
I am thinking that since his left foot is busy with the clutch pedal then he could not keep a foot on the switch.
OR
Do the drivers of a Fishbowl bus that was equipped with a manual transmission just don't activate the turn signal until their foot is free to step on the switch?
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Hart Bus



Age: 73
Joined: 24 Apr 2007
Posts: 1150

PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would think that the buttons would work the same way as a lever. You tap the button and it stays on until the wheel comes back into position after being turned, just like a car.
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Tiny Tim



Age: 62
Joined: 20 Aug 2012
Posts: 97
Location: Cape Coral Fl

PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On manual transmission bowls they had the turn signal lever on the steering column like a car.
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Hart Bus



Age: 73
Joined: 24 Apr 2007
Posts: 1150

PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember taking HART's baby Flx New Looks. They had three buttons in a triangular pattern for the driver to touch with his toes.

Bottom Left - Left Turn

Bottom Right - Right Turn

Upper Middle - High Beams
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GBL Rebel
Moderator



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 608
Location: Long Island, N.Y.

PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Foot switches do not lock on like a high beam switch.
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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

GBL Rebel is correct. They only flashed while your foot was on the switch. First time I drove one I went to make the first turn I couldn't find the turn signals!
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks guys. You don't know what this means to me.
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Sun Nov 20, 2016 1:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the foot operated switches did not turn off when the foot was released, there would probably have been too many cases of the driver forgetting to turn off the signal, regardless of tell-tale audio or lites....
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

but I do remember the loud clicking whenever the turn signal was used
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Q65A



Age: 66
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 1764
Location: Central NJ

PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oddly enough, operators manuals issued by GM for the 5301/2, 5303/4 and 5305/6 all described foot operated turn signals as "special equipment". At that time, apparently the standard control arrangement was to install the turn signal level on the left side of the steering column. An optional arrangement placed the turn signal lever on the right side of the steering column. A visit to the Vintage Bus Exhibit shows that the NYCT TDH-5106's had foot-operated turn signal switches (even though the maintenance manual for the 5106 makes no mention of this option, so it must have been a leading edge invention back in its day). Some of you who lived in Queens during the 1960's might recall that Triboro's 5301's and 5303's had truck-style Signal Stat turn signals mounted on their steering columns; these had boxy housings that (at least on big trucks) also housed the tab for the hazard flashers.
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GBL Rebel
Moderator



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 608
Location: Long Island, N.Y.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 19, 2016 11:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Q65A wrote:
Oddly enough, operators manuals issued by GM for the 5301/2, 5303/4 and 5305/6 all described foot operated turn signals as "special equipment". At that time, apparently the standard control arrangement was to install the turn signal level on the left side of the steering column. An optional arrangement placed the turn signal lever on the right side of the steering column. A visit to the Vintage Bus Exhibit shows that the NYCT TDH-5106's had foot-operated turn signal switches (even though the maintenance manual for the 5106 makes no mention of this option, so it must have been a leading edge invention back in its day). Some of you who lived in Queens during the 1960's might recall that Triboro's 5301's and 5303's had truck-style Signal Stat turn signals mounted on their steering columns; these had boxy housings that (at least on big trucks) also housed the tab for the hazard flashers.


I remember a few Flx New Looks at QSC in the 90's with a turn signal lever on the left side of the steering column. It was part of the column, not a Signal Stat.
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Skip391



Age: 66
Joined: 03 Sep 2011
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 1:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The first repair on a fishbowl I had was to instal a replacement turn signal stalk. Someone else had removed the old one and cut the cable harness. So I had a stalk with a 7 contact plug and a 5 wire harness to connect it to. To make things more interesting the only set of fishbowl schematics that I could find was one for foot switches. Rolling Eyes Since I made forman we have only one mechanic left that has worked on fishbowls.
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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Q65A wrote:
Oddly enough, operators manuals issued by GM for the 5301/2, 5303/4 and 5305/6 all described foot operated turn signals as "special equipment". At that time, apparently the standard control arrangement was to install the turn signal level on the left side of the steering column. An optional arrangement placed the turn signal lever on the right side of the steering column. A visit to the Vintage Bus Exhibit shows that the NYCT TDH-5106's had foot-operated turn signal switches (even though the maintenance manual for the 5106 makes no mention of this option, so it must have been a leading edge invention back in its day). Some of you who lived in Queens during the 1960's might recall that Triboro's 5301's and 5303's had truck-style Signal Stat turn signals mounted on their steering columns; these had boxy housings that (at least on big trucks) also housed the tab for the hazard flashers.


Many of the old looks I drove in Reading had the Signal Stat turn signals.
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