The Turn Signal Saga

August 1-10, 2023                                                              Most Recent Posts:
Actually June 21- August 10, 2023                     End of July at Peacham Bog
Moose River Campground                          Tubing, Moosing, Cook-Off & Ponds
St Johnsbury, Vermont

This saga took almost 2 months to come to completion.

Back on the Summer Solstice, June 21, I discovered that the lens cover for my driver’s side turn signal was missing.  The signal works fine but is blinding without the cover.  I’m sure it must be traffic ticket worthy so I tried to find a replacement.  

Winnebago parts are getting harder and harder to find and the older the RV (don’t mention this to Winnona) the harder it is. 

I found a number on the lens cover for the passenger light and asked google who had no answers that made sense.   I mentioned this to my friend Jody who is a research wizard and probably spent even more time than I did trying to trace it down to no avail.  So I brought out my big guns and wrote to my Winnebago and former full timer friend Paul Dahl.  He almost always has an answer to any question I can ask.   He is my Class A RV and Winnebago Guru.

By June 30 Paul had taken over the hunt and with his ingenuity had discovered that the lights were those from a Pontiac sunbird or something like that.  I forget exactly but they had never been “Winnebago Parts”.  How did he know this?

To shorten the story -  he found and ordered both lights so I wouldn’t have to go through this again and sent them to me.   You cannot just buy the lens of course you have to buy the entire light fixture. 

But here they are and a few screws out and new screws in will fix me up.  Looks like something I can easily do myself rather than paying a service charge and then an hourly charge for an RV tech to do it.

Except………………… that the screws have been in there for nearly 20 years now and are rusted solid to the washers and nuts in the back.  No amount of turning and no tools, no WD-40 or other supposed rust alleviating product will budge them.   I tried one after another for days.

I am so frustrated that I take my sad tale to the folks sitting around on the campground porch in the Adirondack chairs.   Mary says Jack will look at it for me.

He does and tries to get it out with even more rust dissolver and better screwdrivers and wrenches to no avail.  

FINALLY on August 10 he comes with a drill and drills the whole thing out.  I run up to the hardware for new stainless steel screws washers and nuts and shortly I have two new turn signals.  

Jack will not take a penny for his time so I ask his wife what is his favorite “treat” and at her suggestion buy him three different boxes of magnum ice cream bars.  

Thanks to Jody, Paul and Jack for saving me a bundle of money including the price of the ticket I might have gotten trying to drive Winnona south next month without the lens cover.   I am SO lucky to have such great friends to help me out when I find myself mechanically challenged.   
(whisper to David wherever you are.  I MISS you.  It took 3 strong men to replace you)

I am SO relieved to have this fixed and out of the way that in addition to Magnum Bars for Jack, I treat myself to an ice cream sundae.  That’s a black spoon in the picture.

Not sure why I deserved a treat since after my initial days of searching for the part my friends did all the work and I would definitely buy Jody and Paul ice cream sundaes if they were only here.

Next time back to Loons and Pond Paddling.