430 Squeak from turn signal

Hey all. My F430 spider has a tiny squeak when the turn signal stalk automatically clicks back to its neutral position (after making the turn). Another important detail is its only after driving it for a while with the top down… Which tells me it’s some plastic bit rubbing somewhere after heating up in the sun.

I’ve removed the steering column cover to look around. I was able to reproduce it after a drive while stationary, where if I turn the left signal on, then turn the wheel to the left, and then back, the stalk flips back up and makes the little squeak sound.

I noticed there was a little bit of contact between where the click spring collar meets the back of the steering wheel… So I put I tiny piece of teflon tape between the two and that silenced it instantly.

However, on my next drive, after two hours of driving in the sun (yes, I do long drives), I thought I solved it entirely and then when I went to make the last left turn into my driveway…. SQUEAK! Mother F@$k!

Obviously I can live with it… it’s so subtle, only I really notice it with how loud the car is anyway… And I still think I solved MOST of the problem considering it used to squeak on every left blinker usage, and now it’s very intermittent and only after being in the sun for over an hour… and it could just be a second piece rubbing in there somewhere, because even though it made the squeak again, it wasn’t nearly as loud or repeatable as before.

That all said, I’ll go back in at some point and see if I can catch anything else… Plus I’ve been thinking about a CF steering column cover to match all the other CF interior stuff I have (dash, paddles, wheel, center console, door handles, door cups, passenger handle…)…

Has anyone else had this? I’ve found plenty of forums for other cars with the same squeak, but nearly all of them end with lubricating a different part of these mechanisms (the stalks, clock spring, etc.) depending on the make and model.

I’m just happy that the car is sorted to the point that THIS is the kind of dumb crap I’m chasing down.