Tail Light Grounds

[dobie]

Hey guys....so it was mentioned by Dave I believe earlier that I should have a separate ground hooked up in the trunk area for the tail lights, etc... Seeing as how I have all new metal back there I don't have any grounds wired into the metal. I looked in the Satellite last night and didn't see any in there either.

So,... are there any separate grounds in the trunk? If there is, can someone post a picture of where it is? It seems 69 cars have 3 wires into the tail lights, one of which is a ground. On the 68's there's only 2 wires. The lights ground into the sockets.

Reason I'm asking is I lost my lights again. Back to only headlights. I gave up on the Nationals this weekend as I gotta have lights, eh?

Oh, and no dash lights either? I'm assuming this is all connected. The dimmer switch wouldn't be the culprit would it?

 

[69hemibeep]

Picture man to the rescue At the base of the trunk latch on a 69

 

[dobie]

Wow. Thanks for the picture. How is that connected to the harness? It looks like its just a looped piece of wire..??

 

[4spd69RR]

Mine is just a pig tail with an eyelet that attaches to the support for the trunk latch area.

 

[abodybill]

Wow. Thanks for the picture. How is that connected to the harness? It looks like its just a looped piece of wire..??

Steve,

That ground wire comes out of the rear wiring harness.

The loop you see is the ground wire going to each of the rear lights.

 

[Basketcase]

could be the dimmer switch on the dash as far as the dash lights. but since you got the lights back the last time by messing with the bulkhead conn, I'd still suspect that.
and with all that new metal and paint in the back, you just might not be getting a good ground for the taillights. run a wire from one of the light sockwets to some bare metal.

 

[A31PKG]

Here's another...

 

[dobie]

Do 68's have this ground loop? I've never seen this in any of the cars I've looked at.

Thanks for the info so far.

 

[Basketcase]

my '68 Charger did

 

[dobie]

Interesting. Never seen it on my RR, and the Satellite doesn't have one either.

 

[Basketcase]

early/late build thing maybe?

 

[dobie]

Yeah, I don't know.

 

[dobie]

So I took it to a shop today, and the verdict is I need a new turn signal switch and a headlight switch. I called a few local shops and was surprised to find out that I can still get these over the counter..?? I ordered them, and they should be in by Saturday. I didnt see any pictures of what I was buying, but if they're not right I dont have to take them.

We'll see.....

 

[V269]

:banana: :banana:

 

[dobie]

So the headlight switch was WAY wrong. Only thing that comes up is a switch for a pull/push switch, not a rocker switch. For now I'll rob the Satellite's switch, since its a known good one.

So...where can I get a new headlight switch, or have my bad one rebuilt at?

 

[Basketcase]

check ebay, the 'parts, and Norwalk Steve. plenty of switch panels on there with all or most of the switcehs.

 

[Basketcase]

ebay # 251113845399
buy it now for $19.95 w/o the knob

 

[Basketcase]

$30 buy it now with the nob
item #261054886575
a couple more for $90ish,a nd a NOS one for $250.

 

[dobie]

Thanks for the links. Im watching a few of them now.

So I pulled a known good headlight switch and replaced the one in the RR. Still nothing, so it appears the headlight switch may not be the culprit after all.

 

[Basketcase]

check the dimmer switch(on the floor) and the plug for it. I've had those cause the headlights go out. don't know if the dimmer affects the other lights, usually loosing the headlights while going down the road gets my full attetion