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69 camaro tail light wiring

14K views 22 replies 7 participants last post by  Everett#2390 
#1 ·
hi, i need some help with wiring my tail lights. i've looked through alot of threads and i can not find an answer. this is my problem, my tail lights, turns signals and back up lights are very dim with turn signal on or 4-way on. my brake lights work but are dim as well. so this is what i found out..... if i touch the metal clips on the light bulb socket to a ground the light becomes bright. what is supposed to ground these? or do i have an incorrect harness? this is a fresh build so i dont know if the harness is correct. thanks for any help.
 
#5 ·
Interesting, you're right that's it's a bad ground, on a 69 the metal clips are just for retention to the plastic housing. If you run a wire from the metal clip to the grounding point does it help? 1st thoughts are weak ground, did they use a star washer or clean paint under ground? Sounds like a bad ground wire or something funky in the harness. Can you check the resistance between the metal clip and the ground wire?
 
#6 ·
The sockets clip into the bezel and bezel is fastened to the tail panel with palnuts, a stamped sheet metal nut. This is the ground path.
You may need to run a separate ground wire from either the bezel, pick a screw/nut on the bezel itself, or just might need a path from a palnut to the trunk ground connection.
 
#9 ·
OE sockets are metal and fit into the metal part of the bezel.
Aftermarket sockets are plastic with two metal tabs supposedlty touching the metal bezel. The tabs are galvanized and sometimes do not make good contact, hence, the separate ground wire.
 
#11 ·
This is the way they are wired. As all grounds go to a common point and all of your lights are dim this issue is probably with the with a bad ground.

Take the wires loose. clean the contact rings and remove the paint to bare metal where the ground wires attach. A drop of motor oil and re-attach the wires nice and tight.

If you still have issues check the engine to body ground straps.

 
#14 ·
thanks everyone for the advice. ive tried and tried everything except running a seperate ground from each bulb socket to trunk ground. i think i may buy a new light harness. can someone tell me if a 69 camaro harness has the input wires and a ground wire to each bulb?
 
#17 ·
Have you checked the obvious such as wrong bulbs? Is the tail light housing tight against the body for good ground path? If you ground the light by hand does it brighten up?
Did you look at the tail light wiring diagram I posted.

69 tail light does not have ground path from housing to body
 
#15 ·
Have you checked the obvious such as wrong bulbs? Is the tail light housing tight against the body for good ground path? If you ground the light by hand does it brighten up?
 
#16 ·
Take a length of 16GA wire, strip off about 1/4 inch insulation, fan out the strands, remove bulb from socket, insert strands on the side of socket, insert bulb and lock into place.
Terminate the other end of the wire to trunk ground and compare brightness.
If brighter, repeat same method to the other sockets.

Sixty-eight's may have been the test bed for perfecting sixty-nine's,
but we're still applying '68 fixes keeping the '69's running.......:D
Therefore, '68's still rule
 
#18 ·
First, measure battery voltage for reference.
Next, turn on brake lights. Compare input voltage at the socket with battery voltage, s/b less than 0.4 volts difference. If more, then I would suspect corrosion at a body connector.
From the trunk ground point, or better yet, measure the loss from the socket to ground - s/b no less than 0.4 volts loss. A higher reading means a high resistance in line rust/corrosion, broken strands.

There were Camaro's made after 1968?
Oh wait, my new DD is a 2000 SS.......I guess the next few rounds are on me?
 
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