[Gbauer]

First off I'm new to this car and don't know old Chevy's at all so try to dumb it down for me if possible. I do, however, have a meter and know how to use it.


The gas gauge doesn't quite work... sort of.

It moves a little when you turn on the car but it's pointing all the way to the right. I haven't even filled the car up completely yet so I don't know if it changes how far it moves when I do fill it. Regardless it's pointing to the right at all times.

Someone mentioned a possible ground problem but would that cause this? Would it be something more mechanical in the tank itself?

Clock: Doesn't seem to be working: Where does it get it's power? Any ideas so I don't have to pull the carpet?

Cig lighter: How do you take it out? It's probably just a matter of cleaning it up but if I need to replace it completely I'll need to know how to remove it.


Thanks in advance, guys! My wife has wanted a 1st gen camaro since she was a little girl. I've wanted one a long time myself. Now that we have it I want to fix a few annoyances before the spring time when we can enjoy it.

[blue89bird]

Originally Posted by Gbauer

First off I'm new to this car and don't know old Chevy's at all so try to dumb it down for me if possible. I do, however, have a meter and know how to use it.


The gas gauge doesn't quite work... sort of.

It moves a little when you turn on the car but it's pointing all the way to the right. I haven't even filled the car up completely yet so I don't know if it changes how far it moves when I do fill it. Regardless it's pointing to the right at all times.

Someone mentioned a possible ground problem but would that cause this? Would it be something more mechanical in the tank itself?

Clock: Doesn't seem to be working: Where does it get it's power? Any ideas so I don't have to pull the carpet?

Cig lighter: How do you take it out? It's probably just a matter of cleaning it up but if I need to replace it completely I'll need to know how to remove it.


Thanks in advance, guys! My wife has wanted a 1st gen camaro since she was a little girl. I've wanted one a long time myself. Now that we have it I want to fix a few annoyances before the spring time when we can enjoy it.

The gas ground is in the trunk next to the filler neck. Look for a black wire with a star washer on it.

Not sure about the clock, but the lighter has a single bullet type connector on the back of it, just look up there and see if it's disconnected. If it's connected unplug it and take a test light and see if it lights up. To remove it completely, first take out the actual removable lighter and then from behind grab the outside of the sleeve and just turn it like you're unscrewing something. You'll see how it comes apart. It may be hard with everything assembled though. You're probably going to want to remove your instrument cluster, which means you need to pull your steering wheel and unbolt the 3 nuts holding the column up as well.

[go2fast]

Both of my 68's have the ground on the right front tank strap mount. Close to where the fuel line inlet is. The gauge going all the way clockwise is an open circuit. First try temporarily grounding the tank at the neck and see if it starts working. If not, find the 2 pin connector in the trunk by the fuel inlet. One wire (brown?) goes to the plate light, the other one (grey?) goes to the sender. Try grounding the one that doesn't go to the plate light (not sure about those colors). The gauge should go to E with the key on. If it does, the problem it between there and the sender in the tank. If it doesn't, it's forward of there. Happy hunting.

If the clock was dealer installed, it's probably connected to the "bat" terminal on the fuse box. Those self winding clocks never worked though. Best to convert to a quartz movement (there are kits).

The lighter is an insert. Remove the lighter itself and turn the insert counter-clockwise. Best to unplug it first and you may need some leverage (a screwdriver works for me) to get it started.

[Everett#2390]

Lighter: if the above does not work, reach behind the dash, unplug, grab ahold of the barrel/retainer and unscrew it. Body should fall out the front/interior side of dash.

Gas gauge: gauge is showing an open in its circuit - ground wire for sending unit is on the pass side tank support underneath the car. You might have to take the screw, 5/16 inch hex head, and wire brush the body and terminal, make sure the ground wire is attached to the s/unit, and reattach. You can ground the tan wire, after unplugging from the s/unit, and check the gas gauge to read empty. If needle is pointing to 3 o'clock, the meter movement may be past the coils inside the gauge and need alittle persuasion, like removing inst cluster and shaking it to bring it back. Another tip, hook up the s/unit, go to the drvr kick panel and find the body harness connector. Find the tan wire, disconnect the connector and measure resistance to ground of the tan wire, s/b 0-90 ohms, 0 empty, 90 full.

Claock gets battery power. Inside clock is a solenoid kicking in every 20-30 seconds to wind the mainspring, no audible clicks, no windup of spring. Have clicks, no clock,, bad spring or corroded clock - its how old?

[Gbauer]

Sorry to bump my old thread but...

The cig lighter was just unplugged. That was a quick fix.

The gas guage, however, is another story. I have good ground on the brown wire in the trunk. I pulled the dash unit and it appears that end is correct (but I'll check the resistor this weekend to make sure it's correct). So my next question is: do I need to drop the gas tank next? Is there something else I can check first before digging in there?


...the clock will probably be removed...

[Everett#2390]

As I suggested in the last post, disconnect the tan wire and read resistance on the tan wire referenced to ground. If you see resistance, dependent upon fuel level between 0-90 ohms, you might consider the circuit good to the tank, through the sending unit, and ground.
You would also need power from the gauge to the sending unit. Determine the resistor and go from there.

[Gbauer]

Originally Posted by Everett#2390

As I suggested in the last post, disconnect the tan wire and read resistance on the tan wire referenced to ground. If you see resistance, dependent upon fuel level between 0-90 ohms, you might consider the circuit good to the tank, through the sending unit, and ground.
You would also need power from the gauge to the sending unit. Determine the resistor and go from there.

Missed that when I read it two months ago. I now know what you're talking about after spending quality time under the dash. I'll go try that now.

[Gbauer]

Looks good there. Must be between the plug and guage then. I assume the brown wire on the other end of the plug goes directly to the plug on the back of the dash that connects it to the circuit board, right?

[Everett#2390]

Correct.