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Really have no idea whats going on... ghosts or something?

1K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  BillK 
#1 ·
Electrical problems

I have a 1968 ragtop camaro with a 350. Recently, I have had some electrical problems. Initially the car would not crank and my son and I finally figured out it was the neutral safety switch. However, before we figured that out we had replaced the starter, solenoid, battery,and battery cables. Things went OK for a while and then we noticed problems with running electrical components while driving and had a dead battery on a couple of occasions.

We replaced the alternator and voltage regulator but are still experiencing the problem of electrical accessories acting funny and also when I turn on the lights with the engine running both my blinker signal illuminate and my fuel gauage needle goes to empty.

Any ideas?

Thanks
 
#3 ·
Re: Electrical problems

Hop to the Elec. section and read the 'sticky' articles that JimM made up to trouble shoot elec issues. Bet you find the answer there.
 
#4 ·
I have a 68 camaro which had been giving me trouble with not starting after driving around a lil bit. So I replaced both the alternator and the voltage regulator, and got my battery tested to make sure it was fully charged. The engine now starts, and it hasn't not started since we put the new parts in.
However something really strange has started to happen. When I start teh car, I pull out the lights switch to turn the lights on, and the parking lights come on, but no headlights. Also when I dim the dash lights the fuel gauge drops slowly to empty.

Does Anyone know what could cause this strange series of events? If so, I desperately need your help!!!!
 
#5 ·
Sounds like grouding issues. Hop over to Elec. section and read the 'sticky' notes at the top to review how it all works and where you might want to start looking. Im betting on grounds.
 
#6 ·
jheabs said:
I have a 68 camaro which had been giving me trouble with not starting after driving around a lil bit. So I replaced both the alternator and the voltage regulator, and got my battery tested to make sure it was fully charged. The engine now starts, and it hasn't not started since we put the new parts in.
However something really strange has started to happen. When I start teh car, I pull out the lights switch to turn the lights on, and the parking lights come on, but no headlights. Also when I dim the dash lights the fuel gauge drops slowly to empty.

Does Anyone know what could cause this strange series of events? If so, I desperately need your help!!!!
Direct short..
It actually sounds like your switch and dash lights are sharing a ground, that isn't really a true ground..

I'm not sure which is easier for you, or what kind of work was recently done, but you need to determine if the short is inside your light switch, your dash cluster, fuse-panel or in the wiring hareness somewhere. If you have a second switch handy, swap it out..

If not, then you'll need to get a test-light or volt meter with a sharp point, to poke through the wire insulation..
Test it with the switch in different postions.
Unplug all connections to your lights and see where you are loosing your voltage.
 
#8 ·
When you changed out the Neutral safety switch, it's possible you disturbed the wiring causing a bad connection or connections several places.
 
#9 ·
Remove your battery and make sure you didn't pull any wiring loose behind it when you sat it back in. I know on both my 77 Camaro and my 67 Chevelle, I have to be attentive to dropping the battery in because of other wiring in close proximity to the battery.
 
#10 ·
Grounding issues is my guess. Make sure you got good ground at battery to engine and battery to chassis, then engine to chassis, etc......... Start checking and cleaning/replacing those ground wires.

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#11 ·
Re: Electrical problems

Sounds like you got a grounding issue. Make sure all your grounds are good, solid and clean. You should have ground from battery to engine and to chassis, then engine to chassis, plus there's more.

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