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1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

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Old Jan 23, 2011 | 09:49 PM
  #1  
travisgold's Avatar
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

in my car i think the switch is gone in it i pull the switch out and the DRLS come on then try to turn it to get the lows on no lows then pull out one more notch the 4 lights come on aka the highs but no lows also the brake light dont come on unless this is normal because i push the brake pedal and only the spoiler light will come on not the tail lights
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 12:25 AM
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From: In my garage next to my car
Car: 89 Red IROC
Engine: 5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.77
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

There is a high beam switch down along the the steering column. It shares its attachment bolts with the ignition switch. This may be out of adjustment or bad. Do you hear a click when you work the lever for the high/lows?
Look at the bottom of the column on the left side while working the lever to change high and low. You should see where the switch is.

The brake light switch operates the third brake light seperatly. Possible the portion for the lights is bad or you need to check your bulbs.
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 02:08 AM
  #3  
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

no i dont hear a click and i think my pull out switch is faulty is there some kind of methold to turn on my lowbeams after my drls are on do i just have to turn the switch till the dash lights come on and then my low beams will to or no
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 02:36 AM
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From: In my garage next to my car
Car: 89 Red IROC
Engine: 5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.77
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

You keep using the term DRLS. I don't know how it is for you in BC but there are not DRLS on your car. We normally call them the park/turn signal. DRLS come on when the car is placed in gear.
One short pull on your headlight swicth turns on the park lights, right?
One full pull turns on the park lights and headlights. You can't get any headlights without the full length pull of the headlight switch.
Now the click you should hear when changing between low and high beams is when you pull the blinker lever towards you. If you don't hear a click then you need to look down under the dash at the left side of the column. You will see a small, normally white, plastic push buttom switch with a rod going to the center of it. You can try to push it with your fingers. The rod wont stop you. If it does not click then it may be bad.
If it does click then there are two small screws on it, usually a 5/16 head. Loosen them and maybe slide the switch up a bit. Sometimes down also works because it wont click because it does not move fully out.

I may have one of those switches in my garage. I can dig around in the morning and post a pic of it.
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 02:47 AM
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

well my multi switch that operates the signals and the wiper i dont think you can click it in and out to get the lows and high as soon as i pull the ROUND light switch all the way the highbeams come on regardless and the dash lights up indicating the highs are on i will try later on to press the multi switch in or out either way and see if i can get low beams and i though they were drls i call then park lights usually but i got used to saying drls because a mechanic at my local Canadian tire kept calling it drls
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 02:55 AM
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From: In my garage next to my car
Car: 89 Red IROC
Engine: 5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.77
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

You know that the turn signal lever on the left of the column rocks to switch between high and low, right?
Put you hand behind it and move it as if you're going to touch the back of the steering wheel with it. Not that far though!

I happened to go into the garage and found the switch located near the bottom of the column. I'll take a pic of it and post it so you know what it looks like. I may even find one on the web some where for sure but I'll try to make a good angle so you can see its adjustment and all.
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 02:59 AM
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

i know which switch i knew mine could do that i was just curious my switch may be broken i bought the car of two 21 years that had the car for 3 years they might oh frigged it over im only 15 cannot drive till im 16 but i want it working so badly and will look at the switch sometime in the day its 12:58am here and the neighbors may not appreciate me blinding them with my highs tonight
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 03:07 AM
  #8  
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From: In my garage next to my car
Car: 89 Red IROC
Engine: 5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.77
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

I found a good pic on the web of the High and low beam switch.
You will see at the very far right of the white plastic area a small round area that looks like a hole. That is the button and where the rod goes.
The two long slots in the metal are for adjustment.
It has a three wire connection but may have 4 wires to it. Two green, a tan and a yellow.

Last edited by Mad_IROC-Z; Feb 4, 2011 at 01:07 AM.
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 03:09 AM
  #9  
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

thank you i will test it out tomorrow i love the color of your camaro btw im painting mine the colour too when i get the money
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 03:11 AM
  #10  
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From: In my garage next to my car
Car: 89 Red IROC
Engine: 5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.77
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

If it does not click, but you feel tension on the lever then that switch I posted a pic of may need adjusted or replaced.
Oh and for all I know you could have DRLS. I don't think they were a US thing until more recently. My 89 does not have DRLS.
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 03:14 AM
  #11  
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

nope i dont think i have DRLS just the running lights
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 10:20 AM
  #12  
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From: Newburg, MD
Car: '89 RS, '89 Iroc
Engine: L03, LB9
Transmission: 700r4, T5
Axle/Gears: 2.73, 3.08
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

I dont know how your trying to work your headlights but ill explain it my way

the switch you are talking about is on the dash with a round ****

when you pull it out half way the two lower lights on your front end should light up, those are your marker/turn signals

when you pull the switch all the way out your headlights should turn on

now from what you say all four of your headlights come on(lows beams and high beams)



now you need to grab the turn signal lever on your steering column and click it towards you, if your high beams do not turn off then the problem is your High beam switch mounted on the column,

you can ignore the headlight switch on the dash because it sounds like that is working fine


sorry if you knew that, but thats my run down of how your lights work
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 12:18 PM
  #13  
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

i fixed it, it was the multi switch on the steering column it wasn't clicking because it was slightly out of the steering column i put it back in press towards me and bam low beams then towards me and high beams haha it works great now


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now for the brake lights issue.

I dont think i have any brake lights still it be have something to do with the spoiler light though because only one portion of it is lit the rest is burnt out i took it out and its one of the sealed type so i have to by a brand new one when i get some money i knew i should of taken of off that camaro or firebird sitting at pick n pull the other day
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 12:52 PM
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From: Newburg, MD
Car: '89 RS, '89 Iroc
Engine: L03, LB9
Transmission: 700r4, T5
Axle/Gears: 2.73, 3.08
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

i see you have the low rise spoiler, i don't have experience with that style, but if its anything like the common 3 piece spoiler's brake light, you should be able to take it apart and replace the bulbs
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 12:59 PM
  #15  
travisgold's Avatar
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

i have the spoiler brake light out right now it doesn't look like there is anyway to get into it but there is 3 screws on the back side im not too sure if they can be taken out i tried and then seem to be really in there i will take some photos of the light for you
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 01:06 PM
  #16  
travisgold's Avatar
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights




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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 01:19 PM
  #17  
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

ok so i opened it up i dont know where to get bulbs for it
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 02:34 PM
  #18  
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From: Newburg, MD
Car: '89 RS, '89 Iroc
Engine: L03, LB9
Transmission: 700r4, T5
Axle/Gears: 2.73, 3.08
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

I dont know what kind of stores you have where you live but any major chain store should have them, i know for mine you can use bulb #194, or an auto part store would definitely have them
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 03:53 PM
  #19  
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From: In my garage next to my car
Car: 89 Red IROC
Engine: 5.7
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.77
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

I got some lights to replace those from Radio Shack. They are 20 watts though as compaired to the original 7 watts. The radio shack part number is 272-1177 and they were $2.00 each. Cheaper that what the auto parts stores charge for the low wattage replacements. Or you can look for a bulb with a G4 base. just pull and its two exposed prongs on the light.

But that light does not keep the normal brkae lights from working. You need to remove ther back interrior panel and remove the tail lights and check the bulbs. They can very well both be burned out. I think there are 5 thumb screws on each light to take off.
If the bulbs are good then you need to check the brake light switch.
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Old Jan 24, 2011 | 07:15 PM
  #20  
travisgold's Avatar
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From: The Okanagan, British Columbia
Car: 1984 Camaro Z28
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: 1988 Camaro No Low Beams, No Brake Lights

Thank you i will buy some soon. And test it out tomorrow if we get good weather its raining right now and may last over night and be gone or stay all day tomorrow who knows. thank you very much for your help.
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