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I have a question for ALL 84-86 Berlinetta owners.
If your sitting in the car with your key in your hand and you turn on the Parking lights or the Headlights,...... Does your FACTORY headlight Warning BUZZER work ?
The shop manual says it should but I have NEVER heard mine work. I've tried at least a dozen other Berlinetta style door/headlight/belt Buzzers with no luck.
Once I installed a later style "CHIME" from a Trans Am I did get it to warn me that the headlights were on without the key in the ignition - so I know the courtesty center is wired for it - but I can't seem to get it to work using Berlinetta speific parts.
I got started on this because the audio alarm's headlight warning on my 86Z didn't work. I drive with my park lights on at all times so I do sometimes forget that I've got them on and the alarm will stop me from killing the battery.
I pulled several audio alarms out and tried to install many into the 86Z without any luck. They were all pulled from Berlinettas,... so I scavenged up about a 1/2 dozen other "chimes" from several other Camaros, ( all pre 87 at that point ) but none of them made the headlight warning work.
So; I re-tested all of them on the Berlinetta electrical system I've got setup for testing. Again; none of them gave me a headlight warning. I revisited my parts drawer and came up with a few other types of chimes,..... Here is a pic of all the chimes I tested
* Berlinetta Buzzer is active for 11-14 seconds
PN: 14036201, The Berlinetta unit is a "BUZZER" with 2 different "Buzzes",... one for Seat Belt and 1 for Door Ajar. ( NO headlight Warning )
* ALL other Buzzers are active for about 6 seconds.
PN: 14036201, The 83-84 units are more of a "Chime" and seemed to have the same tone for the Belt and the Door warning,.... ( NO Headlight Warning )
[B]*** The Berlinetta Buzzer and the 2 I got from early Z28's have the same part number - but have a very different sound !!
PN: 14081942, The 85-86 units are the same, more of a "Chime" and seemed to have the same tone for the Belt and the Door warning. ( NO Headlight Warning )
PN: 10037041, The blue style I pulled from 87-88 Firebirds was more of a "DING" alarm and used a very slow DING for the Belt, a faster DING for the door and a real fast DING-DING for the headlight warning.
The 92 Camaro unit ( Not pictured ) was also a "Chime" and had a tall black case similar to the blue one shown. It used the same mono-tone for ALL 3 warnings, Seat Belt, Door Ajar AND the Headlight Warning. ( YAY ! )
The reason that the "taller" audio alarms work is because of the extra pin that can be seen in the pic. This pin accepts the LIGHTS ON input...... (Grey wire from 82-86 and changed to Brown around 87-88 ) is present on ALL the dash dozen or so harnesses I just looked thru. All the cars have the wiring place already,........... but it seems that many audio alarms are simply lacking that functionality.
I can kinda' understand why the Headlight/Park-Light warning isn't needed in a digital Berlinetta. Our cars are special in that; if the headlights are left on when the key is turned OFF then the headlights shut off automatically. BUT; that's not true with regular Thirdgens and I've very surprised to find so many Z28 alarms without the headlight warning.
If you want a headlight Warning to function in your early ThirGen than use a alarm from a 90-92 Camaro or 87+ Firebird. These are taller than the early version and will operate all 3 alarms. Other years might apply, just search for a tall, rectangular alarm with 7-pins !
Last edited by John in RI; 02-12-2016 at 10:49 PM.
Reason: edited for accuracy
My warning sounds are sporadic. I zoomed in on the blue box in your photo and googled the part number on it (10037041). It is a genuine GM part number which I will probably buy since I need a horn relay as well. In the google results there was a link to TGO regarding a similar problem from 10 years ago! https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...uaranteed.html
These both came from 1987 IROCs. Same part number but the "sub" number underneath that is different. I suspect something to do with production date? Note the scribbled signatures on each one. Quality control?
These are both 7 pin. But since I have not been able to get either one to work in my one single fully assembled IROC (other one is being restored) I cannot tell you what the sounds are like.
After seeing your pic I visited my trash can and looked at the alarms that failed testing yesterday. One of them had your part number & 7 pins,.... I pulled it from an 82 Z28. ( It failed cause' the seat belt light did not turn on. )
Another one that failed had no PN,... from an 84 Trans Am, blue, Square, 7-pins.
I just pulled the buzzer box out of my 87 sport coupe. It has the same number as the two in the picture posted by neilcase (14034321). Mine has only ever come on with the park- or headlights on, and it makes a continous highpitched tone that makes me want to puncture my eardrums. But on the plus side, I have never forgotten to turn off my headlights.
Reason I took it out is want one that first of all makes a more comfortable chime or ding kind of sound. Second, I want it to chime when I forget the key in the ignition (has happened more than once ).
I saw something interesting posted in a different thread; that we can use chimes from newer GM vehicles like trucks and so on, and that they produce a more pleasant tone than anything from the eighties. Anyone ever tried doing that? I'm looking to get a replacement for mine in any case, and I was hoping someone could point me in the direction of a part number to look for
01-15-2014, 01:19 PM
