Alright folks, I'm going to need some serious help here.

So, I own a 2.8L 173 CUID 198.9 Camaro RS. It's electrical wiring across the board is shot due to the previous owner splicing in after market cables and electronics. He installed an aftermarket radio and tweeters, HID headlights, and some garbage security system that has been Hell on my electrical system.

I love this car and I want to save it. Where can I find replacement wiring harness(es)? I usually don't mess with electronics and want to save this car.
What can I do about the headlights/radio/security system as well?

Please, y'all, I love this car and very much wish to save it. Any advice is appreciated.

 

Gotta be honest with ya , unless there was an un fused short circuit that melted wires , I believe most harnesses hacked by poor radio installs & such are perfectly savable rather than replacing it just cause a few connectors have been cut off or a few wires spliced into . Solder , heat shrinkable tubing , and a few connectors harvested off of a junkyard harness and a couple hours with a wiring diagram is all it should take to put it right and the entire dashboard doesn't need to be disassembled in the process . Using wiring diagrams like the ones at Austin third gen will give the info of which color wire in the harness goes where and one wire at a time they get reconnected* to the right connectors to plug back into what got hacked (like if trying to hook back up the original radio , for instance) .

* reconnected means the two wires connected "Western Union" style , soldered , and with the heat shrinkable tubing properly melted over the soldered connection .

 

Sounds like a solid plan, I will definitely keep my eyes open.

What is your advice for the radio and headlights? They also installed some garbage security system that has wreaked hell on my alternator and battery. I am no expert, but mainly he fused a bunch of other wires into the starter wire.

 

Were this mine to repair , here's what I'd do ;

First , I'd obtain the wiring diagrams just to have for handy reference of which color wire goes where . I'd then decide what I needed for connectors to put things back to original , in your case it sounds like you need at least the headlight connectors and the radio connectors , and get them , along with the solder , soldering iron , and heat shrinkable plastic tubing to join the wires together properly .

I'd then go about removing any and all hacked in aftermarket electronics and using the above mentioned wiring diagrams & wiring connection method I'd replace the connectors and restore the harness back to it's original pre hacked state .

If its a radio , headlights , and removal of an old security system only , It's far better to repair the original harness than to try to replace an entire wiring harness just for a few connectors .

 

Sounds like an excellent plan! I'll get on that as soon as I can.

Thank you!!!

 

If there is anything I can help with answers wise , by all means ask . I may not be the world's best person to ask performance enhancing questions of , but I know my automotive electrical very well indeed .

 

I am very thankful for your assistance. You've made this young soldier's restore project that much easier.

I have one quick question, rather a curiosity...

I am looking into replacing some of the sockets for my taillights. RockAuto is my best friend, and here's their selection:
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/c...mp+socket,4132

Which of these would work the best? Is there a specific one for each socket, or will one of these fit all six of the large bulbs?

Thanks again!

 

If you still have the original taillight housings , and have not switched to an earlier set of housings like I did , there are 3 different kinds of sockets back there . The first kind is a 3 wire socket to fit the bulb number 1157 which is a two filament bulb , the second kind is a two wire socket which is a single brightness bulb and will be the reverse lights (and possibly the turn signals too , it's been too long since I converted my taillight housings to remember exactly) and the third one is a very small socket to fit a cartridge style bulb like the 194 which will be a taillight only . The ones you showed from Rock Auto look like the right ones for the two filament 1157 bulb , and generally speaking where the difference in price is minimal I'd get the standard motor products # S502 for the 1157 stop/tail lights , but I didn't see one there listed for the 1156 (reverse lights & possibly turn signals) and I didn't see one listed for the 194 taillight .

You may want to pop off one side and have a look at whats there before you buy , but I'm sure that at least the 1157 one you showed will work . I have pictures of the two different housings , the old and new style , but darn it I didn't think to take pictures of the bulb side , only the street side .

 

Oh , and , I hope this don't sound too corny , but truly Thank You for your service to our country , I really do appreciate all our soldiers do to keep things on an even keel here and in the rest of the world .

 

I am positive that they are the original housings. A couple of them are broken and one of my reverse lights doesn't really like to work, hence me contemplating replacing them. The little red lights on both side work fine, I was just thinking of replacing the larger bulbs.

 

Thank you for your support. I love this great country and being a soldier is my passion in life... right next to my Camaro! hahaha

 

Also, if it helps, here is a picture of my current taillight setup:

Each light has a different bulb.
I.e., the reverse lights have their own large bulb, as do the turn signals and brakes. I just want to figure out if I can replace all six from the website, or if I'll have to scavenge elsewhere.

 

Errr , OOPS ! Ok , now I feel stupid !!!!!

Throughout this whole conversation , I for some unknown reason thought we were talking about a Firebird here !

Total and complete brainfart on my part , especially since your profile AND first post do in fact say it's a Camaro . In all honesty I have never once seen the bulb side of a set of third gen Camaro taillights so now my best advice is gonna have to revert to you pulling the covers off and having a peek back there , and maybe if ya got a camera handy you could post up a pic or two for those (Like me ) who've never seen back there . In my only defense I musta saw 1989 2.8 (which is what I got) and just automatically thought we were talking birds .

 

it's fine, everyone makes mistakes. No worries!

Unfortunately, I am OCONUS right now and can't take any pictures, and Google wasn't any help, so that's my bad. I am just trying to get my ducks in a row for when I come home. Lots and lots of car work!

 

Stay safe and yea , lots of work goes with the territory of having the old cars we like , and so far I can say most of the work I've done was easy compared to trying to do similar work to "modern" cars .

 

Amen to that, brother! Thanks again for all of your help!

 

 

These taillight wiring pictures are from a 1988 IROCZ.

 

Beige connectors are back-up lights, LH has 2 LT GRN wires, RH has 1 LT GRN wire - uses bulb #1156

White connector are LH and RH turn lamps. LH has YEL wire & RH has DK GRN wire - uses bulb #2057 (per owners manual)

Gray connectors are TAIL/STOP lamps;
LH has two LT BLU wires to STOP filament and one BRN wire to TAIL filament
RH has one LT BLU wire to STOP filament and one BRN wire to TAIL filament. Uses bulb #2057

Small white connectors are used for LH & RH rear side marker lights and for License lamps. All are powered by a BRN wire and use bulb #194

Southern Arizona is TUFF on wiring...

 

You have helped me so very much! Thank you, fellow Arizonian!

What part of the glorious Copper State are you from, brother?

Thanks again!

 

Happy to help.

Grew up on the West side of the valley not far from Luke AFB where it's extra hot, LOL.

 

Thought I would add headlight connector info from the 1988 Camaro Service Manual.

Dual Beam (3- cavities) is #02965810 and shows to be a good # at places like Mouser.
However, Hi Beam (2-cavities) #02965809 shows to be obsolete.

It looks like the 3-cavity connector will work in place of the 2-cavity if you can't find a source.

Stay safe

 

Thank you very much!

: