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Ive started working on my dads old hot rod. Its an 83 z28. It had the original V8 motor for the longest time, probably for around 230 k or something, and eventually putting a big cam 350 in it making 430whp. Its been sitting in the garage for like 10-11 years, and im ready to restore it. Its running perfect but as for the electronics, whoever messed with them really screwed them up. For starters the headlights wont turn on. Went through the long process of removing the switch and eventually got to replace it but no lights still. All the wires look fine and aren't cut or shorted. Not too sure whats going on. Any ideas?
There isn't a whole lot to the headlight circuit . Looking at your wiring diagram you'll see the power for the headlight portion of the headlight switch is a red wire fed from a fusible link , take a voltmeter and make sure you have power there , if no , the fusible link is likely bad . If yes , turn on the switch and see if you have power at the yellow wire at the switch , if no the switch is bad (unlikely since you replaced it) and if yes check the tan wire coming from the headlight dimmer switch (remember the tan wire is low beams and the light green wire is high beams) . If you have power at the tan(low beam) or light green (high beam) then your looking at either a problem with wires/connectors , grounds to the headlight bulbs (or perhaps corroded connectors at the headlight bulbs themselves) , or believe it or not the possibility of both headlights being burned out (Quite rare , but seen it at least a couple times in the past !)
This wiring diagram covers both Camaro and Firebird , disregard the Firebird headlight door wiring (everything involving the "Isolation relay" and beyond) and good luck with your troubleshooting .....
Last edited by OrangeBird; Jan 9, 2020 at 12:33 PM.
After that much time the plugs that go into the lenses maY HAVE GOTTEN CORRODED AND NEED CLEANING. tRY UNPLUGGING THE LIGHT ONE AT A TIME AND SUPPLYING 12 VOLTS TO THEM TO SEE IF THEY ACTUALLY STILL WORK. OOPS, hit caps lock.....
I did take plugs apart, then took two wires and touched them direct from the battery. Luckily the bulbs and plugs are fine, but i did take a wire brush to them just to get them cleaned. I still haven't found the bad wire, im believing its in the harness. Haven't had too much time to take a look at it today. : /
After that much time the plugs that go into the lenses maY HAVE GOTTEN CORRODED AND NEED CLEANING. tRY UNPLUGGING THE LIGHT ONE AT A TIME AND SUPPLYING 12 VOLTS TO THEM TO SEE IF THEY ACTUALLY STILL WORK. OOPS, hit caps lock.....
Originally Posted by OrangeBird
.......or perhaps corroded connectors at the headlight bulbs themselves.......
The corroded connectors angle has already been presented , and without the annoying shouting of the capital letters .
You know you CAN always edit your post , unless of course the caps are meant to impress us somehow ?????
I believe my issue is in the connector leading from the firewall (both sides) im receiving power from all the wires on the switch, but nothing at the lights. cleaned the lights connectors and everything leading to it. and took a steel brush to all the grounds and still nothing. Do you know the name of the firewall connector? Its got a bunch of grease i think, inside of it. Probably preventing it from working. Should i disconnect the battery and clean the connector out with some break cleaner?
UPDATE: Ive checked every wire on the switch and they all have power. The harness leading from the fire wall has continuity to the connectors for the bulbs, and I stuck a wire on the battery and tapped it to different pegs on the the harness and made all lights turn on that way so there are no cuts in the cables from the firewall. Ive tried cleaning the dielectric grease off the pins to see if thats why the lights wont turn on and that sadly didnt solve anything when re connecting the harness. all the grounds have been cleaned off. About to lose my mind. Any suggestions at this point before i burn the thing and start all over?
Update: I went ahead and took the entire dash out just to take a look at all the wires behind it. It ended up just being the dimmer switch needed a replacement, but i needed the dash out anyways to clean the wiring up and maybe put some extra insulation in. I dont know how i missed it in m first look through but the dimmer switch looks like it pretty much caught fire. Probably not seeing how i still have a car, but it was pretty badly burned on the inside. Now to figure out the break, reverse lights, and turn signals. Then back it all goes.
This wiring diagram covers both Camaro and Firebird , disregard the Firebird headlight door wiring (everything involving the "Isolation relay" and beyond) and good luck with your troubleshooting .....
