well i finally got my dream car, so now it is time to learn the ropes by fixing my fair share of problems. i bought my 68 camaro in june from a guy who did the electrical himself using a painless wiring harness kit. mostly things are working fine except that i know there are some bad grounds that i need to find and fix. the bad grounds are causing my gas gauge to go down by half when the headlights are on and the turn signals, although they work, they are dimly lit when not in use. also, the flashers do not work at all; when the flasher switch is on, the flashers just stay lit, not flashing. and when the headlights are on, the lights for my gas gauge and speedometer are very very dim. my other problem is that the reverse lights are not hooked up/there is no power to them. and lastly, there is no variation in my windshield wiper speed or gauge light dimming switches; it is only one speed (high) for the wipers and one brightness for my gauges (very bright).

can anyone tell me where i might find these grounds so i can fix these problems and how do i hook up my reverse lights. any help is greatly appreciated. thank you!

 

Hello Cali, I dont have a 68 sooooo........ I am not sure where the grounds on that year car are, but I will try to help. First check to see if you have the big copper bonding strap from the back of the engine to the fire wall. Also check the grounds at the head lights and on the fuel tank sender unit (in the gas tank). No as far as where they are ya just got to look or get a book with a wireing diagram. Hope this helps and keep us posted on what you find. BLK81Z28
400CI almost restored

 

I have a 68 camaro I rewired myself because the old wires were in bad shape. I used OE style harnesses. One ground that I had a problem with was in the gauge cluster. There is like a metal strap on the back of the cluster around the high beam indicator light that wasnt making good ground to the dash. That was causing my gas gauge to go up and down, also the cluster lights were dim. Make sure you have 2 flasher switches, one for emergency flashers and the other for the blinkers, one on the fuse box and the other should be behind the radio area on the harness. Im not sure if the Painless harnesses are identical to the OE style but hope you get it sorted out.

 

are you in Ca? if so where?

 

Also check for a grounding strap from the chassis to the firewall on the passenger side frame rail - commonly overlooked.

 

as far as your gages go. he probably just wired them in with the headlights so they aren't on the dimmer. your reverse lights usually need to be wired up with the same switch as the neutral safety and a lot of people don't do that

what is your shifter?

 

make sur you have every thing is grounded
i had a troble with my windshield wipers they would stop when i turn the swich i put a ground wire there thay work good now alwaysmake sure you have a good ground hope this help i did three camaro 1969 1968 1967 still have them
good luck

 

Hey cali,
Did you fix all your electrical grounding issues?


I recently acquired a 68 Camaro with a painless wiring system. Running lights and gauge lights do not come on when switch is pulled out. I pulled the switch and did some testing. I figured out that the orange wire to the switch is not getting power from the fuse box ad the ground wire return is cut. My fuel gauge is going haywire as well. I am going to pull the instrument cluster and check the grounds there as well. I did test all of the bulbs in the cluster and they all work so I know its a wiring or ground issue. For now a jumper wire is allowing my running lights to work when the lights are on. Dimmer isn't working either. Could use some expertise if someone has figured this out.