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[C1] bad grounds?

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Old May 16, 2018 | 02:02 PM
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Default bad grounds?

So late Monday night I lost my instrument lights plus my rear tail lights. At first, I thought it was a blown fuse. Last night, I looked at the fuses and all of the fuses were fine. Now, I am thinking its got to be a bad ground. I know about the ground for the console. But which other grounds could cause the problem? How does the rear tail lights get their ground? From the main wiring loom?

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Old May 16, 2018 | 02:05 PM
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Originally Posted by jimh_1962
So late Monday night I lost my instrument lights plus my rear tail lights. At first, I thought it was a blown fuse. Last night, I looked at the fuses and all of the fuses were fine. Now, I am thinking its got to be a bad ground. I know about the ground for the console. But which other grounds could cause the problem? How does the rear tail lights get their ground? From the main wiring loom?
the tail light grounds for my 62 are in the loom

Bill
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Old May 16, 2018 | 02:10 PM
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Originally Posted by wmf62
the tail light grounds for my 62 are in the loom

Bill
Thats what I thought. I will go through the grounds.
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Old May 16, 2018 | 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by jimh_1962
Thats what I thought. I will go through the grounds.
now, i'm not sure where the other end of that ground is 'grounded'...

Bill
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Old May 16, 2018 | 02:15 PM
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Originally Posted by wmf62
now, i'm not sure where the other end of that ground is 'grounded'...

Bill
Well thats what I have to check. I think its the ground in the main wiring loom since the courtesy light was not working too. It did work before I took my drive.

Last edited by jimh_1962; May 16, 2018 at 02:15 PM.
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Old May 16, 2018 | 04:44 PM
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I don't think you have a ground problem. The instr lamp fuse passes through the tail lamp fuse first so if the tail lamp fuse blows, you lose both. You can't just look at the fuse, you have to measure. It could be broken inside the end cap and you couldn't see it. It also could be corroded clips that hold the tail lamp fuse in. Your first step should be to measure that fuse and post back what voltage you have on both sides of the fuse ON THE CLIPS that hold it in. If you had a ground problem, your brake lights and turn signals would be out also, it's the same ground.

I'm assuming you have a 62, but I've been wrong assuming such a thing before. You should put the year in your question. In this case, the fuse wiring is the same, but the tail lamp fuse is the top fuse. Let me know what voltage you read on both sides and I may be able to tell you which way to look for trouble.

PS: Measure that voltage with the park or headlights on.

You could also just put another fuse in and see if they work, unless the clips are very corroded. Course, if it blows immediately you won't know and you're back to measuring.

Last edited by 65GGvert; May 16, 2018 at 04:56 PM.
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Old May 16, 2018 | 05:06 PM
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Originally Posted by jimh_1962
Well thats what I have to check. I think its the ground in the main wiring loom since the courtesy light was not working too. It did work before I took my drive.
What about the brake lights?
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Old May 16, 2018 | 05:40 PM
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Originally Posted by 65GGvert
What about the brake lights?
same thing. No brake lights. Made it an interesting drive back home. Luckily, I had headlights. Short drive and no traffic so that helped.

Last edited by jimh_1962; May 16, 2018 at 05:40 PM.
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Old May 16, 2018 | 06:48 PM
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Ok, that's different. It could be a ground. I'm not sure about the 62, but C2's have all the grounds for the rear lights and gas tank run back up and connected at the cluster. I would connect a ground from any one of the back light grounds to the frame and see if the lights work. They all connect together.
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Old May 16, 2018 | 07:07 PM
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working from memory, i think the main harness ground is on one of the driver side valve cover screws/bolts.

I moved it to an unused threaded bolt hole on my manifold, in addition to adding a big 10 ga ground wire from the tank sender to the frame.

Doug
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