I've been a member of this forum for many years. I joined to remain occupied during my late wife's long term illness with a rare form of cancer. Nan passed away on April 13, 2014 and I really haven't been very active in this forum since because I just felt lost without her. But the time has come to bounce back and start enjoying this group again.

With that in mind, I am looking for the solution to a problem with my '63 that has plagued me for years. My clock works fine when the lights aren't turned on. The minute I turn the lights on, the clock freezes. I'm assuming that I have a bad ground somewhere, but where do I look? Would it be a bad ground on the lights or on the clock itself? Or could it be something else? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance for your advice. - Pat

 

I am sorry to learn of your wife's passing.

I had an almost identical clock issue in my '66 coupe. When the dome light was on, the clock would stop. I was chasing electrical gremilns of several kinds at the time and I am not sure which specific thing I did was what fixed it. But it was almost comical.

I had been working on tail light issues at the time. I had disconnected the connector that is clipped to my car near the instrument panel, on the Z bar roughly above the headlight door rocker switch. I disco'd it, cleaned it with a brass brush on both ends, sprayed some electronics cleaner into both ends, and several things started to work. Unsure if this directly fixed my clock issue however. I played with a lot of grounds.

I also swapped in a replacement headlight switch, because I got it fairly cheap, and my experience with old GMs was that they always go bad when I least need that hassle. So while I was under there, I made the swap. It's an easy one, but the parts cannon approach is not one I will recommend.

Have a good 4th.

 

Condolences
I would pull the side off the console and run a temporary ground to the clock and try the lights.
if no joy, check and clean the dash ground wire to the Z bar & report back

 

Checking the ground with a jumper is a good test.
Does the clock stop with the lights on with the engine running or only with the engine off? With the lights on, there is a lot of power being used for illumination. It may be there is not enough voltage left to actuate the coil in the clock to reset the spring mechanism for the next 2 minute cycle. Just a guess.

 

That sounds like something I can handle. I'll give it a try. Thanks for your suggestion!

 

The clock stops with or without the engine running.

 

Thanks Chris. I now have a few leads to follow. Have a Happy 4th!

 

Thanks so much for your condolences and sage advice. I found that the two clamps holding the clock in place were loose and I squeezed a washer onto one of them to tighten the connection and on the other I ran a new ground wire. BINGO!!! For the first time in many years, I can turn on my lights and the clock keeps working! Thanks again for your accurate advice!