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I am fixing the clock in my ‘66 by switching it over to quartz. In doing so i noticed that the lights don’t work. I replaced the bulbs but still not working. All the other dash lights etc work. Also, I found what appears to be another light with a green cover over it that was attached to the lower part of the clock housing. What is this? Any thoughts on why the clock works but the lights don’t?
I am fixing the clock in my ‘66 by switching it over to quartz. In doing so i noticed that the lights don’t work. I replaced the bulbs but still not working. All the other dash lights etc work. Also, I found what appears to be another light with a green cover over it that was attached to the lower part of the clock housing. What is this? Any thoughts on why the clock works but the lights don’t?
All it takes to light the clock is 12v, a good ground, and good bulbs. If you have the correct bulbs (same as other instrument lamps), you probably have a ground missing. The ground for the clock lamp is made when you clip it into the dash, so if you're testing with it out, the lights won't work. You can test it by running a jumper wire from a good ground under the dash (can be connected to the radio metal case to complete the ground if you're using a stock radio) to the metal case of the clock to see if the missing ground is causing your problem. Also, I'm sure you know, the bulbs have to be inserted into the clock lamp holes to complete the ground to the case. They get their 12v from the same source as the other lights, so it's almost certainly missing a ground,
Last edited by 65GGvert; Feb 22, 2025 at 08:54 PM.
The other bulb you have is shown below. The clip slides into the groove below with the bulb under the curved part so that it lights up the bezels on the heater *****. It doesn't light up much, don't expect too much to show through.
The ground connection on the clock grounds all of the lights in the waterfall. I found this when I unplugged the non-functional clock and had to put the connector back on to the ground side only. Ours is a 66 also.
The ground connection on the clock grounds all of the lights in the waterfall. I found this when I unplugged the non-functional clock and had to put the connector back on to the ground side only. Ours is a 66 also.
The clock works, so the connector on the clock is grounded. Look at my bottom picture of the bezel lamp. How would you ground that?
The metal piece with the red arrow grounds the clock lamps and bezel lamp (when the clock is clamped in place). If the clock is out of the dash, there's no ground for those items.
Last edited by 65GGvert; Feb 22, 2025 at 09:59 PM.
The clock housing, and therefore the clock, is grounded when the clock connector is plugged onto the clock. The clock will work even out of the dash. The clock lamps should work as well if plugged into the clock housing. The metal dash insert is grounded to the clock housing when the clock is clipped in place in the dash. That's what makes the ground connection for the heater/radio control lamp.
It would be good for the OP to check the clock lamps separately out of the clock by grounding the lamp housings to a known good ground point, say, with an alligator clip lead.
Why the forum software asterisks out the word "kn0b" seems to be a much harder problem to solve.
Thanks to everyone’s feedback. Once the needle paint dries on the clock hour and minute hands, it will pit it all back together and hopefully all will be good!
So my clock upgrade to quartz is working like a champ, thanks everyone. My freshly painted clock hands really make the faded needles in the cluster gauges look bad. Are these gauges self contained or can you get to the needles to paint them. Need to use up this $7 worth of needle paint.
After you remove the cluster you can take the gauges out of the housing to clean and re paint what you want. But at that point you should have the cluster restored and calibrated
Clock lights don’t work.
