ok.. ill start off by saying that i have never owned a c3 nor do i know much about them.. besides them being what got me into vettes when i was a kiddo. i do however have a c6z and used to have a c5. so im still fam.

now that we have that out of the way.. a guy i work with has an 81. i dont know much about it and i know he is not on the forum.. yet. a few months ago, he was driving at night and ALL lights turned off EXCEPT for his headlights. he has nothing else at all. but for some reason his headlights still work.

i told him i wanted to take it for the day and that im sure ill be able to figure it out, but i figured before i even brought it home, id check in with you guys. im not sure yet if its only lights or all electrical in the car.. but im sure that's not the case or it wouldn't run. are there any well known issues with the late model c3s that might be common that could cause this? im thinking its most likely a ground issue somewhere or a main fuse panel short or link problem. but i haven't looked at the car and this is simply where i would start with any vehicle.

I have not done a search in this section nor have i done any research on this yet. if this is common and i could have saved time by doing a search.. sorry. i know the search function is my friend. im just seeing what can be done without spending a ton of time researching an entire generation of my favorite car

thanks guys.. this forum never lets me down.

-Dave

 

Dave,the Tail Lp fuse can take out all the running lights and the instrument lights,so I would check that fuse first. Its 20 anp and up about 1/2 way in the fuse box.
The headlights are on a separate circuit.

 

thanks roger. ill go mess with it and see what i can do. he said all fuses were ok, but then again ive heard that before finding a bad one.

 

UPDATE:

I went over and looked at his car and come to find out, nothing on his car works except for his headlights. the motor shut off while he was driving and he had to have it towed to his house. absolutely nothing on the vehicle works, but his headlights do come on.

any ideas? thanks all.

 

Check for a burned fuse link down by tha starter. There is also a white plastic connector on the firewall behind the passenger head valve cover, EVERYTHING runs through there and the pins burn sometimes. Good places to start.
I would also go through all the battery/Starter cables and verify the main engine ground under the passenger side motor mount. But the problem is most likely fuse link or the connector.

 

found it. we got it fixed a few weeks ago. two of the three main wires that connect to the starter and fuse links had corroded off. he felt like a dumbass after it took us 20 minutes taking our time to rewire it all and it fired right up as if he shut off an hour before.

thanks for the help guys. he certainly appreciates it.