wiring help
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 1,076
Likes: 0
From: Dixie TN
wiring help
I bought a 79 C3. The headlights only work on high. The blinkers don't work at all. I was looking under the dash on the drivers side and found a yellow and purple wire twisted together. What do the wires go to? Where are the blinker pods under the dash? Is this something i need a professional for? Any advise is welcome. 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 918
Likes: 5
From: Gainesville FL
My '76 was in pretty much the same condition when I bought it last December. To get all of my lights working (finished the job two days ago), I had to do the following:
1. Replace the sockets and bulbs on the tail/brake lights (standard parts from discount auto store). The old ones were very corroded.
2. Check fuses. Easy to say, but the fuse panel is way up under the dash and hard to get to. When I pulled my brake light fuse, the metal holder disintegrated into a pile of rust. Since others were in a similar state...
3. Order a replacement dash wiring harness and bulb/fuse kit from Lectric Limited along with a laminated complete circuit diagram for my '76. This diagram has been about the best $25 I ever spent on the car and has helped me many, many times in getting my electrical problems solved.
4. Replace dashboard headlight switch (lots of corrosion here).
5. Take dash completely out and remove the old wiring harness, making copious notes and tagging wires with tape so I knew what they were and where they went.
6. Put new harness in, connect plugs and bulbs and put the dash back together.
7. Enjoy a cold beverage while playing with the switches and finally seeing all the lights lit!
For your headlight problem, I would use a meter to check the headlight dimmer switch mounted on the floor panel. Mine was OK, so I left it alone.
Sorry for the long post, and I hope that you don't have to do as many steps as I had to do. There are three advantages of putting in a complete replacement harness, though. First, I now know where every wire in the car goes and what it does. Second, all Bubba'd wiring changes are eliminated in one shot. Finally, all of the wire colors match the factory specs. It's not that I am hung up on an NCRS-type restoration, but it's 100 times easier to troubleshoot the car when the wire colors match the diagram!
1. Replace the sockets and bulbs on the tail/brake lights (standard parts from discount auto store). The old ones were very corroded.
2. Check fuses. Easy to say, but the fuse panel is way up under the dash and hard to get to. When I pulled my brake light fuse, the metal holder disintegrated into a pile of rust. Since others were in a similar state...
3. Order a replacement dash wiring harness and bulb/fuse kit from Lectric Limited along with a laminated complete circuit diagram for my '76. This diagram has been about the best $25 I ever spent on the car and has helped me many, many times in getting my electrical problems solved.
4. Replace dashboard headlight switch (lots of corrosion here).
5. Take dash completely out and remove the old wiring harness, making copious notes and tagging wires with tape so I knew what they were and where they went.
6. Put new harness in, connect plugs and bulbs and put the dash back together.
7. Enjoy a cold beverage while playing with the switches and finally seeing all the lights lit!
For your headlight problem, I would use a meter to check the headlight dimmer switch mounted on the floor panel. Mine was OK, so I left it alone.
Sorry for the long post, and I hope that you don't have to do as many steps as I had to do. There are three advantages of putting in a complete replacement harness, though. First, I now know where every wire in the car goes and what it does. Second, all Bubba'd wiring changes are eliminated in one shot. Finally, all of the wire colors match the factory specs. It's not that I am hung up on an NCRS-type restoration, but it's 100 times easier to troubleshoot the car when the wire colors match the diagram!
