I am new to this sight...
I purchased an early 1968 corvette last year. It had a battery drain, gauges that did not work and so I decided to replace all the wiring myself ( I am not a mechanic, just basic skills) I went slow and it took me all winter on weekends. I put back all the dash and interior and installed the battery. The first thing I noticed is that the curtsey lights stay on. I checked the switches and they go in and out, the headlight switch is not turned all the way to keep the lights on, the 1968 does not have a light delay shut off. All I changed while installing the wiring is an aftermarket radio (gray wire from harness was not needed and left loose) and I installed an aftermarket power antenna. Not sure if this has anything to do with the issue. I do not want to pull the fuse on the curtesy lights to get them to go off. Any ideas where I can start? I don't want to take the dash apart again.
Thank you

 

I would start with checking the switches, double check the head light switch, and then the door switches

 

Thank for the reply. How do I check the switches? Do I unscrew them out to see if the two wire connections are there and move freely without touching each other?

 

yes

 

Hi Cooper,
WELCOME!
Very nice looking 68 in your avatar!
Here's a photo of the typical courtesy light switch.
On closer inspection you'll see there's a tiny spring loaded 'disc' that makes/breaks the connection.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

 

if you rewired your car and don't know how to check a switch, your gonna have problems.
I test everything 3-4 times before I put the dash back in,
you need to use a volt meter to test everything,
just looking at it, will not fix electrical problems.
for instance if the switch is not grounded it will not work.

 

Thank you for the wisdom and advice. We all have to start somewhere and I thought what I accomplished was pretty good. Of course I expected issues but I am learning my way through it like everyone else did at some point. I did not join to be insulted for asking a question. Thanks for the member welcome!

 

This might help-

PDF for your car (68) wiring diagram-

http://www.keystonestatecorvetteclub...tte%201968.pdf


Since the lights are staying on- you've got power- it's the orange wire which powers other things- like the cigarette lighter.

You have 4 pin switches on your car- two on each side- you do not need to be concerned with the ones at the back of the door- but just the ones accessible by the kick panels.

The back ones are just responsible for lighting up the "door ajar" light in the dash.

On the driver side there are two wires connected to the switch- one white and one black- the metal base is the ground. The white wire is responsible for switching on the courtesy lights- black is for the key buzzer.

On the passenger side- it just has one white wire- which is also responsible for the courtesy lights.

I'd pull the driver side first- if you unbolt it-and pull it forward out of the hole(no contact with metal) and the lights goes out, there's your problem- a bad switch. If it's stays on- try the other side.

Lets us know what happens-hope we don't have to dig any deeper...

Richard

BTW- I left the black wire disconnected - as I hate the key buzzer!!!

 

WELCOME Cooperusa.
Good job doing the wiring task yourself and also on getting that dash back together without going MAD
Follow what Richard said. if switches are ok then you must have a pinched wire to ground. probably in that dash mess

 

Congratulations on rewiring your car. Not a minor undertaking but if guys like you and me don't do this stuff, it won't get done. Few of us could afford to pay someone to do it, even if you could find someone who can.

Anyway, when I am doing electrical work, I often find it useful to draw a diagram of the circuit I am concerned with. I find it difficult to follow the circuit on the factory wiring diagram, just because there are so many wires on there. Once I can see how the circuit is supposed to work, its a lot easier to figure out what could be the problem and how to go about troubleshooting the circuit. For example, in your particular situation, the light comes on when the circuit is completed to ground by the door jamb switch or the headlight switch. This suggests that the light is on because the circuit is grounded when it shouldn't be. The rest is basic logic. Test the switches to see if they are open when they should be and closed when they should be. If you take them out of the circuit and the light is still on, there is a short to ground somewhere else in the ground side of the circuit.

If you have what it takes to change all the wiring in your Vette, you certainly have what it takes to figure this out. Take your time and approach it logically, and let us know when you solve it.

 

Thank you all, I could certainly follow all that was suggested. I only have the weekends to work on it so will try it first thing tomorrow. Thanks for making me feel welcome drmet,TomB1,Richard 454, Alan 71 and Blue by you.

 

CooperUSA- congrats on doing the wiring mess on your car. My 68 BB convert was fairly well restored when I got it two years ago, EXCEPT for the wiring. What a mess. I finally bit the bullet and purchased new wiring harnesses, but it is still a big job to install.
"I don't want to take the dash apart again."
No one ever wants to do that dash job more than once. When checking your door switches for the courtesy lights, keep in mind that they are not grounded like most similar switches, since they contact fiberglass, not metal, so the ground comes from a wire to the metal frame. Somewhere on your wiring for the courtesy lights a ground has been established that makes the door switch unnecessary to complete the circuit. Welcome to the world of old car electrical problems.

 

just take your time when checking, there are a ton of wires, check the grounds make sure they are clean and have a good contact.
remember it's not how fast you finish the race just as long as you finish

 

It turns out that it was the door switch on the passenger side. I replaced it and the lights go on and off. Started the vet and everything seems to work. Thank you so much you guys are all awesome.

 

GOOD JOB
Come back soon

 

Ok new problem,ugh! Started it up and was about to for a ride when I noticed that I have no brake lights and the turn signals do not work. I checked both the flasher and turn signal round silver fuses, continunity says it good so that is not it. Glass fuse is good. I did change the turn signal switch when I changed all the wiring so I opened up the curved connector checked the continuity of each wire after it was reconnected and that was good . I took an alligator clip and connected a ground wire from steering column to metal frame to see if that would work and no change. Any ideas?

 

I went back and checked the glass fuses again and it was just a bad fuse, adjusted the brake pedal switch and all good till next problem comes up.

 

NICE JOB, GLAD YOU GOT IT ALL FIXED

 

Good deal!!!

Glad its fixed...for now!!!

Richard