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I have a 73, L48 w/ PB, PS, PW, AC, and a battery drain. I have a bunch of other issues including dashboard lights other than turn signals don't work, tach and speedometer don't work, however for the purpose of this post, I would like to focus on the battery drain & parking brake switch wiring.
First, some background:
Battery drain was 1.5A with car off, found the guilty circuit to be the courtesy light (+clock and cigarette lighter) circuit. Current draw goes to 0A when I pulled the fuse so I know the issue is on this circuit. I removed all 3 courtesy lights and no change in current draw. I then took apart the parking brake trim, and discovered non-factory wiring which I need some help deciphering.
See my images below for questions:
The cig lighter wire (#1) is spliced into a red wire (#2), which is then spliced into a tan wire (#3) which goes to the radio (it later becomes yellow which matches the wiring diagram). The red wire (#2) goes into some weird connector that 3 wires come out of: A black wire (#5), and a green wire (#6) and gray wire (#7).
The green and gray wires connect to a black wire and black & white wire, and go underneath the carpet on the passenger side (potentially under the seat). Does anyone know what these wires could be going to? My guess is they go to the "right seat retract switch" since they use black and black&white wires.
Does anyone have any pictures of how the seat belt warning system wiring looks like underneath the carpet?
Does anyone know what the pronged connector is? It was wrapped with electrical tape when I first took apart the parking brake trim.
By the way, I unplugged wire #3 (tan to radio) from the splice and it reduced the current draw from 1.5A to 0.5A. My understanding based off the wiring diagrams is that nothing else should connect to the orange cigarette lighter.
Parking brake wiring unplugged. According to my wiring diagrams, the tan wire (#1) from the relay should connect w/ the other tan wire (#2) from the wiring harness w/ the diode.
Does anyone have any pictures of how the wires actually connect to the parking brake switch? I just have cut wires, not sure if there's some connector
What is in circled area #3? Is this some sort of connector?
I would appreciate any help to my questions! This is my first time diving into automotive wiring, so I'm learning a lot as I go.
Last edited by roamin' around; Sep 13, 2021 at 12:14 AM.
One more question, do the below connectors get hooked up to anything? The AIM says "Neutral Safety & PRNDL ILLUM". My understanding is the natural safety switch is by the clutch for manual cars, so nothing gets hooked up here? Also, there's a gray wire in there (I know purple and purple and white are for neutral safety switch). What's the gray wire for?
Do you have an aftermarket radio? The stock radio circuit only has power on ACC or RUN, so it is common to tap the cigar lighter for a constant 12v supply for that purpose. That shouldn't be drawing any real power with the key off. The clock drawing current is normal but it should only be momentary as the clock winds. The clock in these cars are not truely electric, it is self winding via a solenoid that clicks. If you have a clock on your radio, I would just disconnect the dash clock as you will never get them in sync and if you have slight OCD about those kind of things it will drive you crazy.
I believe I have the factory radio (not sure though):
I know at some point the previous owner had speakers behind the seats, since there is speaker wire attached to the two green and two black wires that you can just barely see in the above image to the left of the radio. (The wires runs between driver seat and transmission tunnel, then ends up in jack compartment). Those 4 wires at the connector near the radio connect to 3 wires: blue, gray, and turquoise (maybe blue or green) wires which run somewhere behind the center cluster.
Last edited by roamin' around; Sep 13, 2021 at 12:28 PM.
Unfortunately, it seems you have a car that Bubba has added / spliced a bunch of wires into the factory harness under the parking brake console. You will need to obtain a 1973 Chevrolet Service Manual that includes a wiring schematic of all wiring for your car. When you get to the dash lighting, the wiring schematic will prove invaluable as it shows wire colors, as well as the switches and other connected devices. My memory is not that great, but I believe the two wire bundles that are taped together are for a car with an automatic transmission. The little 4 plug connector seems to be a speaker plug in for an after market radio. You should be able to identify each OEM Wire by it’s color, just remember the wires are old and the colors are faded. One thing I noticed is that you HVAC control is different than mine, the illumination light should be plugged in on the bottom. Do you have factory AC? The two wire bundles that are taped together with tan tape are for power windows, but you state your car has PW? On my car the wires are like yours, I don’t have Power Windows. I will try and find some pictures of the wiring under the parking brake console. You do have an OEM Radio.
I agree, bubba has definitely left some traces of his wonderful work
I have the service manual and it's proven to be super helpful so far, I printed out the wiring diagrams on 11x17" paper, taped them together, and I'm tracing the wires by hand with marker. This is just my first time working on a car so I'm still learning a lot. I do have power windows and factory AC.
I took another look at the wiring diagrams and found the gray wire is for the PRNDL ILLUM (a light). It was in a different spot in the wiring diagram than the neutral safety switch and I just missed it the first time. I see now it doesn't connect to anything since I have a manual.
No more questions left from post 2! Just post 1 now for those reading the thread and could help out.
Regarding the pictures of parking brake console, I'm specifically interested in how the two tan wires connect together, and how they connect to the parking brake switch itself. I don't have any sort of connector, the tan wires are just cut. No sure how to hook them up.
I have had good luck looking at the parts/sub assembly diagrams in the catalogs from various Corvette Parts Suppliers. Also use Google to look for pictures and information on items that you need help with. I find that Google will normally take you to the appropriate post on the Corvette Forum. The connector for the brake switch may be a single barrel type connector, without buying a new harness it may be impossible to find. You may need to fabricate a brass connector or just soldier the wire to the switch, just don’t melt the switch.
I have had good luck looking at the parts/sub assembly diagrams in the catalogs from various Corvette Parts Suppliers. Also use Google to look for pictures and information on items that you need help with. I find that Google will normally take you to the appropriate post on the Corvette Forum. The connector for the brake switch may be a single barrel type connector, without buying a new harness it may be impossible to find. You may need to fabricate a brass connector or just soldier the wire to the switch, just don’t melt the switch.
Good idea with catalogs... I looked through a few of them, only saw the switches. I called customer service and they said I'd need to buy the whole dash harness... luckily I was able to source one from a forum member's parts cars.
An update to post 1: I cut the spliced red wire from the cigarette lighter, tested current and no difference in current drop. I then pulled on the gray and green wires, and to my surprise they came out! They were connected to speaker wire which was cut, and just located underneath the carpet under passenger seat. So you were correct about the connector looking like some aftermarket speaker radio connector.
Here is the connector and wires removed from my car. Black and black and white wires were jjst speaker wires, nothing to do with seat belt warning system
No need to see seatbelt wiring, the black and white wires went to speaker wires. For now, I don't have any questions.
Next step will be to clean all connector pins and grounding points and put dielectric grease on them to prevent future corrosion, and then take apart center console and see if drain is coming from the clock.
Note I am reviving an old thread of mine to bring it to a conclusion (sort of) for future readers...
So I had 1.4A current draw causing fast battery drain. I took apart brake console trim and found a wire going to radio from cigarette lighter causing approx 1A of the draw.
Today, I discovered the remaining 95% of the drain: the ignition was in the ON condition, causing power window relay and related circuit items to be energized whenever battery is connected to frame. When I switched it to OFF, I only had a ~20mA drain which is likely coming from aftermarket alarm system (clock is currently removed). I'm ok with this draw since it's pretty low. Sometimes it's the simplest thing. Check if your car is off before you have a draw.
That gets me wondering, is it normal to be able to remove the keys when car is ON position?? This is my first vette/ classic car... I actually realized today I can even turn on my car without keys in ignition... I just need to press a button on my aftermarket keys (from PO) to disable lock preventing me from turning the car on. Once I press this button on my keys, I can turn the car on without the keys. Is this a common mod or is there something wrong with my ignition lock?
R A
The ignition switch should not turn without a key inserted. There is obviously something wrong with your ignition switch. Getting to the ignition switch is very far down in the steering column, sorta like open heart surgery. I was going to replace my “key left in ignition switch,” part, but chickened out. There are plenty of details on how to replace the ignition switch. I am guessing you will need to buy a new switch with keys, and there are also other rods etc. that may be required. Look at some illustrations in the suppliers catalogs.
Good Luck, take pls of pictures.
R A
The ignition switch should not turn without a key inserted. There is obviously something wrong with your ignition switch. Getting to the ignition switch is very far down in the steering column, sorta like open heart surgery. I was going to replace my “key left in ignition switch,” part, but chickened out. There are plenty of details on how to replace the ignition switch. I am guessing you will need to buy a new switch with keys, and there are also other rods etc. that may be required. Look at some illustrations in the suppliers catalogs.
Good Luck, take pls of pictures.
good to know, thank you.. I likely won't go down this rabbit hole anytime soon I have many other non-working parts to fix first (speedometer and tach and instrument lights next). List is slowly getting smaller.
Luckily, the "lock" setting on steering column still works well, and with my aftermarket alarm from PO, you cannot turn on car without pressing a button on the key fob, so I don't need to fix this anytime soon. Good to know what it takes though..
73 brake console wiring questions
