# 1968 Lemans Issues



## TinIndian68 (Mar 22, 2015)

Good evening all:

This is my first post on this forum. I have read many posts and answers here for several years, and there is some excellent information here. I apologize in advance for being lengthy, but let me fill you in on exactly what I have:

I have a 1968 LeMans convertible (GTO Tribute car). It has a YS coded 400 in it, and a TH350. It in an original AC, power brakes, power steering, and has hideaway headlights. The car is completely 100% rust free, but like many older cars, there are some hidden demons to be dealt with.

Last year, my buddy and I sanded the entire underside of the car, and painted with black epoxy paint. It turned-out immaculate. We installed front disc brakes from inline tube, beautiful ceramic-coated Doug's headers, 15"x7" chrome rally 2 wheels from Jegs, Flowmaster 2.5" exhaust with 40 series mufflers, all new bushing, bearings, ball joints, etc...We also installed a new centerlink, pitman arm, idler arm, sway bar, all new shocks and coil springs. I had the top re-done as well. I will post some pictures in a couple of days for sure.

*THE PROBLEM:*

Last weekend I started trying to tackle some wiring issues I have been having for a couple of years. My blinkers and tail-lights have been shorting out a lot, whereas they never did for the first year I had the car. I took the car apart this weekend, and replaced the rear wiring harness. I also replaced the tail-light housings, front blinker housings, and got all new bulbs. Once I was done with all of that, I pulled-out the headlight switch, and the tail-light fuse shorted out and once again, I have no running lights. This is the same issue I was having before I replaced all of this. The first thing I did was unplug the rear harness, replace the fuse, and pulled-out the headlight switch. The fuse never went out, so I am assuming it is something from the rear-harness and back. The problem is everything back there is brand new. Here is another issue: my brake lights work fine, but the driver side is brighter than the passenger side. Also, my left turn signal works perfectly, but the right just stays solid. Even more weird - the hazard lights work PERFECTLY on both sides!!! Even so, when the hazard lights are on, the passenger side is not as bright as the driver side. All of the interior lights work, as well as the dash lights. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I have a couple more questions, but I will wait to ask them as this is plenty for now I think. Thank you in advance for any info.


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## Goat Roper (Oct 28, 2014)

Sounds like you may have wires reversed.
Check all of the sockets including the ones in the front with a DMM, you have a ground short causing the blinker to stay on solid.
I had a similar problem with my '67 front socket was shorted causing the blinker problem and in the rear one socket wired backwards and instead of fixing it the guy just crammed the bulb in backwards destroying the socket.


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## TinIndian68 (Mar 22, 2015)

Thanks for the reply, Roper. 

Got everything to work today much to my surprise. There was always a separate wire someone had run from the battery positive and through the firewall, but I never knew where it ran to. I knew it was for the convertible top because I took inline fuse out one day, and the top didn't work. I figured it went to the switch on the dash, because when I replaced the rear harness, only the two original wires connected to the top motor. 

When I took the dash off, I saw that the convertible top switch had the original harness on it, so I got checking, and saw that the wire was run directly into the back of the fuse box. There was no grommet back there, so it would occasionally hit metal and short my tail-light fuse. I fixed all of that.

My blinker issue was a grounding issue, but I don't know exactly where. I added a braded ground from the negative terminal at the engine block to the wheel well in the engine compartment, and added grounds from the tail-light housings to the rear bumper, and the front blinker housings to the body and everything worked great. PROBLEM SOLVED!


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## TinIndian68 (Mar 22, 2015)

Ok, so not EVERYTHING is fixed apparently. I worked on the car a little tonight, and noticed that my brake lights will not work at the same time I have a blinker on. If I keep my foot on the brake, and turn a blinker on, they go out while it is blinking. As soon as I turn the blinker off, the brake lights come back on. It can't be a grounding issue, because I have everything grounded and other than this, everything works perfectly. 

Any thoughts?


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