#1  
Old 01-22-2021, 09:26 PM
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blue67gtoragtop blue67gtoragtop is offline
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Default 64 Bonneville - no brake lights, horn, signal lights - any ideas?

My son has a 64 Bonneville convertible that has developed and electrical issue. Recently, all the lights were working...not sure about the horn....here goes.... any thoughts / suggestions are appreciated. I'm more familiar with a 67 GTO!

1. The horn does not work. When I pulled the steering wheel, the plunger is there, but it appears that the off-white plastic cup that the spring and plunger is contained in is worn...not sure what else yet. Where can the horn parts be purchased?

2. The brake lights are not working.

3. When the headlight switch is pulled to the first(parking light) position, both the left and right signal light indicators in the instrument cluster come on, but the parking lights do not. When the headlight switch is pulled to the 2nd position, the headlights come on, bright and low beams work with the dimmer switch.

4. With the key turned on, if the signal light switch is held between the off and a signal position, the parking light on that side will light up, but not blink.

5. Signal lights do not work.

  #2  
Old 01-23-2021, 12:19 AM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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Do you have the 64 Chassis service manual with the wiring diagram for this car? That may be very helpful. It looks like multiple circuits are involved with your issues. If no wiring diagram, generally multiple failures all at once involve the ground side of the circuit. Since the circuits are chassis ground, a loose, poor ground connection can effect multiple circuits and cause a backfeed to others, such as your turn indicators. These years have lots of ground straps from various components such as the cluster to firewall, firewall to inner fenders, front end, core support areas, firewall to engine and so forth. Two ways to approach this. Add your own temporary extra ground wires from dash to Chassis and so forth and see if items come back on line. 2. Check all the existing grounds for clean and tight. On the power side, I have had to remove all the fuses and clean the contacts where they snap-in with a Dremel tool and soft wire brush. Also gently check the end caps on the glass fuses. The headlight switches can also get pretty crusty at the terminal plug. See if it is melted. Concerning the horn, not sure of parts availability for the horn contactor. in 64. They seemed to change them allot in those years based on the steering wheel and specific year. On my 62 Catalina, it was not available from any source I could find so I made my own replacement from several late model ones I had laying around, silver soldering a new contactor to the original lead wire. Don't overlook the possibility of a twin filament bulb shorting internally and causing feedback in a circuit. Very common on Chinese bulbs. Make sure they are all in tact and not touching each other. Best of luck to you. When I bought my 62 Catalina, the only electrical items that worked were one brake light, the blower motor and the ignition system. Had to fix everything else. Can be a little frustrating.

  #3  
Old 01-23-2021, 12:51 PM
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Stuart Stuart is offline
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If you need a wiring diagram, there is one here: http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/t...ing/index.html

  #4  
Old 01-23-2021, 04:44 PM
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blue67gtoragtop blue67gtoragtop is offline
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Thx. Now the fun begins!

  #5  
Old 01-25-2021, 07:09 PM
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64Cat_Jake 64Cat_Jake is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blue67gtoragtop View Post
Thx. Now the fun begins!
I had a similar issue with my 64 Catalina, the rear lights had a mind of their own, or occasionally just refused to work

Turned out all the grounds in the rear loom were knackered - Quick enough to fix once I worked it out

Step 1. Always. Check. The. Grounds!!!!

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Old 01-25-2021, 08:10 PM
389 389 is offline
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I rewired my 64 Bonneville and made my own electrical system. They ran the coil resister wire right in the middle of the main harness all taped up!! Crazy!!

You have bad grounds at the front turn signal cans.. Take them off and wire wheel all the metal to metal contact points.. The headlight circuit is totally different then the parking/turn signal lights..

Pontiac never ran ground circuits in any of its harnesses except the wiper and dome lite and the #9 ignition terminal for AC cars. This shut the compressor off while the starter motor was engaged..

  #7  
Old 01-25-2021, 10:58 PM
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blue67gtoragtop blue67gtoragtop is offline
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Thx. We will give these ideas a try. Any idea where we cave get a replacement signal light switch if needed. I only see ones for a tilt column. The column in this car is a manual 3 on the tree.

  #8  
Old 01-26-2021, 04:47 AM
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64Cat_Jake 64Cat_Jake is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blue67gtoragtop View Post
Thx. We will give these ideas a try. Any idea where we cave get a replacement signal light switch if needed. I only see ones for a tilt column. The column in this car is a manual 3 on the tree.
I think there is one in the Ames catalogue, but not 100%

Quote:
Originally Posted by 389 View Post
I rewired my 64 Bonneville and made my own electrical system. They ran the coil resister wire right in the middle of the main harness all taped up!! Crazy!!
.
No way!!! Where in the loom is it? I'm eventually looking to go to a HEI, so bring able to cut out the resistor would be helpful!

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