I seam to be taking 1 step forward and 2 back! I went to replace my headlight switch and found an 8 pin switch in the car and it should be a 7 pin! My problem is that it looks like some one switched some or at least one wire and I am not sure of which wire or wires that is! does any one know what wires go where in the plug or a picture of the wires going into plug! I am sending a couple pics of my plug

 

on my 1967 442 I found out that I had the wrong switch in my car (8 pin) I replaced it with a 7 pin switch! So I move the purple wire from #8 pin position next to the green wire #3 pin and now my parking light do not work! does anyone know why? did I put the purple wire in correct place?

 

When you say they do not work, do you mean they never come on? I believe 68 was the first year that the parking lights stayed on with the headlights. Prior to 68 the parking lights, dash lights, and tail lights all come on with the switch pulled out to the first position. When you turn the headlights on (pull switch out to the second position) the front parking lights turn off while the dash lights and tail lights stay on. This is how the lights work on the 64-67 chevys I've owned (Impalas, chevelles, camaros) and I beleive it was that way for all of GM as well but I have not had a 64-67 olds on the road so I can't say that for sure.

 

I just pulled one of my early harnesses out and the purple wire is located in the same position as the first pic. What made you decide to change the switch in the first place? Were the lights working properly with the old switch?

 

Yes the PL worked in the first position with my old light switch (8 pin) but I talked with "THE PARTS PLACE" today and they said that I should have the 7 pin switch that they sold to me! Now I do not know which switch is correct. that is why I moved the purple wire to the #3 position because there is no pin in the #8 position on the 7 pin switch and it was the only pin open. You would think that if I was suppose to use the 8 pin switch I would have 8 wires not 7.

 

the reason I bought a new switch was my dash lights quit working and yes the parking lights and head lights were working, now only the head lights! I got he switch from The Parts Place and they said that I should have the 7 pin switch but i am not sure of that now! can you send me a picture of your early harness and did it on have only 7 wires and come off an 8 pin switch? here is picture of my old switch

 

I can get some pics tomorrow. I would say the switch you had was probably correct. If the rheostat for the dash lights in the original switch is bad you can replace it with the one from the new switch.

 

hopefully some of that is useful

 

Looks like you are having plenty of electrical issues. I scanned the electrical diagram out of my 1967 CSM for you and others who may be interested; one of you moderators may post as a sticky if you think it is good enough. Hope it helps.

 

why don't I just have "THE PARTS PLACE" send me the correct 8 pin switch instead? was your early harness out of a 1967 CS? Yea that pic of gm headlight connections for park lights to stay on is not for my car!

 

Bill,
I kind of forgot about this thread, sorry. Did you figure out answer? If not, I will take a photo of an early connector and switch. The harness I looked at when I first responded was a 67 GTO harness, I have a 67 cutlass harness somewhere, but it might take a while to find. Pictures would probably be from an early chevelle harness and switch as I have a few dashes hanging on the wall with harnesses and switches still attached.
Tom

 

I found out the THE PARTS PLACE had sent me the wrong switch along with telling me mine was the wrong switch when it was the correct one! I now have the correct switch coming from them and I want to thank you for your help, it made me do more research to solve my issue!

 

Sounds good. Glad you got it figured out. Funny story related to this topic. My dad was a mechanic and eventually became shop forman at a chevy dealership from 1985 to 2013. The owner of the delership had a few classic cars one of them being a 67 big block camaro convertible. The owner had brought it in one day to have some work done and the mechanic working on it had the dash torn all apart. When my dad went over to see what the problem was, the guy working on it said he was trying to track down a problem with the light switch. The problem being: whenever the headlights were turned on, the parking lights turned off. My dad had to explain to him that is the way it is supposed to be and to put the car back together before the owner came out to find it torn apart.

 

that funny!

 

Here is mine off a 67 C/S if it helps

 

I merged your new and old threads together, there is no need to start a new thread.

 

I put the new light switch in the car and for some reason unknown, I am still not getting 12v to the fuse block thru the green wire from the switch!

 

Do you have tail lights and power on the brown/wht wire?

 

yes I have tail lights, brake lights and turn signal

 

I must have power to brown/wht wire because I have power there at the fuse block! my flashers also work.

 

If you have power to the brown/wht wire at the switch and no power to the green wire at the switch, it's a bad switch.

 

well that would not be the first time I got something "new" and it was bad. guess i will have to call The Parts Place back up!

 

Am I wrong about assuming that the red wire to the HL switch is the only power wire and everything else on the switch is feed from that wire? all my fuses are hot except for the 3amp dash light fuse. I sent the new switch back to The Parts Place today and they said that they would replace it with another one. I saw the video of how to bench test the HL switch but they did not do it with power to the coils, they only checked the ohms (resistance) between the two contacts! Can I check the switch with power to the coils? if so how? (I can not think of what the correct name is for the coils are) I also want to thank you for all your help Bill

 

Yes, you are wrong, the Red wire only supplies power to the headlights and front parking lights. The Brown/White wire supplies power from the tail light fuse to the tail lights and the instrument light dimmer. Then the output from the switch Green wire to the Panel Lt fuse and changes wire color to Gray. Look again at the wiring diagram link in post #9.

 

Ok, so what you are saying is that there should be 12v at the BR/WH wire on the plug at all the times just like the red wire? could there not be power at the BR/WH wire on the plug and my tail lights still work? which they do!

 

well I dug a little deeper and took my fuse block off the firewall to see if I had power to the brown and white wire on the back side and I did not so I wiggled the fuse around and now I do and I also have power at the plug. when I was checking for power at the fuse block I was checking the fuse end to end and not contact to contact, you learn some thing new everyday! now I have to wait for the new switch to come and the one I sent back was more than likely good! I could try my old switch to see if the dash lights work, it is still good, I took it apart and cleaned it up and it bench tested ok! like I said I really appreciate you help! Bill

 

Without power on the Brown/White wire from the tail light fuse at the switch, you should not have had tail or a license plate light in addition to dash lights.

 

I am not sure now if I had just tail lights but I know I had turn signal and brake lights and I did not check license plate lights but I will check now to see if is working, I forgot about that one! Some of my dash lights are working now, like my clock light, heater control and ash tray and only my left turn signal dash light! if I have to pull my complete dash I will wait until next winter, I can live with the ones that are not working for now I just want to get this car on the road!! Hey how do I put the picture of my car like you did below your call name? buy the way yours is really a nice looking car!

 

The brake and turn signal lights are not on the same circuit as the tail lights. The individual dash lights not working may be due to bad bulbs or poor grounds.

Thanks for the compliment. To place pictures in your signature or an avatar click on the user cp tab at the top left of the screen and then click on edit avatar and/or edit signature.

 

I thought that I would send some pics of the tools I made to lap the contact on my fuse block, just like I do for my scope mounts on my rifles!