1968 Wiring Woes

[Ghostultramarine]

I drove my new (to me) 1968 Newport Convertible home yesterday.

There are a plethora of wires hanging from under the dash. Looks like some are a bit melted and none are connected anywhere.

Any ideas of what is supposed to go where or be for what?

(Yes, I have a shop manual, but wiring has never been an area of expertise I have enthusiastically loved playing with.)

Is it all 18 gauge? (obviously some will have to be replaced)

I will post a picture from my 'phone (far easier to type on a keyboard).

 

[MrMoparCHP]

None of it looks factory. Chase it and see where it goes.


Alan

 

[Davea Lux]

Those wires are likely spliced under the dash someplace, you have way too much green colored wire. Download the wiring diagram at www.mymopar.com. You will find diagrams in the Tools/Reference section.

Dave

 

[Gerald Morris]

I see Dave turned you on to the right link for basic stuff! You need to rewire this car man. They're really pretty EASY to do, IFF YOU TAKE DUE CARE TO DO IT RIGHT!!! I had a nasty wiring fire the first month I had mine 5 yrs ago, due to utter lack of any fusible links, a broken motor mount and years of IGGGGNOOOORANT **** done to the wiring! That fire was a Divine favor, forcing me to redo stuff right, and, thank St. Joe and his stepSon, I've been blessed with pretty good electrical operation after my rewiring job.

 

[Gerald Morris]

View attachment 462561 I drove my new (to me) 1968 Newport Convertible home yesterday.

There are a plethora of wires hanging from under the dash. Looks like some are a bit melted and none are connected anywhere.

Any ideas of what is supposed to go where or be for what?

(Yes, I have a shop manual, but wiring has never been an area of expertise I have enthusiastically loved playing with.)

Is it all 18 gauge? (obviously some will have to be replaced)

I will post a picture from my 'phone (far easier to type on a keyboard).

The wires in the pic provided look suspiciously like some BADLY DONE DIY-IDIOT-INSTRUMENTATION HACK!!! Dead common **** really. Note the oil pressure tube, the dangling capillary gauge, and the nest of melted insulation wires i NON-Moparian color schemes. I suspect some Chevy-luvving kiddoe with a liking for huffing hydrocarbon aerosols did that hack.

GET RID OF ALL THOSE WIRES, AND START FRESH AS PER THE FSM!!! Gonna take some time bro, but if you don't do it, you'll never have the peace of mind that it was done right. Some of the older Mopar colors are a little hard to find off the shelf, but you can get them online....

 

[Fury Man Van]

Wish you were closer I'd be glad to fix that for you

 

[Ghostultramarine]

Thanks guys!

Yes, I’ve been looking at the wiring diagrams in the workshop manual and it does seem pretty straight forward with no excess wiring!

That’s what I love about older vehicles; the ease to work on them.

The dash will come out and I’ll take off all that wiring. The guy I bought the car off had no idea what the wiring was for and was trying to figure it out (he put the red tape on to signify it was hot).

I agree, probably some non-Mopar kid.

Fury Man, thank you, I’d definitely take you up on the offer!

 

[Big_John]

View attachment 462561 I drove my new (to me) 1968 Newport Convertible home yesterday.

There are a plethora of wires hanging from under the dash. Looks like some are a bit melted and none are connected anywhere.

Any ideas of what is supposed to go where or be for what?

(Yes, I have a shop manual, but wiring has never been an area of expertise I have enthusiastically loved playing with.)

Is it all 18 gauge? (obviously some will have to be replaced)

I will post a picture from my 'phone (far easier to type on a keyboard).

Best thing to do is this...

First... a hint to make it easier. Pull the front seat out. Makes it all easier, you'll thank me.

Get under the dash and find and remove every scrap of that wiring that some fool has added. Look at where it's been tapped in and repair/reinsulate as needed. After reading and responding to your other thread, this all ties together and you'll probably see that somewhere something has tapped into the brake/tail light circuit for power to this mess.

Hopefully there hasn't been too much damage to the wiring harness.

 

[SPF Required]

hint to make it easier. Pull the front seat out. Makes it all easier,

I have learned this is a must ^^^

also, having pulled my dash apart twice now, after you pull the front seat, lower the steering column by loosing the three mounting bolts. I found leaving the nuts as low as possible on the posts, but not removing them from the mounting post , gave me just enough room to angle the bezel and instrument cluster to clear the column and slip them out to the side.

as @Big_John said though, you will thank him by removing the seat. Four easy to get to nuts under the car (and one connector under the seat if they are electric).

keep us posted.

 

[Ghostultramarine]

Yeah, removing the seat would help ...

*sigh*

Here is where those wires are spliced in:

Would that be for gauges?

(I’m upside down stretching my back (with the seat in...) and not looking at the manual for colour codes of wires)

 

[Fury Man Van]

I see the beginning of a melted plug

 

[Fury Man Van]

I absolutely hate those squeeze splices

 

[Ghostultramarine]

And here they are with bandaids on; and that monstrosity gone!

 

[SPF Required]

I could be wrong, but the connector you have in your hand looks like either the headlight switch connector or the wiper switch connector… I can’t quite tell by the angle, but either way it isn’t connected to the switch. I wonder if a previous owner just hot wired in an after market switch and mounted it at the bottom of the dash somewhere? Do you currently have lights and wipers??

 

[Ghostultramarine]

I unplugged it.

I am pulling the dash apart.

For some reason the speedo is not working and various indicator lights.

I now have a beautiful hi beam light (love the red!) and a left turn signal dash light.

 

[SPF Required]

Just took a look at my FSM, judging by the colors of the wires, you’re hold the headlight switch connector.

 

[SPF Required]

Got it…. That broken tab on the side of the connector can lead to your lights going out on a bunny drive.

probably explains too how you were able to unplug it easily while folded in half on your head

I was able to use a thin zip tie to secure it to the new headlight switch when I reassembled the dash. If your headlight switch is toast, you can still find some nos ones out there, but they ain’t cheap. Or perhaps there is someone on here who can hook you up.

 

[Ghostultramarine]

My headlight switch is working good.

It wasn’t that easy to unplug. I had help from a screwdriver.

Thanks for the heads up - I’ll make sure it’s in snug and tight so they don’t go out.

 

[Fury Man Van]

You are heading in the right direction.
As for your speedometer when you get the dashboard out pull the cable out of the housing check both ends.

 

[SPF Required]

when I redid my instrument cluster last year, I discovered my speedo cable had a broken plastic tab that held it into the speedo at the top of the panel.

Got a new one easy peasy and now have a working speedometer.

the thread I did documenting the instrument cluster rehab is here:

Instrument cluster rehab....

don’t forget to pull out that front seat!