mach1 Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Just found another problem. The passenger door window only works from the switch on that door,will not work from the drivers door switch. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the elect windows for a 68 riviera. I have ordered a manual but it will take a while to get to Aus. Thanks Felix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWB Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 (edited) 37 minutes ago, mach1 said: Just found another problem. The passenger door window only works from the switch on that door,will not work from the drivers door switch. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the elect windows for a 68 riviera. I have ordered a manual but it will take a while to get to Aus. Thanks Felix I don't have '68 but here's a link to '67. I'll bet a beer the window circuits are identical https://www.teambuick.com/reference/library/67_chassis/files/120-h.pdf Edited December 3, 2016 by PWB (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1 Posted December 3, 2016 Author Share Posted December 3, 2016 Thanks Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 As you discovered with your headlights, a lot of electrical contacts become very spotty over the years. A likely cause of this problem is the drivers switch. You can disassemble and clean the contacts, pins, and sockets, then reassemble. You'll also find that the switches can jiggle apart if the retaining clips are broken or not engaged. Contact cleaner (e.g. DeoxIT) is a great addition to your arsenal, as is something like Ox-Gard anti-oxidant compound (which is not the same as dielectric grease).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70rivme Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 Had the same problem with my '70. I believe they should be identical. Turned out to be a broken wire inside the rubber conduit for the passenger door. By rubber conduit I mean the wiring pass thru by the hinges in case my terminology is off. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1 Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 I found both the up and down wires broken in the passenger door rubber conduit same as Brad mentioned. Now to replace these wires.Not an easy task trying to feed wires into the conduit.Will try again today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Just splice the break, no need to replace the entire wire. Cosmetically it will all be hidden by the conduit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68RIVGS Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 (edited) . . . like ED sed mate ! Just splice some new wire into the existing harness - where it flexes inside the rubber conduit. Ensure the splice is the same guage wire, and solder and tape all the splices. This is a very common fault on power window cars ! Edited December 4, 2016 by 68RIVGS (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70rivme Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 When I addressed the broken wire on my ride, I pulled the passenger door panel off. You can then remove everything holding the harness to the door and the motor connector. Then disconnect the rubber conduit and follow the harness inside and under the dash. On my 1970, there is another connector around the backside of the ashtray area if my memory serves me correctly and now you can just remove the passenger door harness and make a nice clean repair and also clearly assess the other wires. Let me know if you have any ?'s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68RIVGS Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 You were very fortunate Brad, on an AC equipped car it is a 'PITA' to gain access to any under dash wiring without removing a bunch of parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70rivme Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 19 minutes ago, 68RIVGS said: You were very fortunate Brad, on an AC equipped car it is a 'PITA' to gain access to any under dash wiring without removing a bunch of parts. Going off the idea that the 2nd Gens are all relatively the same and my '70 being an A/C original car, the wiring is truly a breeze to access. Especially the passenger door harness. If you saw some of the new vehicles I work with nowadays, oh man what a nightmare they can be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 If you've got one broken wire, it might pay to carefully inspect the others. You can't always tell if the conductors are broken inside the insulation, but there are sometimes obvious signs of damage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68RIVGS Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 1 hour ago, KongaMan said: If you've got one broken wire, it might pay to carefully inspect the others. You can't always tell if the conductors are broken inside the insulation, but there are sometimes obvious signs of damage. Good advice - might as well splice all the wires while you have it open. The driver's door is open and closed more often than the passenger door. Age, along with the constant flexing will cause the wires in the harness to break and render the power windows unserviceable. Clean all the wiring connections and chassis grounds too. That's what I did to my '68 many, many moons ago, and the power windows are still working well without any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 (edited) 2 hours ago, 68RIVGS said: Good advice - might as well splice all the wires while you have it open. The driver's door is open and closed more often than the passenger door. Age, along with the constant flexing will cause the wires in the harness to break and render the power windows unserviceable. Clean all the wiring connections and chassis grounds too. That's what I did to my '68 many, many moons ago, and the power windows are still working well without any problems. Yup. And to expand even further: if you've got a power seat, check those wires as well. This is what can happen: the wires flex until some of the conductors break (remember, it's stranded wire). When that happens, the wire has been effectively degraded from 18 ga. to 22 or 24 (or whatever) ga. That wire can't safely handle the current draw for a seat or window motor. If you're lucky, it melts through and your window/seat just stops working. If you're unlucky, it burns through the insulation and things get interesting. Edited December 5, 2016 by KongaMan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIVNIK Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 greetings Felix! ClassicCarWiring can provide you with a wiring diagram for your '68. It is laminated ,fully color coded, with the main harness schematic on the front, windows & seat on back. It is actually a thing of beauty, & has been a great help in sorting out my '65. Search for it on Ebay. Best $18 I ever spent. Drew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodneybeauchamp Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 Ditto Drews advice, bought the large size version for my '63, Tis a thing of sheer beauty, all in colour, easy to read and see where the wires start and finish. And laminated so if you spill your wine, or drop your vegemite sandwich, it won't stain. Just an email and PayPal is all that is needed. Makes the OEM manual diagram look like a postage stamp. Just my Aussie two bobs worth. Rodney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 8 hours ago, RIVNIK said: greetings Felix! ClassicCarWiring can provide you with a wiring diagram for your '68. It is laminated ,fully color coded, with the main harness schematic on the front, windows & seat on back. It is actually a thing of beauty, & has been a great help in sorting out my '65. Search for it on Ebay. Best $18 I ever spent. Drew Ditto. I have one each for the 63, 64, and 65. Invaluable! Plus you'll get exploded schematics for the power window and power seat harnesses on the reverse side. Made my own power vent harness using this as the guide. Easy peasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIVNIK Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 WARNING! Vegemite will make you talk funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 40 minutes ago, RIVNIK said: WARNING! Vegemite will make you talk funny! Down Under Men at Work Traveling in a fried-out combie On a hippie trail, head full of zombie I met a strange lady, she made me nervous She took me in and gave me breakfast And she said Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover Buying bread from a man in Brussels He was six-foot-four and full of muscles I said, "Do you speak-a my language?" He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich And he said I come from a land down under Where beer does flow and men chunder Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover Yeah Lyin' in a den in Bombay With a slack jaw, and not much to say I said to the man, "Are you trying to tempt me Because I come from the land of plenty?" And he said Do you come from a land down under? (oh yeah yeah) Where women glow and men plunder? Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover Living in a land down under Where women glow and men plunder Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover Living in a land down under Where women glow and men plunder Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover Living in a land down under Where women glow and men plunder Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover Living in a land down under Where women glow and men plunder Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1 Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 Hi All, I ended up replacing all 3 wires from the connector behind the glove box to just inside the passenger door. All works now.Thanks for all your help guys. Only thing I need now is the turn signal switch which I have ordered from LLC oldbuick parts(I hope I got the right part) and to fix the electric aerial (looks like the motor is seized). Then the car will be 100% and I can get it registered for the road. Regards Felix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 (edited) On 12/4/2016 at 11:13 PM, rodneybeauchamp said: Ditto Drews advice, bought the large size version for my '63, Tis a thing of sheer beauty, all in colour, easy to read and see where the wires start and finish. And laminated so if you spill your wine, or drop your vegemite sandwich, it won't stain. Just an email and PayPal is all that is needed. Makes the OEM manual diagram look like a postage stamp. Just my Aussie two bobs worth. Rodney Well, I'll say this... I was just looking at the wiring diagram in the 64 manual and I had to pull out the 10x loupe so I could follow the lines without getting dizzy. Strangely enough, I find the 63 diagram easier to read even though it's on one page while the 64 is split between two. Maybe it's because the 64 diagram has more detail (e.g. connectors). As an aside, Classic Car Wiring seems to offer only the smaller (11x17) diagrams on eBay. If you go to their site they also have larger (18x24) diagrams. The prices for the 11x17 diagrams are the same on eBay as a direct purchase ($17.95); the 18x24 diagrams are $29.95. Shipping charges are the same from either place. So if you really want to support these guys, it costs you nothing to buy direct and save them the 10% that eBay skims off the top. Edited December 6, 2016 by KongaMan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodneybeauchamp Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 Ed, perhaps they need to do a spell check on the lyrics for " Down Under" I reckon it should be " fried out Kombi" which was the Volkswagon van. Both the commercial( version with no side windows and the passenger with lots of Windows were known as Kombi Vans. They were prolific in the late 60s and 70s down under ( and no doubt in the USA as well) and still have a strong cult following. A couple of surf racks, some boards and someone's daughter inside was all you needed, not necessarily in that order. PS first time I have seen the lyrics, thought they sang " buying bread from a man in Brazil" Rodney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68RIVGS Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 The electric antenna can be repaired - it is covered in the '68 Shop Manual, as is the turn signal switch replacement. Sometimes the nylon cable in a power antenna gets jammed from years of dirt and crud collecting in the base of the antenna. You might also have a broken cable, or a bent mast section that is causing the problem. If the electric motor is damaged you will need a replacement. Your fortunate the car does not have cornering lamps, just a tilt wheel, as that switch is a little easier to find. Cornering lamps with tilt (... BPM RED), are a little harder to source ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mach1 Posted December 6, 2016 Author Share Posted December 6, 2016 After cleaning the plug to the antenna the motor now works but the base of the antenna comes out of the guard. I have jammed it back in and left the antenna unpluged with antenna in up position. Radio works fine.I will source the correct antenna later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68RIVGS Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 7 hours ago, mach1 said: After cleaning the plug to the antenna the motor now works but the base of the antenna comes out of the guard. I have jammed it back in and left the antenna unpluged with antenna in up position. Radio works fine.I will source the correct antenna later. . . . not quite sure what your terminology is referring to Felix, (...base of the antenna comes out of the guard)? The base is secured to the mast tube by some small, self tapping, 5/16 hex head screws, and a metal bracket at the bottom, that is fastened to the inner right fender splash shield. At least you know the electric motor is serviceable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWB Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 8 hours ago, mach1 said: After cleaning the plug to the antenna the motor now works but the base of the antenna comes out of the guard. I have jammed it back in and left the antenna unpluged with antenna in up position. Radio works fine.I will source the correct antenna later. Other car models have interchangeable parts. Here is a Caddy Antenna for sale. The housing, motor, connector and motor cap may be swapped and not affect your score. An example - at least: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-1966-1967-1968-1969-CADILLAC-FLEETWOOD-BROUGHAM-FACTORY-POWER-ANTENNA-/270755584869?hash=item3f0a4a5b65:g:ihYAAOSwBLlVARLG&vxp=mtr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68RIVGS Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Same electric antenna Paul, even accommodates the Riviera fender bezel - depends how deep your pockets are ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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