68 Gto ignition wiring

[Cstacey]

Hey so having an issue. I am installing a painless ( not so painless harness) rebuilt engine and transmission. Electric carb. When hooking up my wires as per instructions car cranks but will not start. Ran a jumper wire from ign 1 to ign 2 car starts and runs as it should. However I now have constant power to my radio… and blower motor does not work as it should… by running that jumper wire is that what is causing the radio to always have power could this be also causing blower motor issues…. Could I cause other problems by running it this way?? 

[JUSTA6]

I HATE wiring, but if it works after the jumper is installed.  My next move would be to check if the orange and pink wires are in the wrong place.  Justa guess.....

[Cstacey]

I think I tried that…. I think I tried it all 😂 

[64 kiwi boni]

albert, do you have a factory wiring diagram ? 

is this plug on the back of you ignition the factory one or is it part of the painless kit ? 

it looks factory and so do the wires

go back to the diagram and justA check that you have it right regardless of colour.

what does your diagram show that ign 1 feeds to ? 

what is ign 2 suposed to feed to ?

thats your first clue, and yes like justA said wiring can be a mind f-ck ! but once you get your head around it, pfft easy peasy 

what i do like about the new wiring kits is that they are labeled the whole lenght of each wire, regardless of colour ... fantastic idea !!

[Cstacey]

Hey took me a bit to get back to it! That is a factory plug. It is a painless harness. I am her by going to admit that I signed up for this under my husbands name. As he is not tech savvy and my name is Cathy! I have spent the better part of today trying to read the painless book ) I’m probably no better off for it) couple things I can tell you I discovered. ( trying to hook up the blower motor /factory ac. My blower will run with no key as well as my radio. The pink wire in the book says it should be to the coil fuse. 

[Cstacey]

I should also add that the wipers work as they should. They only have power when the key is on accessory 

Hey took me a bit to get back to it! That is a factory plug. It is a painless harness. I am here by going to admit that I signed up for this under my husbands name. As he is not tech savvy and my name is Cathy! I have spent the better part of today trying to read the painless book ) I’m probably no better off for it) couple things I can tell you I discovered. ( trying to hook up the blower motor /factory ac. My blower will run with no key as well as my radio. The pink wire in the book says it should be to thecoil fuse. 

Edited February 27 by Cstacey

[Fitzy]

Hi Cathy, I am also potentially going to go the so-called Painless route so am interested to hear of your troubles. In addition to what the guys said, just about all GM ignition switches shared a common configuration of coloured wires. It's the pink & yellow ones that determine how your car starts & runs. I THINK yellow is the 'start' wire and pink is for when it's running, or vice versa.

The ultimate test is with the switch off, you should have zero power going anywhere except for clock, courtesy lights, brake lights & headlights. ACC position should give you radio & cigar lighter and maybe wipers & blower. Get a factory wiring diagram (or look it up online) and try to replicate that. The Painless supplied ignition switch plug should simply plug in and you're good to go but if the car has ever been played around with prior to your ownership, you don't know what's happened under the dash. Is the wire to the R (or sometimes 'I') terminal on the starter solenoid in the right place?

[Cstacey]

The harness was completely chopped so it was completely removed and replaced ) it was all random red wire) I have only 2 wires running to my starter. The purple solenoid wire and the power red wire. I’m no mechanic or wiring specialist. This is where I am in my reading of the book today. Jacked up the car and checked only 2 wires running to it from what I can see. I know I read there should be wires on the I and R but that is as far as k have gotten with it today …. I find it quite strange that the radio and the blower motor work with no key and the wiper switch does not ( I know none of them should) I also verified that I hooked up the correct wire to the radio ( as there are 2 to choose from) one constant one key on 

[64 kiwi boni]

hi Cathy purple will be the trigger feed from the ignition switch and will be a smaller wire, the red will be the fat sucker from the battery . too your starter .

if you get stuck call painless and talk to a tec about the plug at the ignition 

explain whats happening, i bet your ignition  switch is a easy fix 

Edited February 28 by 64 kiwi boni

[64 kiwi boni]

thats the cool part about our pontiacs !!! sooo basic to work on 

do you have a factory wireing diagram ? 

[Wrongway]

Hey Cathy, just curious, but which Painless harness did you get? Like what part number? The reason I ask is because I installed PN# 10102 a couple of years ago in my 63. I have a 9 pin switch and never could get it wired up to work correctly. I reached out to Painless tech dept. and spent multiple hours talking to techs and the "experts" that the techs call when they can't solve a problem. I was told multiple times that I could buy a switch from them or go to a parts house and buy a 5 or 7 pin switch and it would wire right up. Might want to reach out to the tech dept justa to see what they say. Goodluck and keep us posted.

[Cstacey]

9 hours ago, Wrongway said:

Hey Cathy, just curious, but which Painless harness did you get? Like what part number? The reason I ask is because I installed PN# 10102 a couple of years ago in my 63. I have a 9 pin switch and never could get it wired up to work correctly. I reached out to Painless tech dept. and spent multiple hours talking to techs and the "experts" that the techs call when they can't solve a problem. I was told multiple times that I could buy a switch from them or go to a parts house and buy a 5 or 7 pin switch and it would wire right up. Might want to reach out to the tech dept justa to see what they say. Goodluck and keep us posted.

Hi wrong way I purchased the 10414, 25 circuit key in Dash originally thought my switch was bad so I ordered a new 1, 2 in fact all give exactly the same results. So I assume they are actually working correctly. They also sell a generic ignition switch part 80153 which I am including a picture of

[Cstacey]

17 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Hi Cathy, I am also potentially going to go the so-called Painless route so am interested to hear of your troubles. In addition to what the guys said, just about all GM ignition switches shared a common configuration of coloured wires. It's the pink & yellow ones that determine how your car starts & runs. I THINK yellow is the 'start' wire and pink is for when it's running, or vice versa.

The ultimate test is with the switch off, you should have zero power going anywhere except for clock, courtesy lights, brake lights & headlights. ACC position should give you radio & cigar lighter and maybe wipers & blower. Get a factory wiring diagram (or look it up online) and try to replicate that. The Painless supplied ignition switch plug should simply plug in and you're good to go but if the car has ever been played around with prior to your ownership, you don't know what's happened under the dash. Is the wire to the R (or sometimes 'I') terminal on the starter solenoid in the right place?

Second from the bottom, indicates the bypass wire, if needed, will connect to the I or R post if needed. What indicates if it is required?? 

[JUSTA6]

[Wrongway]

On 2/19/2024 at 3:14 PM, Cstacey said:

However I now have constant power to my radio… and blower motor does not work as it should… by running that jumper wire is that what is causing the radio to always have power could this be also causing blower motor issues….

So, if it was me, I would double check that the orange wire IS indeed #933 and I didn't install #903 by mistake, super easy to mix up when frustrated. Also double check that pink wire #931 was hooked up and not pink #906. Could also be that the ignition switch is now working and wired correctly and there is an issue with the radio or blower wire instead. Which radio wires did you use? Did you use both the yellow #940 and the #red #941 or justa one of them and if so which one? Also, you said that the blower motor isn't running as it should, what is it doing or not doing?

[Cstacey]

1 hour ago, Wrongway said:

So, if it was me, I would double check that the orange wire IS indeed #933 and I didn't install #903 by mistake, super easy to mix up when frustrated. Also double check that pink wire #931 was hooked up and not pink #906. Could also be that the ignition switch is now working and wired correctly and there is an issue with the radio or blower wire instead. Which radio wires did you use? Did you use both the yellow #940 and the #red #941 or justa one of them and if so which one? Also, you said that the blower motor isn't running as it should, what is it doing or not doing?

Wires in the switch are correct. Radio wire used 941 as I don’t want it to have power when off, 940 is to run the clock. ( put in new Dakota digital so not required… Blower motor runs without the key on. So it  has constant power … wiper switch only runs when the key is on ( as it should) 

[Wrongway]

Ok thanks, I also used only the 941 so my radio only had power when the switch is on. The 940 wire is a 12V constant that can be used to pretty much power anything that needs a constant current like a clock or the memory function on a modern stereo with clock, presets and such.

I believe you stated that before you hooked up the jumper wire the car would crank but not stay running? If that is correct, did you check to see if there was still power at the coil? Are you still using the mechanical fuel pump, or did you switch to electric? If using electric is there power at the fuel pump? Before the jumper was installed.

[Cstacey]

It would crank but not fire… 

[Wrongway]

Not knowing what's been done so far and what you've tried is why I was asking these things. I think my next step would be to unplug the jumper wire, Try to start the car, when it doesn't fire leave the key in to on position and see if there is power still at the coil. No power, no fire. If you went electric fuel pump with switch still on check to see if it has power. No pump, no fire.

Did you have a chance to reach out to tech support yet?

[Cstacey]

Disconnected the jumper wire still have radio and blower, so jumper wire is not the issue there! There is  power at the coil with key on, turn key to start no power at the coil. 

[Wrongway]

I'm not advising you to do this, but if it WAS me, I would run a wire from the coil to my battery. That would ensure i was keeping 12V at the coil. See if the car will run. But if your losing power when you turn the key on then something is crossed somewhere. Could be pink and orange like Justa mentioned.

[Cstacey]

I actually have no issue with running the jumper wire on the switch as that is how you would do it on an old chev as per the book. Since that wire is not causing the issues that I am having with the constant power to radio and heater blower.  I was hoping that cutting the jumper would fix the radio/blower issue but that is not it. I kinda doubted it was since the wipers work correctly and all of those things should be fed from the brown accessories wire on the switch… 

[Wrongway]

Ok well I was justa trying to help determine which wires could be crossed. Maybe somebody else has some input.  Good luck.

[Cstacey]

Appreciate all ideas!!! Thanks so much!!! 

[Fitzy]

6 hours ago, Cstacey said:

Second from the bottom, indicates the bypass wire, if needed, will connect to the I or R post if needed. What indicates if it is required?? 

I think they're saying that not all cars have the bypass wire.

You really need to consult a factory wiring diagram AND as Wrongway suggested, ask the techs at Painless. It sounds like the ignition switch wiring is your only real problem.