I bought a 68 Electra with on 43k miles on it and am trying to get it road worthy. Drained the tank (no build sheet :ball: ), new fuel pump, rebuilt carb. It starts and runs good for about 15 mins or so then it seems to flood out or load up. The choke is open but it starts to smell rich and wants to stall after a while? I have not changed plugs,points or wires yet. I dont know if the exhaust flap off the exhaust manifold is working. It might be rusted from sitting. Also, the radio, dome light, heating motor and defrost, power antenna and power seat do not work. I checked the fuses under the dash and they all look good. The cigarette lighter, windows and trunk release work and long with the wipers. I have not tried the washer pump since I need a new fluid jug. Do these cars have another fuse box or relays other than the one under the dash? Oh yea that damn buzzer that lets you know the key is in the ignition works just fine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I need to use a test light but thought I would check for another fuse box first. Also will any of this be affected by one turn signal not blinking. I think a bulb is out for that. I remember the blinker indicators staying on once on a car I had because a brake light was burned out.Thanks Ed
I have a similar problem with my 72 Centurion, I'll be watching this one.. Regarding the electrical, I'd start with connecting a voltmeter to the fuses BOTH SIDES and ground the neg cable of the voltmeter. See if you got juice on both sides of the fuses. They might look good, but......... this cost me a lot of time and agony.
There is no other fuse box on a 68, there are fusible links but I'd be surprised they are the problem in this case. First, use a test light to see if there is power on both sides of each fuse in the fuse box. Some of them won't get power if accessories aren't turned on. I recently tested a 68 Electra Limited that I wanted to buy and the radio, heater fan, wipers and power windows didn't work when the ignition switch was in the "on" position. To make them work, you had to turn the switch between on and off or to "accessory". Because your wipers work, I wouldn't suspect the ignition switch itself on a 1968 Electra. (that's not true for all Buicks from this period, for example my 67 Riviera has a different electrical circuit and accessories aren't wired the same way) The power seat is on the same circuit as the power windows but it should be operative with the ignition in "off" position too. Since the power windows work, the seat wiring, switch or motor must have a problem. It can't be the circuit breaker at the top of the fuse box because the windows work. About the windows, do they work only when the ignition is in "accessory" or "on" position? In 1967 and newer cars, they shouldn't work when the ignition is turned off because there is a relay behind the driver's side kick panel. BTW, if you want to open or close the windows when the engine isn't running, use the accessory position of the ignition switch on a car with ignition points. Leaving the switch in "ON" could burn the points when the engine isn't running. If your car is an Electra Custom or Limited, the power seat switch in located in the driver's door, be sure the wires aren't cut between the door and the body. The trunk release and power door locks in pre-1970 Buicks are vacuum operated. Unless someone added the trunk release from a seventies car. There is a storage tank for the vacuum that allows opening the trunk once the engine is stopped. The release button behind the glove box door should be orange. The trunk release actuator is visible in the trunk door and has a vacuum line connected to it. Does your car have only a single dome light? I think that all 68 Electras had standard courtesy lights in the side roof panels and under the dash but no dome light. If your car has 4 courtesy lights and none work with all doors open or with the manual courtesy light switch turned on, maybe the 4 lights are burned or there is a wire cut somewhere. Test the light bulbs and the sockets to see if there is 12V+ in them (there should be 12V+ all the time). If the bulbs are good and there is 12V+ in the sockets, there must be a bad ground or bad switches. If I remember correctly, they are on the same circuit as the clock and lighters are. Since the lighters are working, it shouldn't be the fuse. The rear courtesy lights should have two contacts at their base like brake lights do, one is the ground and the other one is the +. I assume that your non-working radio is the original one and that when you turn it on, the dial light doesn't come on. Disconnect the 3 wire connector at the rear of the radio to see if there is 12V+ to the yellow wire with a test light (with ignition in ACC). If there is, the radio itself has a problem. To test the power antenna (assuming it's the original one) , you should disconnect the conector near the motor in the trunk and have someone turn the switch in both positions while you are testing the connectors with a test light. Both wires that go to the antenna should have 12V+ (one in "up" the other in "down" position). If they do, the antenna motor is likely to be the problem. To test the flashers, try the 4 way flasher first to see if all lights work. There should be 2 flasher/brake lights in each taillight and one each side in front. The side markers aren't connected to the flasher circuit. If one of the flasher lights is burned, they will probably not flash or flash slowly (but the green indicator light will come on in the instrument cluster). The flasher unit could be bad too if both sides don't work. The flasher in the fuse box is for the hazard flasher and the one near the parking brake pedal bracket is for the turn signals. If you want to test the brake light switch and you have nobody to look at the taillights, you can turn on the 4 way flashers and push on the brake pedal. The 4 way flashers should stop blinking and the green indicator lights in the dash should remain on. If you don't have a 1968 chassis manual and need wiring diagrams, let me know, I'll email you pics of mine. As for your engine problems, it could be many things but a good tune up will certainly help. I had problems with rebuilt Quadrajets that weren't rebuilt correctly so have a look at that too!
exhaust liner Original exhaust systems in '68 full-sized Buicks used a "double" pipe between the headpipes and the muffler. This means there was a pipe within a pipe on this segment of the system. The inner pipe will rust severely and the outer pipe will look just fine. Finally, the inner pipe will collapse, choking off the exhaust. The whole system still looks fine from the outside. It happened to me and I had a real tough time figuring it out because I didn't know about the pipe within the pipe.
Phil Thank you for the info I didnt think there was another box but needed to make sure. I think the power seat motor is stuck from sitting all these years. The control switch is in the door. The trunk release is vacuum operated and the inside lights are on the sail panels. The antenna is factory installed and the acc. ports have 2 red wires in them? o No: Also the fuel gauge works sum times and then goes to full and then back. I think I will clean the ground on the sending unit to see if that fixes that problem. I hope to get out there tonight and do the test light checks. David, I am leaning the same way on the engine problem. It just seems like back pressure or the float maybe set to high? I may need to drop the exhaust system and see if it still does it!!!!!!!!!!! Needs duals anyway!!!! Thank you again Phil for taking the time to type out everything :TU: If you do have the wiring diagrams and what to email mail them to me that would be great! My email is ewilt814@cableone.net I see a manual on Ebay that I bid on if it doesnt get to high.
Thanks Phil go the pictures All fuses have light at both ends. The dome lights work its just the switch for the drivers door that doesnt work. The radio comes on and the green FM light works but not sound or static. Maybe the speaker wire? The antenna now works and the powerseat motor is stuck. I can hear a click but thats it. Still nothing for the blower motor for the heater or a A/C. Its the carb I can see fuel coming through the accelerator pump and it runs rich. Thanks again Phil for the pictures I think I will try to fix it next weekend. New front brakes, wheel pack, and cylinder rebuild this weekend. The old ones on one side were covered with grease from a leaking wheel seal.
If the green FM (stereo) light works and you hear absolutely no sound, maybe both speakers are bad. I'm curious, do you hear a "click" coming from the multiplex adapter when when changing FM stations and the stereo light comes on and off? I'm asking you that because I know that the 1967 model has a stereo relay and the 1969 doesn't but I'm not sure about the 1968.
multiplex adapter? Phil, Is that the silver box that hangs out a little under the passenger side under the dash? I do not hear any click but I will check it again when I get back. Another note, I need to get radials on that boat. Its all over the road and the old tires have flat spots that will not come out because it sat for 25 years. :shock:
Yes it is, it should have a black plastic plate over it (with Delco STEREO written on it) but they are often gone. In this page you'll see multiplex adapters with missing faceplates: http://www.originalcarradios.com/Buick.htm Here is a picture of the multiplex adapter in my 68 Wildcat. The radio had an amber FM stereo light so I'm not sure if the car had a 1968 or 1969 radio but the multiplex adapter looks the same. My 67 Riv's multiplex adapter also looks like this but it has different parts inside (and a relay). All 66-70 Buicks with stereo radios had multiplex adapters but some models had it mounted in an invisible location depending of the options ordered and some used different mounting brackets and/or box design.
thats it Phil Mine is missing the plate. The am side doesnt work either but will look into the relay problem. Thanks Phil. I would be lost without your help. I need to get a manual.
