*THE BUICK GODS HAVE HELPED ME FIX IT*No lights of any kind. I think my car may burn down too.

So a few months ago, all of my lights stop working. Whenever I put the vehicle and drive everything shuts off, but they all turn on again when the shifter is moved to park. No brake lights/head lights/ interior lights etc etc. I removed all the fuses and checked each one, nothing wrong, however I went ahead and replaced all of them just in case. Completely by accident one night, I smelled an electrical burning smell from under the hood after moving the shifter back and forth a few times. It was dark, and I saw the cotter pin holding the steering column shifter arm to the shift linkage to be glowing red. Wth. No fuses blown. I literally have no idea what this could be, or how to check it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don't see any wire harnesses rubbing near or around the steering column or linkage. It's all stock. I am dumbfounded. Due to this issue, the vehicle is not drivable. I have taking a close up picture with the pen pointing towards the pin that will get so hot it glows. Any ideas? I am at at loss. I don't even know where to begin. I guess I should include it is a 1970 Dec 70 built Skylark no-post 350...I am the second owner since 1991.

 

Someone will chime in, because I have no knowledge about steering coloum shifters. There is a contact in there that tells where the shifter is positioned, it has to be something in there.

 

My guess is that that pin becomes a ground when the shifter in in the D position causing or due to an internal short inside the column. As a test remove the pin and that linkage then try again. Also check all the way down to the trans to see if anything is rubbing a harness.

 

You have no engine to chassis ground. Start there.

 

Oops. Yes December 1969

 

Sometimes the ground wire breaks in the rag joint and then you have no ground.

I don’t know what that would do to the electrical system but do know you need that, so you might want to check it.

For 1972, they went with a wire mesh embedded in the rubber for a ground instead of a wire.

This style makes the rubber look like a steel belted radial tire.
Duane

 

There is also an electrical connection near the end of the steering column that has a side to side adjustment. If that moved to the wrong spot it can do what you are talking about.

Did you change the column lately.
Duane

 

Thank you guys! Now I have hope in figuring this out.

 

I have not sir. I basically have just been scratching my head on and off for the last few months. I really had zero idea on where to start.

 

Until you find the source of the problem, disconnect both battery cables when you are not standing in front of the car with a fire extinguisher in your hand.

Wire fires in cars in a garage can turn into an inferno faster than Johnny Storm.

 

Well, thanks to your suggestions I did find this tonight. I'm pretty sure this ground strap should be connected on both ends.

 

You should also have one between the battery and core support.

 

I ran a jumper cable from that ground strap to the ground point on the engine ( just to test it, I have a new ground strap on order). You guys don't know how long I've been chasing this issue. I really never brought it up before, because I could not even fathom that a suggestion would be out there. I have lights again. And moving the shifter around makes no difference, everything works. I am absolutely beyond thankful. I'm not going to get too sappy, but one thing that my 14 year old daughter and I love doing is cruising this vehicle from whenever it gets warm in Ohio, to whenever it gets too cold. Which, is why I never do any disassembly and keep limping it along as far as fluid leaks etc. Unless something is broken, I just leave it alone. With my current situation, if I start doing major disassembly the vehicle is sure to be down for a very long time, and father-daughter time in the old Buick is too precious to me. We were not able to do any cruising for the last month of cruising weather due to this issue, and she was disappointed.

So, thank you. Thank you all 1000 times.

 

Question though. This ground strap is mounted the firewall, but were did the other end attach to on the passenger side of the block?

 

The back of the head. Surely the bolt and other end of the strap is still there.

 

Thank you for a the diagram. Now that I see the voltage regulator, I am reminded that my regulator is still mounted in place, however it is deactivated. I installed an upgraded higher amp alt with an internal regulator many years ago. Silly question, but I assume this will have no effect on the ground strap hole (?)