1969 Camaro trunk lamp

[Unreal]

That's because is pigtails into the front-to-rear wiring harness, which is only powered when the lights are on.

[StealthBird]

Not sure about this.....on the 1969 Firebird, the trunk light comes on whenever the trunk lid is opened (mercury switch activated). The trunk light has nothing to do with the headlights being on or off. There is a description of the operation of the trunk light in the 1969 Pontiac Accessories Brochure, and it states the light comes on automatically when the trunk lid is lifted. Other lamp group items, like the ashtray light, specifically state the light comes on when the headlights are on.

Seems to make sense that the headlights don't have to be on to activate the trunk lamp. I would think most folks, driving at night, would park, turn their car off, get out, lock the doors, then get the luggage out of the trunk. Doesn't make sense you have to turn the headlights on to activate the trunk light, get your luggage out, then remember to turn your headlights off.

Again, the 69 Firebird may be different than the 69 Camaro, but the 69 Firebird was wired to work via the mercury switch at any time.

[Mr70]

Your both right.
The trunk & engine compt. lamps are wired hot,meaning they have power applied at all times.
The engine compt. lamp is wired to the hot side of the horn relay or similar,and the trunk compt. lamp to a hot lead of the rear harness.
Both lamps will light when lifted to the upright position,thanks to the liquid mercury making the final connection.These lamps also flicker intermittently when the car goes over a speed bump or something similar,that jars the liquid mercury into making contact.Drive around with the rear seat back removed at night,and watch how many times the lamp pops on.That's why many remove the light bulbs,as they flicker on & off all day long during driving.

[69SSZL1]

Would somebody do me a favor and check their factory installed trunk light? mine only works with the lights on, the hood and interior lights work when opened. I can not find a hot lead to the rear harness on the wiring diagram. The ZJ9 auxiliary lighting group had 15,768 ordered so someone here must have first hand knowlage of it. I am the 3rd owner of my car and I really dont think someone took the time to re-wire my trunk light but you never know.

[StealthBird]

I just received an e-mail from my friend Dave Armstrong about this topic. Dave has two 1969 Firebirds, one ragtop, one coupe, both restored using all factory parts, and both national show winners.

<font color="blue">"The factory installed trunk lamp connects directly to the common power feed wire(brown) of the tail lamp circuit right below the LH tail lamp housing at the two-cavity connector which also feeds the license plate lamp, which alows it to work with the park or head lamps. On coupes, it could also be connected to the dome lamp power feed junction above the LH inner wheel house (part of body harness) which is illustrated in the over-the-counter accessory kit. The assembly manual shows the connection at the tail lamp power feed." </font>

Mine is connected at the body harness.

[69SSZL1]

Thanks Stealthbird, mine is connected to the license plate lamp harness. That would explain the difference in operation.

[JohnZ]

The A.I.M. shows the adapter harness for the trunk light plugged into the dome light circuit, which is hot all the time.