Gauge Cluster Light Wire Over Heating

[Manfred]

I'm not sure if this is a Type 2 problem or not.

The wire coatings (white with a red stripe) connecting to the bulbs of my gauge cluster have melted.

I noticed some smoke coming from my dash a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to get my gauge lights working while driving at night. I usually would just fiddle with the head light knob until they came back on. They would flicker or go out if I hit good sized bump in the road.

I wasn't really sure what the problem was, but I thought it had something to do with my headlight switch. My parts bus had a newer switch, so I used it for a replacement.

While doing the swap, I noticed that the lighting wire on both my '78 and '73 buses were melted. No other wires had over heated. Only the white and red striped wire that connects to all the lighting bulbs.

Anyone have a clue on how to solve this problem as I am not electrically inclined. I don't ever want to see smoke coming from my dash again. It's quite disconcerting.

FYI the swap fixed my original problem. The gauge lights come on and even dim and brighten when I turn the headlight knob.

[dtrumbo]

Perhaps someone installed the wrong wattage bulbs in your instrument panel. These would draw more current which would melt the insulation on the wire and perhaps could explain why your original switch failed.

[RSorak 71Westy]

The insulation burned off because the wires shorted to ground. Just the increased draw of a higher wattage bulb would not do this. Every bit of metal in the bus is ground. If there's an inherent problem in VW bus dash light wiring that causes this, I do not know about it.

[Manfred]

Perhaps someone installed the wrong wattage bulbs in your instrument panel. These would draw more current which would melt the insulation on the wire and perhaps could explain why your original switch failed.

I think I remember reading something on Ratwell's site about using brighter gauge lights and I think he warned about the wattage.