Itinerant Air-Cooled

Hey All

I have an '81 Westy that has a butchered electrical system. Battery drains, ignition switch has been replaced by a toggle switch, no power to the stove/sink/second battery box, LOTS of splices done by someone who was either color blind or got a great deal on orange wire, live wires hanging out everywhere. I don't have much experience with automotive rewiring. My question is: At what point does one just re-wire the whole mess? Are there people who specialize in that? Are there diagrams that make sense to a neophyte?

I was thinking I would remove as much of the dash as I can to get good access and go at it. Am I biting off more then I can chew? Any one do this in the Portland area? Any idea of the cost?

Bentley makes VW repair manuals, with wiring diagrams. Get thee one.

You can take a bite or pay someone else to chew on it.

Electrical stuff can be done. One bite at a time. Get the Bentley and an ohm meter. Line by line, connection by connection.

You can do it, we can help.

Yours sounds pretty tough but you can do it with a VW color-coded electrical diagram. My Ghia had the whole electrical wiring setup behind the dash sprayed black so I spent lots of time cleaning wires with lacquer thinner trying to figure out what the heck some hack mechanic did to the wiring as its a mess. Slow progress, but it's coming together and the "high" I get is free.

Anyone know of a site that has the Vanagon diagram in color posted for him? The Samba only has 'em in B&W.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wiringt2.php

Bleyseng wrote:Anyone know of a site that has the Vanagon diagram in color posted for him? The Samba only has em in B&W..

The newer Vanagon Bentley's I've seen are only in b/w. Maybe on old one is in color, I don't know.

Bleyseng wrote:Anyone know of a site that has the Vanagon diagram in color posted for him?

NO!....grumble....

Just another swipe at us Vanagoneers....Modelism I tell ya.

I've got an idea. I just happen to have another '81 Vanagon laying around (doesn't everyone?) and I thought I could cut the harness out of one and splice it into the other...PRESTO...IT IS ALIVE!!!!!

The parts Vanagon is not a Westy and it is not California emisions, like the Westy. Could this work? One weekend and a lot of beer later and I'll be good as new.

one way wrote:I've got an idea. I just happen to have another '81 Vanagon laying around (doesn't everyone?) and I thought I could cut the harness out of one and splice it into the other...PRESTO...IT IS ALIVE!!!!!

The parts Vanagon is not a Westy and it is not California emisions, like the Westy. Could this work? One weekend and a lot of beer later and I'll be good as new.

That should work just fine, get to it!

Welcome to the forum!

Modelism?

-John

Internal Makism?...

Of which part of the electrical system are you speaking? If you are talking about the engine harness, It may be serviceable in your rig if that's where you are having issues.

It sounds like you have to do some isolation of components. Find the battery drain. Do you have an ohm meter and the willingness to use it?

If you are talking about cabin/chassis wiring You're gonna have to approach it methodically cause the wires go all over the place from the fuse block. You will be able to isolate by pulling one fuse at a time til you find the draining system. Then you move to that system and eliminate/investigate branches of the circuit.

Wiring is tedious but fairly easy.

Did you say you are in Portland?

Thanks Gypsy.

I suppose your right. This weekend I'll remove the dash and try and clean the more obvious things, loose wires, hot leads, etc. then start the process.

I am in Portland. I have an ohm meter. I'll see if I have the patience.

You should try to make it to the Lucky Lab on Quimby this Sunday around 5 pm. There will be a group there. Maybe we could futz with it for a few minutes.

I know this thread is dead...but here goes:

This is unrelated to the post, but related to the test, and perhaps a silly question: If I connect my multimeter from the negative terminal on the battery to the disconnected ground strap (or anywhere on the body) with the positive still connected, I should get 0 volts...right? I noticed just this week, after dealing with several other issues and messing with a lot of wires, that my battery is draining far more quickly (new battery, new alternator). When I test from negative to strap, I get 12.26 volts; direct battery voltage is about 12.5 on my cheapo meter. Should I assume I have a direct short somewhere? If so, is there a particular place I should look first, or should I start pulling fuses until my ground to strap voltage drops?

Thanks!

P.S. I just read elsewhere about the brightness of a test light as an indicator of the quantity of amp drop. My test light doesn't shine at all when connected from the strap to the negative terminal (disconnected). Still shows better than 12 volts with the multimeter. I'm concerned about this because of 1) danger of ruining the battery and 2) my wife sits on top of that battery, and I've seen 'em boil before!

You should always get just about battery voltage between the neg. post and (disconnected) chassis ground. The battery is a voltage source, and that voltage should
appear at any point of disconnection in the circuit. What you should be concerned about is current (amps) when there shouldn't be any. Even the cheapest
multimeters usually have a 10 amp DC current measuring capability. I'm not sure I know what you mean by "direct" (as opposed to "indirect"?) short. I've always
considered a "direct" short to be something that produces explosive arcs and melted screwdrivers.

cegammel wrote:I know this thread is dead...but here goes:

This is unrelated to the post, but related to the test, and perhaps a silly question: If I connect my multimeter from the negative terminal on the battery to the disconnected ground strap (or anywhere on the body) with the positive still connected, I should get 0 volts...right?

my battery is draining far more quickly (new battery, new alternator).

Get hill-billy here.
In the dark, disconnect the negative terminal from the negative post. Wait a sec. Now try to just brush against the post. Do you see sparkishness (make sure doors are closed no interior light or stereo rig drains allowed)?

Now, keep battery disconnected and disconnect the alternator from the vehicle. You should have a plug and a screw-on wire. Now check for sparkishness again at the negative terminal-to-post touch test.
None? Bad diode. Reconnect wire and plug. Retest to see if spark is back.
Still sparky? Remove each fuse one at a time and do brush test. Let us know which fuse kills sparkishness.
STILL sparky?
Colin

kreemoweet wrote:You should always get just about battery voltage between the neg. post and (disconnected) chassis ground. The battery is a voltage source, and that voltage should
appear at any point of disconnection in the circuit. What you should be concerned about is current (amps) when there shouldn't be any. Even the cheapest
multimeters usually have a 10 amp DC current measuring capability. I'm not sure I know what you mean by "direct" (as opposed to "indirect"?) short. I've always
considered a "direct" short to be something that produces explosive arcs and melted screwdrivers.

Good point on direct vs. indirect. Somewhere out there, there's a dodge pickup with a 5/16 boxend welded to the fender. Thanks for the input.