1977 Bus - Instrument Cluster Wiring Madnes!!!

[Sluggo]

When I pulled my instrument cluster I tagged all the wires and corresponding connections. Some of the numbers on the wires faded and my son got hold of the instrument cluster for a few minutes and must have pulled some of the tags from there. So I have 4 mystery wires and 1 mystery connection.

The first wire comes from the instrument cluster lights. The wire goes from the headlight switch to 3 lights in line and then to "?". It's gray & red. The schematic shows it going to a square with a 52 in it. What do those boxes mean anyway?

The second wire is a double wire and it's brown. It tees from terminal 31 on the brake warning light. One end goes to the back of the instrument cluster at the temp control light & the other goes to "?". Schematic shows it going to the back of the speedo and then to a box with 27 in it.

The third wire is a thick & thin double wire going to a spade connector. Both wires disappear into the harness.

The fourth wire is a brown wire and disappears into the harness.

The mystery connection is the tab on back of the fuel gauge vibrator. I know one of the last 2 mystery wires goes to it.

[dtrumbo]

The first wire comes from the instrument cluster lights. The wire goes from the headlight switch to 3 lights in line and then to "?". It's gray & red. The schematic shows it going to a square with a 52 in it. What do those boxes mean anyway?

The boxes mean it goes to another part of the drawing. At the bottom of the schematic are a row of numbers, 1-83 in this case. VW calls these "current tracks". When you see a wire end in a box with a number, look at the bottom of the page and find that number. Then go straight up and you'll find another box with the number of the track you just left. Then you can follow your wire again to it's source/destination. In this case, your instrument panel light wire (gray & red) continues on to your hazard flasher switch, terminal 58h, so the red button cap glows like a warm beacon in the night!

The second wire is a double wire and it's brown. It tees from terminal 31 on the brake warning light. One end goes to the back of the instrument cluster at the temp control light & the other goes to "?". Schematic shows it going to the back of the speedo and then to a box with 27 in it.

This wire goes to a spade lug on the back of the speedometer cluster and provides ground for the whole shebang. IIRC, there is a circular array of spade lugs physically attached to the metal back of the speedometer. That wire goes to one of those spades.

The third wire is a thick & thin double wire going to a spade connector. Both wires disappear into the harness.

I need another clue here. Any colors on the wire?

The fourth wire is a brown wire and disappears into the harness. The mystery connection is the tab on back of the fuel gauge vibrator. I know one of the last 2 mystery wires goes to it.

This fourth brown wire probably goes to the fuel gauge. A black wire should connect to the tab on the vibrator.

[Sluggo]

The third wire is a thick & thin double wire going to a spade connector. Both wires disappear into the harness.

I need another clue here. Any colors on the wire?

Wow! Thanks man! You just made things a lot easier.

The color is also brown (pretty sure but I am colorblind).

[Sluggo]

The second wire is a double wire and it's brown. It tees from terminal 31 on the brake warning light. One end goes to the back of the instrument cluster at the temp control light & the other goes to "?". Schematic shows it going to the back of the speedo and then to a box with 27 in it.

This wire goes to a spade lug on the back of the speedometer cluster and provides ground for the whole shebang. IIRC, there is a circular array of spade lugs physically attached to the metal back of the speedometer. That wire goes to one of those spades.

There is also a double black wire that I connected there. I know black is + so do I have the double black hooked to the wrong place?

[dtrumbo]

There is also a double black wire that I connected there. I know black is + so do I have the double black hooked to the wrong place?

I would think so. In VW-world, black has voltage and brown is ground. The only black wire I see related to the instrument cluster connects to the turn signal lamp, then the fuel gauge vibrator, then the oil pressure lamp.

I mislead you, the brown wire you described as "the fourth wire" should connect to the gauge itself, not the vibrator. I'll correct my other post to reflect this.

[Sluggo]

Double brown went to the Stonehenge circle of ground connections on the instrument cluster like you said

The "thick thin" double brown wire from the harness also went there.

The other brown went to the fuel gauge like you said.

Double black went from the back of the Turn signal/oil/egr.....section then to the back of the fuel gauge vibrator.

One left to figure out:

The wire from the string of lights went to the Hazard Switch like you said. But I'm missing a fourth light at the top of the cluster. It's not shown in the schematic either. The string has three lights. Two go to the lower gauge illumination slots and the third goes to the Heat Lever illumination slot. There is a third slot at the top of the gauge with no light to go to it.

Thanks Dtrumbo! You've been a huge help!