[200q20v] Dash Lights

[hah at srv.net]

>I obviously have a short somewhere, but where?  Is there a likely location 
for
>this type of situation?  I put a new fuse in, but brought the bike into 
work
>today.  I know the fuse controls the ashtray light, dash lights, glove box
>light, as well as the under the hood and license plate lights.
>
>Any thoughts on what might be my culprit?

License plate light? If you haven't yet repaired your trunk-hinge-area 
wires, now might be the time. They are similar in fatigue behavior to the 
door-hinge-area wires, but there are only about seven of them - it's 
considerably easier than the doors because there is little disassembly 
required and you get to lay on your back in the comfy trunk. Driver's [US] 
side, wire bundle goes into the trunk-supporting arm up under the parcel 
shelf. An open in the reversing lights circuit caused me to splice in new 
wires on my car, but could just as easily short a license plate light wire 
to ground. The other side has alarm wires and bi-pressure tube for 
[un]locking the trunk, my alarm wires seemed to be more flexible than the 
others so I didn't fix them.

HTH
Henry Harper
http://www.srv.net/~hah
1991 200 quattro, 112k, both front doors and trunk with newer wires, still 
dead AC
1988 GTI 16v, 219k