[Vwdiesel] Wiring Issues Behind Fuse Block

[Terry Briggs]

The one on my '86 hasn't worked since I've owned it, I find the light 
rather annoying anyways, but I always thought they were vacuum operated 
. Now of course that I think about it, I can see how they wouldn't be 
on a diesel.
On Dec 17, 2006, at 7:14 AM, MLightner wrote:

>
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:14:50 -0600
>> From: Bryan K Walton <bryankwalton at machlink.com>
>> Subject: [Vwdiesel] Wiring Issues Behind Fuse Block on '84 Rabbit
>> To: VW Diesel Fans <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
>> Message-ID: <20061215211450.GB7241 at machlink.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>>
>>
>>
>>
> (snip)
>
>> 4. So at this point, I assumed that the problem was my upshift light
>> control unit.  I bought a replacement unit and put it in.  But with
>> the new upshift light relay, the upshift light stays on continuously.
>> Hmmmm, something isn't right with one or both of the relays.
>>
>> 5. I put the old relay back in.  (I'd rather have the upshift light
>> working part of the time, than have it lit up all of the time).  Back
>> to the Bentley, it says that with the engine running, I should be
>> getting current to the corresponding terminal on the upshift light
>> relay at the fuse box.  I don't -- or at least not when I checked it
>> this one time.
>>
>> So now I'm under the assumption that the problem is either a short
>> in a wire somewhere, or in the connection between the wire and the
>> back of the fuse box.  Shooting in the dark here, I'm going under the
>> assumption that some water has seeped in there sometime in the past
>> and done some corrosion.  I'd like to take the fuse box off and look
>> around back there.  Perhaps clean some terminals.  What am I going to
>> find behind the fuse box?  I'm very afraid of pulling the fuse box out
>> and in doing so, accidentally loosing connections to other wires.  Can
>> somebody describe for me what I'm going to see back there?  How do the
>> wires connect to the fuse box?  Can they easily be removed and
>> reinserted?
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Bryan
>>
>>
>>
>>
> I don't know anything about the upshift light, but I have delved into
> whats behind the fuse blocks on a couple different VW products.  The
> ones I've seen have what I think are called female spade connectors 
> that
> plug onto their male counterparts on the back of the fuseblock
>
> . On a couple of occasions I found loose spade connectors which could 
> be
> tightened up by slightly crimping them so they were a tighter fit where
> they plugged onto;  I also found one where the spade connector had got
> hot enough due to the lose connection to partially melt the insulation
> on the wire and blister the fuse block itself a little bit, the heat 
> had
> also made the connector dead soft so it couldn't be tightened up, a new
> spade lug took care of.that (though I doubt the circuit you're working
> on would have this kind of problem).
>
> Then there was the '70 model bus on which the fuse block split almost
> into 2 pieces longitudinally, a couple tywaps sufficed to hold that
> together once I realized what the problem was.
>
> If you take the fuse block loose from it's mounting point, just be
> careful to note that, 1),  There are no wires already hanging lose from
> the back of it, and that, 2),  if you cause any wires to come loose, 
> you
> know where they need to be plugged into  : ) .  If your problem is a
> corrosion issue, then it's possible that unplugging and replugging of
> those terminals may be all that's required to straighten it out. Unless
> you're very careful, it may be best to disconnect the negative terminal
> on the battery, as there are places on the fuse block that are always
> hot.  Of course, your mileage may vary, please do let the list know 
> what
> you find.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
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Third Wheel engineering
Custom Design and Fabrication
2576 King Circle
Corning, New York 14830
Vbriggs at stny.rr.com