[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]

Re: [T3] Electrical snafu


On 22 Jul 2003 at 20:51, Daniel Baum wrote:

> My home-made electrical system has had one persistent but intermittent
> problem for a very long time; sometimes a fuse blows immediately when I turn
> the key to start the car. The fuse is the one that in the Haynes diagram is
> fourth from the right. The "30" wire from the ignition switch goes there,
> and the smaller "30" wire to the lights switch. The problem is not with
> turning on the igntion, but with turning the starter; I can turn the key one
> notch and everything works OK, at the second notch it blows.

It sounds to me like you have made a small error in your reading of the manual. 
The power thru the ignition switch should NOT go thru a fuse. I don't know why 
VW did it this way, but if you study the wiring diagram a bit more carefully I 
think you will see that the wires that run from the fuses to the ignition 
switch come from the unfused side of the fuses. In other words, VW was just 
using those terminals as a connection point for the wiring.

> Today I decided to tackle the problem, as it seemed to be getting worse. I
> followed the wires, improved some of the insulation, soldered a couple of
> conections that until now were only crimped, and all I have succeeded in
> doing is making the problem consistent rather than intermittent. In other
> words the car now won't start because every time I turn the key it blows a
> fuse.

By fixing up all the poor connections you have reduced the resistance of these 
circuits. The starter solenoid always takes a LOT of current and I'd expect it 
to blow a fuse. Your care here has now assured this.

I think you just need to move your ignition switch wire to the other end of the 
fuse. I could be wrong, but I suspect that this will end your problems. You may 
also need to reexamine how some of your other things are wired, too, in case 
you got several of them backwards. You wouldn't want to have other items wired 
off the wrong end of the fuse, leaving those circuits unprotected.

BTW, question for Russ to chime in on: I can never remember which end of the 
fuse is the hot end, upper or lower?

-- 
Jim Adney
jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711-3054
USA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]