RE: [T3] Red Light Troubles

[Jim Adney <jadney@vwtype3.org>]

On 5 May 2007 at 21:24, Huntington Rowley wrote:

> It is the generator light that is on.  I found the time to take
> it for a spin. I noticed that the cycle of light flicker is brightest
> at the end of the engine jerk. This is while warming up. Once it had
> smoothed out, I went on my way. When I signaled right, the light got
> brighter and I did not hear clicking or see the dash lights. So, I turn
> around and try it again for the left. Same thing. Park, and check the
> indicators. Nothing.

It may just be a poor ground at the instrument cluster. See if 
wobbling that instrument makes any difference.

> After this, I do some investigation.  I notice
> fuse 12 (accessory) is blown.  I wanted the radio, because I was
> board.  So, I pull the right high beam (I realized I have any fuses),
> and use that for the accessory.  Still no radio, but the generator
> light is out.  So, I start it up, no light.  Try the turn signals. 
> Left works, right only briefly after pulling up on the arm.  Go for
> another spin, and the right blows number 12.  Now the generator light
> is back on.  

Your description is a bit hard to follow, but none of these things 
should have any effect on the gen light.

> Go back and do some more investigation.  Turns out the wire for the
> push start (the switch is broken, but I should get one that works soon,
> if not, I only payed $12 :)) is on number 12.  Try some things, but at
> the end of the day, all I have to show is a red light, broken turn
> signal assembly (when I tried to pull it out, the plastic was brittle,
> and broke several places, so I am now in need of one), and a steering
> wheel on the floor.  But I did learn I have a short, but where?  Where
> do I start? 

Push Start? Is there an aftermarket starter button installed? I've 
never seen one with a light.

TS switches for '71s are a one year only item and are quite rare. 
It's more likely that I might be able to repair yours, but that would 
depend completely on what broke and whether you still have all the 
parts. In general, there are a lot of fragile parts on these cars. 
Most of them will last forever if treated carefully, but there are 
many that are very hard to find replacements for if you break them, 
so it's important to learn not to get carried away when taking some 
new assembly apart. If it doesn't seem to want to come apart, there's 
probably something that you're overlooking. Stop and consider your 
options. 

The short would have to be in the circuit that blew its fuse, so 
follow those wires. Sometimes there are seveal wires coming off each 
fuse, so you should be able to pin it down a bit by just connecting  
one at a time to see which one causes the fuse to blow.

General posting suggestions:

There's no need to prefix your posts with the word "list:" since 
we're the only ones getting this message anyway. 

It's helpful to break your messages into paragraphs on each topic, 
rather than just letting them all stream together. It makes reading 
and responding much easier.

I usually actually go back and proofread what I've written. I don't 
catch all my errors, but it sure helps to make sure that I actually 
typed what I meant.

-- 
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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