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Fri Jul 01, 2005 5:18 am

87 van. Intersting thing happened when I got home and turned it off. It was frozen, er melted on. I pulled it off and had a look. Way stuck. Cut my finger with the xacto taking it apart. In the 1 month I have had it I have noticed a delay between switch actuation and lights coming on.

Xtions. What is the highest wattage you can run in both the high/low on the outer and also the inner high beams without a relay? Or the amperage the switch can handle? After taking it apart it looks like it needs a relay to begin with. I am not sure there is one and suppose someone probaly 'upgraded' the bulbs for me without knowing to use a relay.

Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:31 am

65/55, I think.

BTW: Go to the local Pick-A-Part for such little items. Get spares. It pays to get that sort of stuff from one of those places.....

Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:44 am

Ahhhhhh , Pick-a-Part . I have dreamed of that all my life . One day I will get to visit one . :D

Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:48 am

Don't they have such fine establishments in GA?

What about all those fine places in, I think, Douglasville or Bufford? Excuse the spelling...
I recall seeing those in print as popular dismantling areas in GA.

Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:24 pm

Enjoy !!!

http://www.volkscafe.com/vanagonparts.jsp?pa=p&p=1267852675&pct=551682740&ct=1970074062

http://www.volkscafe.com/vanagonparts.jsp?pa=p&p=545124852&pct=551682740&ct=475310084

Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:28 pm

Yeah, it is pulling 8amps thru the switch on low and over 20(my meter only has a 20 amp fuse) on high! Yes, I pickud up a relay at the parts store.

Fri Jul 01, 2005 1:06 pm

r39o wrote: Don't they have such fine establishments in GA?

What about all those fine places in, I think, Douglasville or Bufford? Excuse the spelling...
I recall seeing those in print as popular dismantling areas in GA.
When I first got my Vanagon I telephoned every breakers yard in a 500 mile radius . Most were negative , some not too sure what a Vanagon was , but none ,nix , nichts , zilch had any vans in or had in or were getting in .
A fair assumption would be to say that every part I have used on my 2 vans have come from the west coast . :cry:

Fri Jul 01, 2005 1:06 pm

You waddle out the door....hoping it doesnt slip and rip away any flesh and other dangles before you get to your van...

Then you carefully pull it out.... :lol: Voila! One pump, albeit with a bit of scrapes, flesh and some blood stains that need to be cleaned off.....
yup, you guess the rest....ouch! WE don't do dat no moe' :twisted:

Fri Jul 01, 2005 2:54 pm

Tsk, tsk. Nuts n bolts n the occasional relay or harness adaptor, sure... but an entire injector?

Oh, well. They sure ain't goin' out of business!

My problem is I give them too much money. Take the head, need the pistons, now I need a widget... Darn, shoulda just bought the whole engine in the first place!

We get lotsa vans in our PnP (northern Nevada) but only ever so rarely an '84. Darn switches don't cross-over without rewiring the plugs (ugh).

Gotta love a complete set of turbine-style Mercedes alloys for only $72 plus tax!

Mike!

Fri Jul 01, 2005 3:26 pm

Mechanic called a month or so back, had two of my A-2's in the shop. One was hydro locking the other had intermit miss. He told me to go get a couple of ECM's from Pak a Part.

NOT a problem. WHile wondering around pulling a computer from a 88, then a 89 then 90, then a 91, then two from a 92, I found some Recaro's seats from a 89 GLI, BBS wheels and new 50's and took the computer.

OK so I dropped 200 bucks. But the alloys and the receiver hitch from the Vanagon on the next trip in was another 200 bucks.

Funny thing, the employees never saw the ECM's, the idle compensators, the other assorted items stashed in the wagen....

So I got my 2 bucks admission...yup that injector pump was pushing the envelop a bit. But it was brand new. The head and turbo went on my Caddy truck.....

One of these days when I finally get my Passat wagen or Passat automatic B-3, I will try my luck with an automatic trannie....... :oops:

Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:10 am

Well, in a vain attempt to rehijack this thread I wound up putting in the volkscafe headlight relay kit. Now I hear a satisfying click when the headlights are switched(er, jumpered. Remember, I fried my switch and it turns out that is on indefinite backorder at BusDepot, which I found out after two weeks of waiting before calling to check).

Must say that it was actually worth it due to its factory fit and ease to install. The directions were very good as well. I now have .6 amps thru my switch. I did have problems with the yellow connectors. One pretty much fell off. The rest came off with a tug. I didn't have any luck with a few styles of the different yellow ones I had laying around either. The wires will snuggly take a blue one. Be carfeul to cut the wires at the right spots. I found the relays fit best on the middle of the fuseblock top.

Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:23 am

Re-wiring the headlight circuit with relays is the only way to go. Besides no more melted switches, it boosts the headlight output by about 100% with the stock bulbs.

Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:12 am

RE: Headlamp relays: What a rip! You go to Pep Boys and buy two relays. Or even Walmart. Then all you need is some wire and crimp connectors. Visit vanagon.com for instructions. No need for no stinking "kit."

RE: Pick-A-Part: You guys getting ripped there too! Two bux? WTF? It is a single buck in San Diego. We got 3 near and those arr foreign only. Then there are more with domestic. My tool bag always leaves with all sorts of little do dads. If I don't get them, some one else will break them.

Rant: Pick-A-Part. There are assholes that cut harnesses. They don't even do it right. What idiot would take an electric mirror and chop the wires right where it leaves the door? Cut it in the door harness so you can plug it back in. I take my little $2 Pep Boys connector tool to take the connectors apart. No need to cut harnesses. Idiots.

Keep having fun....

Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:04 am

relays
Yeah, always more than one way to skin a cat. I actually bought two autopart store relays before I ordered these. I don't suppose they sell hella relays do they? Not to knock the chinese/taiwanese stuff but I would guess they wear out before a german relay. Do they have bases that factory mount on the fusebox? Can you easily swap the relays out without removing your wiring?

Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:58 am

Walrus,

Go to the bone yard and take some relay holders off some fuseboxes from dead cars. Recycle or buy some new push in connectors. Install. Done.

I worked at an automotive electronics manufacturing company in Germany about 10 years ago. As a going home present, the guys gave me a bag of relays we made there. Some orange ones marked GM and some black ones mark VW. All the same. No big deal. They are all the same. I am set for relays.

You can also get (steal) the relays you need out of the same dead cars you get the holders out of. Many, many different Eurotrash cars have those relays. You can be extra weird and use the fuel pump relays with the huge load contacts, if you care too. Never will those go bad.

Yes, there are many ways to skin a cat. I like to use a dull knife so I can hear the pain better.

Thu Jul 21, 2005 9:23 am

That's what is cool about Pk a Part and Pk N Pull places....you store up supplies, buckets and buckets of spare parts.....

Then when a part craps, you spend 5 months searching thru buckets and buckets and buckets for that part.....

Then you give up and go back to Pk a Part and get a pocket full more :roll:
Oh, that spare part was in the glove box all along! 8-[ OK! So I needed the exercise anyway : :-s :-s :-s :-s

Thu Jul 21, 2005 7:03 pm

Please don't encourage people to commit theft.