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Mon Mar 29, 2004 7:31 pm

had this van since thanksgiving 86 standard vanagon 2.1 digifant and am scratchin my head at the lectrical dilemas i hav had no fuel or water temp gauge since i bought the van finally got a bentley manual and have been tryin to figure it out also in the rain i have been experiencing spittin and sputterin and to top it off the other day when i turned the key to start the horn went off and then it started did this twice i have a feelin this is all somewhat related except the spittin and sputter
so i tested the voltage regulator and picked up a few at the yard and it checks out ok so thought it was the gauges tested and they rise and fall fine with power i hate like hell to have to drop the tank as i dont think this is the problem being both gauges dont work so i am tryin everythin possible first also the analog clock doesnt keep time
thought it was possibly a ground problem and was chekin tonight with the meter for continuity with ground used the main ground on the back of the cluster on the analog clock(dont have a tach) and with the key off steady beep from meter continuity so the ground is good turn the key on and sounds like morris code intermitent beep doesnt sound right to me something is causing the ground to fluctuate and i dont know what any idea am i wrong is this supposed to do this
i dont know if this is the right cluster for my van for all i know it could have been changed for an earlier one dont know
any input is greatly appreciated as i am perplexed
i know it is probably something simple and when i find if i find it

Mon Mar 29, 2004 7:58 pm

possibly 2 problems, the most likely is a series of bad grounds. I'm not absolutly sure without looking on an '86, but '87 up has 2 cluster grounds up on the drivers side window piller, behind the fuse box/relay panel. You have to remove the fuse box mounting and let it hang down to see them. each cluster ground is about an inch in diameter with 10 terminals around the top. all of the brown wires for the front of the van connect to these. individule connectors can become corroded and overheat to cause high resistance connections. This backfeeds the power trying to get to ground, through other circuits, causes really strange things to happen. The cluster connectors are each held to the body by 1 screw. corrosion around the screw and between the cluster connector and the body can isolate a whole group of grounds.
Look carefully for any discoloration of the connectors or signs of rust or corrosion. Take each wire off , clean, make sure it is a tight fit, replace wire ends if necessary. Remove the cluster connector and make sure it's clean between the body.
a leaky antenna mount or windshield seal can let water in there.
The gauges could additionally be effected by the voltage stabelizer on the back of the gauge cluster, but this needs a good ground first.

Wed Mar 31, 2004 4:42 pm

figured some of it out if i pull the plug out of the spedo the ground blinkin stops so not sure if the unit on the speod is shot or if it is supposed to do this but even with the plug pulled still no gauges so when all else fails go to the senders which i didnt check because i didnt think that they could both be bad grounded out the temp sender and up it went thought was maybe the ground on the sender checked out ok so mus be a bad sensor i will get a new one and see what happens this leads me to the fuel gauge which i dont want to have to drop the tank if i dont have to but probably have to i cant seem to find the sender wire around the tank any idae where to look when i find it i will check the ground and ground it out and probably ende up changin the unit thanks again

Mon Apr 05, 2004 6:19 pm

woo-hoo i got a temp gauge changed out the sender and up it went now the question is what is the norm average for the gauge it seems to be runnin in the middle by the light as far as the gas gauge goes i will be dropping the tank in 100 miles by then the tak should be almost emtpty
thanks again